Twenty-four years of spatial-temporal water quality data from three different sampling points at the surface were evaluated in Deer Creek Reservoir in Utah. The chosen sampling locations represent the lotic, transitional and lentic zones of a typical man-made lake. The time frame included data collected before and after the completion of the Jordanelle Reservoir (1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992), upstream of Deer Creek. On average chlorophyll-a and phosphorus levels have dropped since 1984 and dissolved oxygen levels have remained the same. We used stepwise variable selection and multivariable regression to fit chlorophyll-a on climatological, hydrological, and water quality parameters. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were used to quantify spatial and temporal variation. Significant spatial variation in chlorophyll-a concentration was found to be 92% higher on average in the lotic zone than the lentic zone. The regression model was also used to evaluate future water quality effects produced by different climatic change scenarios. Chlorophyll-a concentrations were used as water quality indicators to assess the in-reservoir effects of climate variation produced by meteorological changes. The model predicted an inverse relationship between air temperature and chlorophyll-a concentrations. Our findings were validated with results obtained from a computational water quality model that found that the statistical model showed similar trends of chlorophyll-a.
Deer Creek Reservoir, located in Utah, supplies municipal and agricultural water for Utah and Salt Lake counties. During the past four decades the high levels of total phosphorus and dissolved oxygen in the water have introduced both taste and odor problems from algae growth, which have necessitated additional treatment to clean the water. In an attempt to discover why late summer algae blooms continue to persist at Deer Creek, the Brigham Young University Deer Creek Research Group collected data using several water quality laboratory tests on samples from 11 different sampling sites within the reservoir: total solids (TS), total suspended solids (TSS), total volatile suspended solids (TVSS), and phosphate. These tests were performed on samples collected during the summers of 2010 (May through October) and 2011 (April through November). Samples from Secchi depth were used for this analysis because of excessive variability introduced if samples from above and below the thermocline and at bottom layers of the reservoir were included. The purpose of this study is to determine if any correlations exists between these three measurements: solid, phosphate, and Secchi depths. We used total suspended solids as an indicator for algal mass. We suspect that phosphate is being trapped in solid material, specifically sediment, and being released into the reservoir slowly over time. Our analysis shows that solids at Deer Creek do not exhibit significant correlations with phosphate or Secchi depths. We suggest that a different approach to the phosphate problem be used that we should analyze and correlate Deer Creek phosphate with sediment oxygen demand (SOD) measurements taken using SOD chambers to correlate algae with potential phosphate release from sediments.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.