Quality of water on the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation, northeastern Kansas, May 2001 through August 2003

Abstract

Water-quality samples were collected from 20 surfacewater sites and 11 groundwater sites on the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation in northeastern Kansas in an effort to describe existing water-quality conditions on the reservation and to compare water-quality conditions to results from previous reports published as part of a multiyear cooperative study with the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. Water is a valuable resource to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation as tribal members use the streams draining the reservation, Soldier, Little Soldier, and South Cedar Creeks, to fulfill subsistence hunting and fishing needs and as the tribe develops an economic base on the reservation. Samples were collected once at 20 surface-water monitoring sites during June 2001, and quarterly samples were collected at 5 of the 20 monitoring sites from May 2001 through August 2003. Groundwater quality samples were collected once from seven wells and twice from four wells during April through May 2003 and in August 2003. Surface-water-quality samples collected from May through August 2001 were analyzed for physical properties, nutrients, pesticides, fecal indicator bacteria, and total suspended solids. In November 2001, an additional analysis for dissolved solids, major ions, trace elements, and suspendedsediment concentration was added for surface-water samples. Groundwater samples were analyzed for physical properties, dissolved solids, major ions, nutrients, trace elements, pesticides, and fecal indicator bacteria. Chemical oxygen demand and volatile organic compounds were analyzed in a sample from one monitoring well located near a construction and demolition landfill on the reservation. Previous reports published as a part of this ongoing study identified total phosphorus, triazine herbicides, and fecal coliform bacteria as exceeding their respective water-quality criteria in surface water on the reservation. Previous groundwater assessments identified occasional sample concentrations of dissolved solids, sodium, sulfate, boron, iron, and manganese as exceeding their respective water-quality criteria. Forty percent of the 65 surface-water samples analyzed for total phosphorus exceeded the aquatic-life goal of 0.1 mg/L (milligrams per liter) established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Concentrations of dissolved solids and sodium occasionally exceeded USEPA Secondary Drinking-Water Regulations and Drinking-Water Advisory Levels, respectively. One of the 20 samples analyzed for atrazine concentrations exceeded the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 3.0 µg/L (micrograms per liter) as an annual average established for drinking water by USEPA. A triazine herbicide screen was used on 63 surface-water samples, and triazine compounds were frequently detected. Triazine herbicides and their degradates are listed on the USEPA Contaminant Candidate List. Nitrite plus nitrate concentrations in two groundwater samples from one monitoring well exceeded the MCL of 10 mg/L established by USEPA for drinking water. Arsenic conce...

Loss of Alkaline Earth Elements by Runoff From Agricultural Watersheds

“…3). These values were similar to those reported for Mg in northeastern Kansas watershed where the average concentration in streams was 22 mg L-1 (Schmidt, 2004).…”

Water quality on the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation, northeastern Kansas, June 1996 through August 2006

“…During the study period May 2001 through August 2003, 40 percent of surface-water samples exceeded the water-quality goal of 0.10 mg/L established by USEPA for total phosphorus. Triazine herbicides, specifically atrazine, were detected frequently in surface-water samples but did not exceed the USEPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 3.0 µg/L for atrazine as an annual average (Schmidt, 2004). Fecal-indicator bacteria were detected in the majority of surface-water samples and exceeded water-quality criteria in 45 samples (12 of 65 exceeded USEPA recommended criterion for E. coli; 33 of 36 exceeded USEPA recommended criterion for enterococci).…”

“…Dissolved-solids concentrations in some surface-water samples exceeded water-quality criteria established by USEPA and were greatest in water samples from Big Elm Creek, at a site located downstream from a sewagetreatment lagoon. Dissolved-solids concentrations exceeded USEPA Secondary Drinking-Water Regulations (SDWRs) in 20 percent of ground-water samples (Schmidt, 2004). Sodium, sulfate, nitrite plus nitrate, and boron concentrations in ground-water samples occasionally exceeded their respective water-quality criteria for drinking water as established by 166 Rd.…”

“…The presence of these compounds may be explained by a nearby construction and demolition landfill ( fig. 1; Schmidt, 2004).…”

“…This report is the fourth in a series of reports resulting from the ongoing cooperative study with the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. Previous reports describe the surfacewater quality on the reservation from June 1996 through November 1998 , the surface-and groundwater quality on the reservation from February 1999 through February 2001 (Trombley, 2001), and the surface-and groundwater quality on the reservation from May 2001 through August 2003 (Schmidt, 2004).…”