Water-quality, streamflow, and ancillary data for nutrients in streams and rivers across the nation, 1992-2001

Data Series ◽  
10.3133/ds152 ◽  
2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
David K. Mueller ◽  
Norman E. Spahr
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Ancillary Data ◽  
Streams And Rivers

scholarly journals Nutrient Limitation and Uptake Rates in Streams and Rivers of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

2013 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 153-159
Author(s):  
Jennifer Tank ◽  
Alexander Reisinger
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Nutrient Limitation ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Nutrient Dynamics ◽  
Nutrient Retention ◽  
Light Limitation ◽  
Small Stream ◽  
Streams And Rivers ◽  
Greater Yellowstone ◽  
Uptake Studies

Nutrient pollution of aquatic ecosystems is a growing concern as the influence of human activities continues to increase on the landscape. Headwater streams have long been shown to process nutrients via the biofilm community growing on the bottom of streams. The growth and activity of these biofilms is often limited by the availability of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), or co-limited by both N and P. Although small stream nutrient dynamics are relatively well understood, comparatively little is known about larger, non-wadeable rivers. Biofilms on the river bottom are likely still nutrient limited, but there becomes an increased potential for light limitation as rivers increase in depth. In addition to biofilms on the bottom of rivers, free-living microbial communities suspended in the water column also occur in rivers and process nutrients - a component of nutrient processing largely ignored in streams. In summer 2013 we worked in streams and rivers of the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) to establish the nutrient limitation status of minimally-impacted rivers, as well as the role of the water column in processing nutrients as streams increase in size. For both the nutrient limitation and water column uptake studies, we are using the GYA sites in addition to systems from other regions of the US to establish what controls the various aspects of nutrient dynamics in rivers. Our results from the GYA, in addition to Midwest and Southwest US rivers, will provide water quality managers with new strategies for improving water quality downstream, and clarify mechanisms controlling nutrient retention in rivers.

scholarly journals Water quality in low‐elevation streams and rivers of New Zealand: Recent state and trends in contrasting land‐cover classes

2004 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott T. Larned ◽  
Mike R. Scarsbrook ◽  
Ton H. Snelder ◽  
Ned J. Norton ◽  
Barry J. F. Biggs
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Streams And Rivers

scholarly journals Nitrogen and Phosphorus Concentration Thresholds toward Establishing Water Quality Criteria for Pennsylvania, USA

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 3550
Author(s):  
John W. Clune ◽  
J. Kent Crawford ◽  
Elizabeth W. Boyer
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Phosphorus Concentration ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Water Quality Criteria ◽  
Nutrient Criteria ◽  
Streams And Rivers ◽  
Landscape Characteristics ◽  
Nutrient Conditions

Nutrient enrichment is currently a leading cause of impairment to streams in Pennsylvania. Evaluating the water quality condition and eutrophic status of streams and rivers is a challenge without established thresholds for nutrient concentrations, which can vary depending on climate and landscape characteristics. The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has published nutrient criteria for nutrient ecoregions nationwide that are used as regional baseline values; and has encouraged states to develop more refined values if better data are available. In this study, we quantified long-term nutrient concentrations observed in streams and rivers across Pennsylvania using a robust water quality dataset compiled from monitoring data collected over the past two decades (2000–2019) by multiple agencies. We estimated nutrient criteria concentration thresholds for each ecoregion using USEPA’s percentile approach. The 25th percentile median concentrations observed in streams and rivers ranged from 0.27 to 2.30 mg/L for total nitrogen (TN), and from 0.010 to 0.053 mg/L for total phosphorus (TP). The percent of sites with available data that exceeded the 25th percentile was 53% for TN and 60% for TP, reflecting longstanding problems with nutrient pollution of rivers and streams in Pennsylvania. The 25th percentile may overestimate background condition levels, as nutrient conditions vary substantially within and among ecoregions. We compared our contemporary concentrations at the threshold values to other published recommended criteria for the region and explored the influence of landscape heterogeneity and seasonality on nutrient concentrations. The spatial and temporal variability of nutrient conditions emphasizes the importance of using percentile analysis as only a guide toward more robust response-based methods, rather than as a method for setting nutrient criteria in Pennsylvania. Our results provide environmental managers with new insights regarding the status of nutrient conditions in streams and rivers across Pennsylvania ecoregions toward further developing numeric nutrient criteria.

scholarly journals Establishment of reference or baseline conditions of chemical indicators in New Zealand streams and rivers relative to present conditions

2013 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 387 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. McDowell ◽  
T. H. Snelder ◽  
N. Cox ◽  
D. J. Booker ◽  
R. J. Wilcock
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Natural Variation ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Streams And Rivers ◽  
Ecological Benefit ◽  
Chemical Indicators ◽  
Anthropogenic Contribution ◽  
Reactive Phosphorus

The management of streams and rivers can be aided by knowledge of reference conditions. Data from >1000 sites across New Zealand was used to develop a technique to estimate median ammoniacal-N, clarity, Escherichia coli, filterable reactive phosphorus, nitrate-N, suspended solids, and total nitrogen and phosphorus values under reference conditions for streams and rivers as classified by the River Environment Classification (REC). The REC enabled us to account for natural variation in climate, topography and geology when estimating reference conditions. Values for minimally disturbed sites (i.e. <5% in intensive agriculture) were generally within the confidence limits for estimated reference values. Metrics that described: (1) the percentage of anthropogenic contribution to analyte values; and (2) the degree of enrichment beyond the reference conditions, showed that lowland sites classified as warm-wet, warm-dry or cool-dry exhibited the greatest anthropogenic input and enrichment. The consideration of natural variation by REC class informs the setting of water quality objectives through avoiding water quality limits or targets that are either too restrictive, and impossible to meet (e.g. below reference conditions), or too high, such that they have little ecological benefit. We recommend reference conditions be considered by regulatory authorities when assessing water quality impacts, objectives and limits.

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