Spatiotemporal Variability in Water Sources Controls Chemical and Physical Properties of a Semi‐arid Urban River System

Shah, Jennifer J. Follstad; Jameel, Yusuf; Smith, Rose Marie; Gabor, R. S.; Brooks, P. D.; Weintraub, Samantha R.

doi:10.1111/1752-1688.12734

Cited by 18 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 53 publications

(115 reference statements)

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“…The authors describe hot spots and hot moment as discrete locations and time points that exert a disproportionate influence on biogeochemical cycling in a landscape. These terms have been widely used to describe accelerated rates of biogeochemical cycling as well as elevated levels of chemicals in terrestrial and aquatic systems (Atkinson & Vaughn, 2015;Harms & Grimm, 2008;Shah et al, 2019). Bernhardt et al (2017) argue that in many cases, hot spots and hot moments are interconnected and they assert that the spatial and temporal dimensions of biogeochemical cycling should not be separated.…”

Section: Low Flow and Hot Moments Of Diminished Water Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Water quality and spatio‐temporal hot spots in an effluent‐dominated urban river

Schliemann

Grevstad

Brazeau

2020

Hydrological Processes

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In arid and semi-arid regions, many rivers experience extremely low flow conditions during seasonal dry periods. During these times, effluent from wastewater treatment plants can make up the majority of flow in the river. However, water quality in urban systems can also be strongly influenced by the natural or human-influenced flow regime and discharge from other anthropogenic sources such as industrial operations and runoff from impervious surfaces. In this study, we aimed to determine whether water quality was controlled primarily by wastewater discharge in an effluentdominated river. Between May 2016-May 2019, we systematically measured water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, and the concentrations of nitrate-N, ammonia-N, and orthophosphate in the South Platte River in the Denver metropolitan area, Colorado, USA. We found that, despite being an effluentdominated river, wastewater treatment plant discharge was not the principal factor controlling water quality in many of the sampled areas. Non-point source pollution from impervious surfaces, delivered to the river through storm drains and minor tributary streams, also contributed to the high nutrient conditions in several locations. We also noted a strong seasonality in water quality, with higher concentrations of nutrients and higher biochemical oxygen demand in the winter months when wastewater effluent can make up more than 90% of the flow in the river. Thus, the interaction of discharge location and reduced seasonal flow produced spatio-temporal hot spots of diminished water quality. More stringent enforcement of water quality regulations may improve water quality in this system. However, a large portion of the pollution seems to be from non-point sources, which are very difficult to control.

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Section: Low Flow and Hot Moments Of Diminished Water Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Water quality and spatio‐temporal hot spots in an effluent‐dominated urban river

Schliemann

Grevstad

Brazeau

2020

Hydrological Processes

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“…However, mineral interference with BOM isotope values was likely minimal because of our sampling methodology, which collected BOM suspended in the water column after agitation of the benthic surface. Lake-FPOM contributions were greatest in July, due to greater releases of lake water to the Jordan River in summer (Cirrus Ecological Solutions, 2012;Follstad Shah et al, 2019). Likewise, WWTP-FPOM contributions were greatest in fall due FIGURE 7 | Deuterium values of DOM compared to δ 2 H-water (A) and δ 13 C-DOM compared to δ 13 C of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC; B).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…to less dilution from Lake-FPOM after summer irrigation season (Follstad Shah et al, 2019). Lake-FPOM was assumed to be mostly autochthonous in July for two reasons.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic Matter Is a Mixture of Terrestrial, Autochthonous, and Wastewater Effluent in an Urban River

Kelso

Baker

2020

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Terrestrially derived organic matter (OM) is known to dominate the OM pool in reference watersheds. Urban watersheds are known to receive large OM loads compared to reference watersheds, but the proportion of terrestrial, autochthonous, and anthropogenic (e.g., wastewater effluent) sources of OM in urban watersheds remains unknown. Organic matter was identified as a pollutant of concern in the Jordan River, an urban river in the Salt Lake Basin, U.S.A. Our objective was to identify autochthonous, terrestrial, and anthropogenic sources of three size-classes of OM to the Jordan River to inform OM reduction strategies within the watershed. Samples of coarse particulate OM (CPOM), fine particulate OM (FPOM), and dissolved OM (DOM) were analyzed for stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen. Stable isotope values of OM were used for Bayesian and graphical gradient-based mixing models to identify autochthonous, terrestrial, and anthropogenic sources. Fluorescent properties of DOM were also used to characterize the sources and composition of DOM. CPOM was primarily terrestrially derived with increased autochthonous inputs from macrophytes in warm months. FPOM was a mixture of terrestrial, autochthonous, and wastewater effluent throughout the year. DOM was primarily from wastewater effluent as well as DOM with isotope signatures unique to DOM from Utah Lake. Characterization of OM in urban rivers will help inform conceptual models of OM dynamics and load management in urban ecosystems.

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“…Major cations (Ca, K, Mg, Na) and trace elements (Ag, Al, As, B, Ba, Be, Cd, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Eu, Fe, La, Li, Lu, Mn, Mo, Nd, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Se, Sm, Sr, Tb, Ti, Tl, U, V, Y, and Zn), which potentially shape bacterial community structure (Zeglin, 2015), were measured using an Agilent 7500ce quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS, Goodsell et al, 2017). Stable isotopes in water (δ 18 O and δD), which we included with trace elements as a surrogate of water source (Follstad Shah et al, 2019), were measured on unfiltered aliquots using a Los Gatos Research Liquid Water Isotope Analyzer (LWIA-24d, Carling et al, 2015).…”

Section: Environmental Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stream Microbial Community Structured by Trace Elements, Headwater Dispersal, and Large Reservoirs in Sub-Alpine and Urban Ecosystems

et al. 2020

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Stream bacterioplankton communities, a crucial component of aquatic ecosystems and surface water quality, are shaped by environmental selection (i.e., changes in taxa abundance associated with more or less favorable abiotic conditions) and passive dispersal (i.e., organisms’ abundance and distribution is a function of the movement of the water). These processes are a function of hydrologic conditions such as residence time and water chemistry, which are mediated by human infrastructure. To quantify the role of environmental conditions, dispersal, and human infrastructure (dams) on stream bacterioplankton, we measured bacterioplankton community composition in rivers from sub-alpine to urban environments in three watersheds (Utah, United States) across three seasons. Of the 53 environmental parameters measured (including physicochemical parameters, solute concentrations, and catchment characteristics), trace element concentrations explained the most variability in bacterioplankton community composition using Redundancy Analysis ordination. Trace elements may correlate with bacterioplankton due to the commonality in source of water and microorganisms, and/or environmental selection creating more or less favorable conditions for bacteria. Bacterioplankton community diversity decreased downstream along parts of the stream continuum but was disrupted where large reservoirs increased water residence time by orders of magnitude, potentially indicating a shift in the relative importance of environmental selection and dispersal at these sites. Reservoirs also had substantial effects on community composition, dissimilarity (Bray-Curtis distance) and species interactions as indicated by co-occurrence networks. Communities downstream of reservoirs were enriched with anaerobic Sporichthyaceae, methanotrophic Methylococcaceae, and iron-transforming Acidimicrobiales, suggesting alternative metabolic pathways became active in the hypolimnion of large reservoirs. Our results identify that human activity affects river microbial communities, with potential impacts on water quality through modified biogeochemical cycling.

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Spatiotemporal Variability in Water Sources Controls Chemical and Physical Properties of a Semi‐arid Urban River System

Cited by 18 publications

References 53 publications

Water quality and spatio‐temporal hot spots in an effluent‐dominated urban river

Water quality and spatio‐temporal hot spots in an effluent‐dominated urban river

Organic Matter Is a Mixture of Terrestrial, Autochthonous, and Wastewater Effluent in an Urban River

Stream Microbial Community Structured by Trace Elements, Headwater Dispersal, and Large Reservoirs in Sub-Alpine and Urban Ecosystems

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