The Lake Tahoe Interagency Monitoring Program Sediment and Nutrient - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Lake Tahoe Interagency Monitoring Program – Sediment and Nutrient Loading and Concentration Data for Ten Indicator Streams Through Water Year 2010 Nancy L. Alvarez U.S. Geological Survey John E. Reuter Patty Arneson UCD, TERC

Funding Sources • Cooperative Study: • Tahoe Regional Planning Agency • U.S. Geological Survey • In-kind Services - UCD Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) • U.S. Forest Service LTMBU

Outline • History • LTIMP Objectives • Sampling Sites • Sampling Design • Pollutants of Interest • Methods – UCD Load and Flow-Weighted Concentration (FWC) • Results • Future Work

History • Lake and tributary water quality monitoring started in the early 1970’s • LTIMP formed in 1978 to conduct collaborative monitoring and research efforts • LTIMP stream monitoring began in October 1979 • Group effort to design monitoring program • Current program began in October 1988

LTIMP Objectives • Primary purpose to provide long-term consistent, reliable, and accessible data on tributary water quality and streamflow • Provide a long-term database for estimation of sediment and nutrient loads and trends from major tributary streams and minor tributaries of undisturbed basins Load = Concentration x discharge x conversion factor

Sampling Sites • 10 watersheds • 47 % of watershed area • ~50% streamflow to lake

Sampling Design • Samples collected – Monthly – Storm events – Snow-melt runoff • All phases of hydrograph sampled • EWI depth integrated • Number of samples each water year varied

Upper Truckee R at South Lake Tahoe 12/1/04 5/21/05 12/31/05

Incline Creek, WY 2005 40 Mean Daily Discharge (cfs) 30 20 10 0 10/1/2004 12/31/2004 4/1/2005 7/1/2005 9/30/2005 Date

Incline Creek, WY 2005 40 12 routine samples Mean Daily Discharge (cfs) 30 20 10 0 10/1/2004 12/31/2004 4/1/2005 7/1/2005 9/30/2005 Date

Incline Creek, WY 2005 40 17 event samples Mean Daily Discharge (cfs) 30 20 10 0 10/1/2004 12/31/2004 4/1/2005 7/1/2005 9/30/2005 Date

Pollutants of Interest • Nitrogen • TKN, NH 4 , NO 2 +NO 3 • TN = TKN + NO 2 +NO 3 • Phosphorus • TP, SRP • Suspended Sediment Concentration-SSC • Particles less than 20 microns (# particles)

Laboratories • UC Davis Labs in Davis, CA and Incline Village, NV • USGS Sediment Lab

Data • Published in annual data books • http://nevada.usgs.gov/ • Published in on-line USGS database • http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis

UCD Load Calculations • Log of instantaneous load is regressed against log of instantaneous discharge for each water year • Regression equation with correction for retransformation bias used with daily discharge • Annual load = sum of daily loads for year • Combined load = sum of annual loads for 10 streams

UCD Annual Flow-Weighted Concentration Calculations • Annual FWC – Total annual load divided by total annual streamflow

Sediment Annual Load ANNUAL SUSPENDED SEDIMENT LOAD ANNUAL PARTICLE LOAD LESS THAN 16 MICRONS COMBINED FOR 10 STREAMS COMBINED FOR 10 STREAMS LOAD OF PARTICLES LESS THAN 16 MICRONS 1e+20 4500 60000 4500 SUSPENDED SEDIMENT LOAD PARTICLE LOAD <16 MICRONS IN PARTICLE NUMBERS PER YEAR 4000 4000 TOTAL ANNUAL STREAMFLOW TOTAL ANNUAL STREAMFLOW TOTAL ANNUAL STREAMFLOW TOTAL ANNUAL STREAMFLOW 50000 SUSPENDED SEDIMENT LOAD 8e+19 3500 3500 IN CUBIC METERS x 10 5 IN CUBIC METERS x 10 5 IN TONNES PER YEAR 3000 40000 3000 6e+19 2500 2500 30000 2000 2000 4e+19 20000 1500 1500 1000 1000 2e+19 10000 500 500 0 0 0 0 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 WATER YEAR WATER YEAR

Phosphorus Annual Load ANNUAL SOLUBLE REACTIVE PHOSPHORUS LOAD ANNUAL TOTAL PHOSPHORUS LOAD COMBINED FOR 10 STREAMS COMBINED FOR 10 STREAMS 50000 4500 4000 4500 SOLUBLE REACTIVE PHOSPHORUS LOAD TOTAL PHOSPHORUS LOAD SOLUBLE REACTIVE PHOSPHORUS LOAD 4000 4000 TOTAL ANNUAL STREAMFLOW TOTAL ANNUAL STREAMFLOW TOTAL ANNUAL STREAMFLOW TOTAL ANNUAL STREAMFLOW IN KILOGRAMS P PER YEAR TOTAL PHOSPHORUS LOAD 40000 IN KILOGRAMS PER YEAR 3500 3500 IN CUBIC METERS x 10 5 IN CUBIC METERS x 10 5 3000 3000 3000 30000 2500 2500 2000 2000 2000 20000 1500 1500 1000 1000 1000 10000 500 500 0 0 0 0 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 WATER YEAR WATER YEAR

Nitrogen Annual Load ANNUAL TOTAL NITROGEN LOAD ANNUAL NITRATE PLUS NITRITE LOAD COMBINED FOR 10 STREAMS COMBINED FOR 10 STREAMS 160000 4500 25000 4500 TOTAL NITROGEN LOAD NITRATE PLUS NITRITE LOAD 4000 TOTAL ANNUAL STREAMFLOW 4000 140000 TOTAL ANNUAL STREAMFLOW TOTAL ANNUAL STREAMFLOW TOTAL ANNUAL STREAMFLOW NITRATE PLUS NITRITE LOAD IN KILOGRAMS N PER YEAR IN KILOGRAMS PER YEAR 20000 3500 TOTAL NITROGEN LOAD 3500 IN CUBIC METERS x 10 5 120000 IN CUBIC METERS x 10 5 3000 3000 100000 15000 2500 2500 80000 2000 2000 10000 60000 1500 1500 40000 1000 1000 5000 20000 500 500 0 0 0 0 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 WATER YEAR WATER YEAR

Largest Contributors Blackwood Creek Upper Truckee River January 2, 1997 December 31, 2005 Photo by Tim Rowe Photo by Scott Hackley

Sediment Annual Flow- Weighted Concentration SUSPENDED SEDIMENT PARTICLES LESS THAN 16 MICRONS FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION FOR 10 STREAMS FOR 10 STREAMS 160 3.0e+8 FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION PARTICLES LESS THAN 16 MICRONS 5-year moving average IN PARTICLE NUMBERS PER LITER 140 5-year moving average 2.5e+8 IN MILLIGRAMS PER LITER SUSPENDED SEDIMENT 120 2.0e+8 100 80 1.5e+8 60 1.0e+8 40 5.0e+7 20 0 0.0 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 WATER YEAR WATER YEAR

Phosphorus Annual Flow- Weighted Concentration TOTAL PHOSPHORUS SOLUBLE REACTIVE PHOSPHORUS FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION FOR 10 STREAMS FOR 10 STREAMS 0.140 0.010 FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION SOLUBLE REACTIVE PHOSPHORUS 0.009 5-year moving average 5-year moving average 0.120 IN MILLIGRAMS PER LITER AS P 0.008 IN MILLIGRAMS PER LITER TOTAL PHOSPHORUS 0.100 0.007 0.006 0.080 0.005 0.060 0.004 0.003 0.040 0.002 0.020 0.001 0.000 0.000 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 WATER YEAR WATER YEAR

Nitrogen Annual Flow-Weighted Concentration TOTAL NITROGEN NITRATE PLUS NITRITE FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION FOR 10 STREAMS FOR 10 STREAMS 0.40 0.060 FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION 5-year moving average 5-year moving average 0.35 IN MILLIGRAMS PER LITER AS N 0.050 IN MILLIGRAMS PER LITER 0.30 NITRATE PLUS NITRITE TOTAL NITROGEN 0.040 0.25 0.20 0.030 0.15 0.020 0.10 0.010 0.05 0.00 0.000 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 WATER YEAR WATER YEAR

Suspended Sediment Annual FWC 10336698 THIRD CREEK 10336700 INCLINE CREEK 1200 600 FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION 5-year moving average 5-year moving average 5-year moving average 1000 500 IN MILLIGRAMS PER LITER IN MILLIGRAMS PER LITER SUSPENDED SEDIMENT SUSPENDED SEDIMENT 800 400 600 300 400 200 200 100 0 0 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 WATER YEAR WATER YEAR 10336730 GLENBROOK CREEK 10336740 LOGAN HOUSE CREEK 10336760 EDGEWOOD CREEK 600 600 600 FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION 5-year moving average FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION 5-year moving average FLOW-WEIGHTED CONCENTRATION 5-year moving average 500 500 500 IN MILLIGRAMS PER LITER IN MILLIGRAMS PER LITER IN MILLIGRAMS PER LITER SUSPENDED SEDIMENT SUSPENDED SEDIMENT SUSPENDED SEDIMENT 400 400 400 300 300 300 200 200 200 100 100 100 0 0 0 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 WATER YEAR WATER YEAR WATER YEAR