Evidence of Geologic Phosphorus from Groundwater Seepage to Newnans Lake, Florida
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EVIDENCE OF GEOLOGIC PHOSPHORUS FROM GROUNDWATER SEEPAGE TO NEWNANS LAKE, FLORIDA By LAUREN M. LONG A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2009 1 © 2009 Lauren M. Long 2 To my parents 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank my major advisor, Matthew Cohen, for his encouragement and guidance, and also my committee members, Jonathan Martin and Mark Brenner, for all of their help and support. I must thank Larry Korhnak for all of the hours he spent in the field and lab with me; he was certainly invaluable to this study. I also thank Jeff Hull and Justin Vogel for their assistance in the field and Sanjay Lamsal for his GIS expertise. My lab mates and best friends, Elizabeth Deimeke, Danielle Watts, Danielle Liebenow, and Dina Liebowitz, were there for me throughout this project to be my sounding board, moral support, and provide last minute assistance in the field. I would also like to thank my parents and my brothers for supporting all of my decisions and for encouraging me to continue my education. I also express my appreciation to the St. John’s River Water Management District for providing the funding for this project. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................7 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................8 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................12 CHAPTER INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................14 Background .............................................................................................................................14 Groundwater Seepage .............................................................................................................16 Study Area ..............................................................................................................................17 Management ...........................................................................................................................18 Research Objectives ................................................................................................................20 Research Objective 1 .......................................................................................................20 Research Objective 2 .......................................................................................................21 METHODS ....................................................................................................................................28 Water and Phosphorus Budgets ..............................................................................................28 Water Budget ...................................................................................................................29 Phosphorus Budget ..........................................................................................................30 Ungauged Portion of the Watershed .......................................................................................31 Groundwater Wells .................................................................................................................31 Longitudinal Creek Sampling .................................................................................................34 RESULTS ......................................................................................................................................45 Phosphorus Budget Equations and Validation .......................................................................45 Water and Phosphorus Budgets ..............................................................................................46 Groundwater Wells .................................................................................................................49 Longitudinal Creek Sampling .................................................................................................53 Low Baseflow ..................................................................................................................53 Moderate Baseflow ..........................................................................................................54 Storm Flow ......................................................................................................................56 Source of Phosphorus ......................................................................................................58 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................94 Water and Phosphorus Budgets ..............................................................................................94 Water Budget ...................................................................................................................94 5 Phosphorus Budget ..........................................................................................................95 Groundwater Wells .................................................................................................................97 Groundwater Flow ...........................................................................................................97 Groundwater Phosphorus ..............................................................................................100 Longitudinal Creek Sampling ...............................................................................................105 Management Implications ....................................................................................................108 Conclusions...........................................................................................................................111 LIST OF REFERENCES .............................................................................................................117 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................................121 6 LIST OF TABLES Table page 3-1 Flow-weighted P concentrations for each of the inflows and outflows in Newnans Lake....................................................................................................................................92 3-2 Hydraulic conductivity and cross sectional area for each well. .........................................93 3-3 Cumulative inflows for October 2007- August 2008. .......................................................93 4-1 Annual inputs and outputs for the water budget (including estimated flows from Prairie Creek Reach). .......................................................................................................115 4-2 Annual inputs and outputs for the P budget (not including estimated fluxes from Prairie Creek Reach). .......................................................................................................115 4-3 Hydraulic gradient (cm) for each well location during each sampling period. ...............116 7 LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 1-1 The location of Newnans Lake in Alachua County, Florida. ............................................23 1-2 A comparison between lake water elevation and total P concentration in Newnans Lake (Cohen et al., 2007). ..................................................................................................24 1-3 Depth to Hawthorn layer in the Newnans Lake watershed. Pixels are 100m x 100m (Cohen et al., 2008). ...........................................................................................................25 1-4 Expected trend in groundwater seepage to Newnans Lake, assuming that lake levels fluctuate independently of groundwater levels. .................................................................26 1-5 Diagram showing the expected trend in surface water flow and SRP concentrations in both Hatchet and Little Hatchet Creeks. ........................................................................27 2-1 A diagram showing the inflows, outflows, and in lake stores of both water and P in Newnans Lake. ...................................................................................................................36 2-2 Location of the gauging stations used for the P and water budgets. ..................................37 2-3 Major sub-basins in the Newnans Lake watershed. ...........................................................38 2-4 The top graph shows monthly rainfall for the period of record; the bottom graph shows annual rainfall. ........................................................................................................39 2-5 The relationship between the surface flows of Lake Forest Creek and Little Hatchet Creek. .................................................................................................................................40 2-6 Sampling locations used for the estimated P fluxes in Prairie Creek Reach from March 12, 2008. .................................................................................................................41