PRUDENCE ISLAND — About 700 acres of shellfishing grounds off Prudence Island will be temporarily closed beginning Thursday because of the potential for sewage discharge from an annual gathering of boats in Potters Cove.

The gathering, of course, has a name: Aquapalooza. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s (DEM) press release announcing the closure, however, never actually uses it.

Instead, DEM refers to “an annual large gathering of boats” and warns that the high density of vessels in Potters Cove increases the risk of sewage being released into the water. The annual event is expected to draw large numbers of boats and revelers to the area Saturday.

The precautionary closure will take effect July 24 and remain in place until sunrise July 31. It covers waters south and west from Providence Point to the northwest extension of Warner Avenue on Prudence Island.

Aquapalooza has become a summertime tradition for boaters, who gather in and around Potters Cove for a day on the water. The event also creates extra work for local public safety agencies, which must contend with the increased number of boats and people packed into the area.

Most boaters comply with Rhode Island’s “No Discharge” law, DEM said. But when a large number of vessels are concentrated in a relatively small area for hours, the risk of sewage discharge increases.

State and federal guidance requires shellfish harvesting areas to be closed under such circumstances. The temporary closure allows time for any discharged sewage to be diluted before the waters are reopened for shellfishing.

Rhode Island has 15 pump-out boats and 49 public shoreside pump-out facilities available throughout the state’s coastal waters. More than 650,000 gallons of sewage were pumped out safely last year, according to DEM.

New this year, DEM and the Town of Bristol launched a solar-powered, self-service pump-out barge on the western side of the Kickemuit River, in the mooring field adjacent to the Bristol shoreline. Funded through the Clean Vessel Act grant program, the barge is available free of charge 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

DEM, the Rhode Island Department of Health, the Coastal Resources Management Council and shellfishing partners monitor coastal waters and manage closures to protect public health and maintain the quality of the state’s shellfish.

For information about emergency and conditional shellfishing closures, call DEM’s 24-hour shellfishing hotline at 401/222-2900 or visit dem.ri.gov/shellfish. Residents can also subscribe to DEM’s Shellfish Closure email list for updates.