How the Distribution of Anthropogenic Nitrogen Has Changed in Narragansett Bay (RI, USA) Following Major Reductions in Nutrient Loads

Over the past decade, nitrogen (N) loads to Narragansett Bay have decreased by more than 50%. These reductions were, in large part, the direct result of multiple wastewater treatment facility upgrades to tertiary treatment, a process which employs N removal. Here, we document ecosystem response to the N reductions and assess how the distribution of sewage N in Narragansett Bay has changed from before, during, and shortly after the upgrades. While others have observed clear responses when data were considered annually, our seasonal and regional comparisons of pre- and post-tertiary treatment dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) concentrations and Secchi depth data, from bay-wide surveys conducted periodically from the early 1970s through 2016, resulted in only a few subtle differences. Thus, we sought to use stable isotope data to assess how sewage N is incorporated into the ecology of the Bay and how its distribution may have changed after the upgrades. The nitrogen (N-15) and carbon (C-13) stable isotope measurements of particulate matter served as a proxy for phytoplankton, while macroalgae served as short-term integrators of water column bio-available N, and hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) as integrators of water column production. In contrast to other estuarine stable isotope studies that have observed an increased influence of isotopically lower marine N when sewage N is reduced, the opposite has occurred in Narragansett Bay. The tertiary treatment upgrades have increased the effluent N-15 values by at least 2 parts per thousand. The plants and animals throughout Narragansett Bay have similarly increased by 1-2 parts per thousand, on average. In contrast, the C-13 values measured in particulate matter and hard clams have declined by about the same amount. The N-15 results indicated that, even after the N reductions, sewage N still plays an important role in supporting primary and secondary production throughout the bay. However, the C-13 suggests that overall net production in Narragansett Bay has decreased. In the 5years after the major wastewater treatment facilities came on-line for nutrient removal, oligotrophication has begun but sewage remains the dominant source of N to Narragansett Bay.