Nutrient and Suspended-Sediment Transport and Trends in the Columbia River and Puget Sound Basins, 1993-2003

Abstract

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is committed to providing the Nation with credible scientific information that helps to enhance and protect the overall quality of life and that facilitates effective management of water, biological, energy, and mineral resources (http://www.usgs.gov/). Information on the Nation's water resources is critical to ensuring long-term availability of water that is safe for drinking and recreation and is suitable for industry, irrigation, and fish and wildlife. Population growth and increasing demands for water make the availability of that water, now measured in terms of quantity and quality, even more essential to the long-term sustainability of our communities and ecosystems. The USGS implemented the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program in 1991 to support national, regional, State, and local information needs and decisions related to water-quality management and policy (http:// water.usgs.gov/nawqa). The NAWQA Program is designed to answer: What is the condition of our Nation's streams and ground water? How are conditions changing over time? How do natural features and human activities affect the quality of streams and ground water, and where are those effects most pronounced? By combining information on water chemistry, physical characteristics, stream habitat, and aquatic life, the NAWQA Program aims to provide science-based insights for current and emerging water issues and priorities. From 1991 to 2001, the NAWQA Program completed interdisciplinary assessments and established a baseline understanding of water-quality conditions in 51 of the Nation's river basins and aquifers, referred to as Study Units (http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/studyu.html). In the second decade of the Program (2001-2012), a major focus is on regional assessments of water-quality conditions and trends. These regional assessments are based on major river basins and principal aquifers, which encompass larger regions of the country than the Study Units. Regional assessments extend the findings in the Study Units by filling critical gaps in characterizing the quality of surface water and ground water, and by determining status and trends at sites that have been consistently monitored for more than a decade. In addition, the regional assessments continue to build an understanding of how natural features and human activities affect water quality. Many of the regional assessments employ modeling and other scientific tools, developed on the basis of data collected at individual sites, to help extend knowledge of water quality to unmonitored, yet comparable areas within the regions. The models thereby enhance the value of our existing data and our understanding of the hydrologic system. In addition, the models are useful in evaluating various resource-management scenarios and in predicting how our actions, such as reducing or managing nonpoint and point sources of contamination, land conversion, and altering flow and (or) pumping regimes, are likely to affect water conditions within a region. Other activi...

From salmon to shad: Shifting sources of marine‐derived nutrients in the Columbia River Basin

“…These estimates were similar to annual TP loads ranging from 2.5 to 4.4 million kg P/year at rkm 87 as reported by Wise et al. ().…”

“…My results also indicate that the lower Columbia River has become increasingly P‐limited since the 1990s—changes likely due to reductions in P in detergents and better wastewater treatment. Seasonal N:P ratio trends were similar downstream at rkm's 85 and 243 indicating broadly similar seasonal nutrient trends in the mainstem Columbia River (Wise et al., ). However, while stoichiometric ratios suggest P limitation in the Columbia River, persistently detectable phosphate could otherwise indicate that phytoplankton may not be nutrient limited (Gilbert, Needoba, Koch, Barnard, & Baptista, ; Sullivan, Prahl, Small, & Covert, ).…”

“…Total P loads in John Day Reservoir were similar to those reported farther downstream. Mean daily TP loads for water year 2001 were 6,713 kg/day at Warrendale, Oregon (rkm 224), 9,934 kg/day just upstream of the Willamette and Columbia River confluence (rkm 164), and 26,800 kg/day at the Beaver Army Terminal (rkm 87; Wise et al., ). Annual TP loads (kg/year) from my data ranged from 2.3 to 4.7 million kg/year.…”

An Approach to Evaluate Comprehensive Plan and Identify Priority Lands for Future Land Use Development to Conserve More Ecological Values

“…Within the City Limit, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution exports rise by 44% and 157% respectively, and the carbon storage drops by 9%. The high percentage of nitrogen and phosphorus export is consistent with previous research finding that Willamette Basin is facing increasing risk of water contamination due to nitrogen input and phosphorus input [47,48]. All of these three results are less than the general impacts across the entire drainage basin.…”

The paraglacial geomorphology of the Fraser Lowland, southwest British Columbia and northwest Washington

“…The estimated mean annual flow of the Nooksack River at Ferndale is 109 cumecs for the same period of record. During 1995During -1998 the Nooksack River at Cedarville transported an average of 2.3 million tonnes of suspended sediment load per year (Embrey and Frans, 2003;Wise et al, 2007;Czuba et al, 2011). The Fraser and Nooksack rivers are continuing to build deltas, the form of which is strongly dependent on anthropogenic processes (Fig.…”