Water Quality Conditions and Trends in the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, National Park Service: 1987 – 2009
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Water Quality Conditions and Trends in the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, National Park Service: 1987 – 2009 EDWARDS AQUIFER RESEARCH & DATA CENTER Stephen D. Porter, Justin Kirk, and Glenn Longley R1-10 June 2010 Front cover photo: Travertine Creek at Travertine Nature Center Water Quality Conditions and Trends in the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, National Park Service: 1978-2009 by Stephen D. Porter, Justin Kirk, and Glenn Longley Glenn Longley, PhD; Director In cooperation with National Park Service, Southern Plains Network Cooperative Agreement J2122080014 Robert Bennetts, PhD; Inventory and Monitoring Network Coordinator R1-10 May 2009 (Draft) Contents Figures................................................................................................................................. ii Tables................................................................................................................................. iv Summary............................................................................................................................. v Acknowledgements..........................................................................................................viii Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1 Background..................................................................................................................... 1 Study Area ...................................................................................................................... 2 Water Quality Monitoring................................................................................................... 4 Monitoring Activities...................................................................................................... 4 Annual Precipitation during Monitoring Periods............................................................ 5 Comparison of Water Quality Monitoring Periods of Record........................................ 6 Water Quality Conditions and Trends ................................................................................ 9 Approach......................................................................................................................... 9 Historical Water Quality Conditions at “OLD” sites (1987-94)................................... 10 Buckhorn Creek Basin .............................................................................................. 10 Rock Creek Basin ..................................................................................................... 14 Guy Sandy Creek Basin............................................................................................ 19 Recent Water Quality Conditions at “NEW” sites (2000-09) ...................................... 22 Stream and Spring Sites............................................................................................ 22 Lake Sites.................................................................................................................. 27 Fecal-Indicator Bacteria at Chickasaw NRA Swimming Areas............................... 31 Considerations for Improving Water Quality Monitoring................................................ 32 Literature Cited ................................................................................................................. 35 i Figures Figure 1. Names and locations of water-quality monitoring sites in Chickasaw NRA. ..... 3 Figure 2. Estimated rainfall during period of water-quality monitoring. ........................... 6 Figure 3. Comparison of historical (red) and recent (blue) monitoring data for water temperature. Refer to Tables 1 and 2 for old and new site descriptions............................ 7 Figure 4. Comparison of historical (red) and recent (blue) monitoring data for pH. Refer to Tables 1 and 2 for old and new site descriptions............................................................ 7 Figure 5. Comparison of historical (red) and recent (blue) monitoring data for dissolved oxygen. Refer to Tables 1 and 2 for old and new site descriptions. .................................. 8 Figure 6. Comparison of historical (red) and recent (blue) monitoring data for nitrate nitrogen. Refer to Tables 1 and 2 for old and new site descriptions.................................. 9 Figure 7. LOWESS trend lines for water temperature in the Buckhorn Creek basin...... 11 Figure 8. LOWESS trend lines for pH in the Buckhorn Creek basin.............................. 11 Figure 9. LOWESS trend lines for specific conductance in the Buckhorn Creek basin. 12 Figure 10. LOWESS trend lines for dissolved oxygen in the Buckhorn Creek basin..... 12 Figure 11. LOWESS trend lines for nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in the Buckhorn Creek basin........................................................................................................................ 13 Figure 12. LOWESS trend lines for total phosphorus concentrations in the Buckhorn Creek basin........................................................................................................................ 14 Figure 13. LOWESS trend lines for water temperature in the Rock Creek basin. .......... 15 Figure 14. LOWESS trend lines for pH in the Rock Creek basin. .................................. 15 Figure 15. LOWESS trend lines for specific conductance in the Rock Creek basin....... 16 Figure 16. LOWESS trend lines for dissolved oxygen concentrations in the Rock Creek basin. ................................................................................................................................. 17 Figure 17. LOWESS trend lines for nitrate concentrations in the Rock Creek basin...... 18 Figure 18. LOWESS trend lines for total phosphorus concentrations in the Rock Creek basin. ................................................................................................................................. 18 Figure 19. LOWESS trend lines for dissolved oxygen concentrations in the Guy Sandy Creek basin........................................................................................................................ 19 ii Figure 20. LOWESS trend lines for turbidity in the Guy Sandy Creek basin................. 20 Figure 21. LOWESS trend lines for nitrate concentrations in the Guy Sandy basin....... 21 Figure 22. LOWESS trend lines for total phosphorus concentrations in the Guy Sandy basin. ................................................................................................................................. 21 Figure 23. Water temperature in streams and springs...................................................... 22 Figure 24. pH values in streams and springs. .................................................................. 23 Figure 25. LOWESS trend lines for pH in streams and springs. ..................................... 23 Figure 26. Specific conductance values in stream and springs........................................ 24 Figure 27. LOWESS trend lines for specific conductance in streams and springs.......... 24 Figure 28. Dissolved oxygen concentrations in streams and springs. ............................. 25 Figure 29. LOWESS trend lines for dissolved oxygen in streams and springs. .............. 25 Figure 30. Turbidity in streams and springs. .................................................................... 26 Figure 31. LOWESS trend lines for turbidity in streams and springs. ............................ 27 Figure 32. Water temperature at lake sites....................................................................... 27 Figure 33. LOWESS trend lines for water temperature at lake sites............................... 28 Figure 34. pH values at lake sites. ................................................................................... 28 Figure 35. LOWESS trend lines for pH at lake sites. ...................................................... 29 Figure 36. Specific conductance values at lake sites. ....................................................... 29 Figure 37. Dissolved oxygen concentrations at lake sites. .............................................. 30 Figure 38. LOWESS trend line for dissolved oxygen at lake sites.................................. 30 Figure 39. Water turbidity at lake sites............................................................................ 31 Figure 40. LOWESS trend lines for Escherichia coli bacteria in swimming areas......... 32 Figure 41. Long term precipitation record for Sulphur, Oklahoma................................. 49 iii Tables Table 1. List of “old” water-quality monitoring sites in Chickasaw NRA (1987-94)........ 4 Table 2. List of “new” water-quality monitoring sites in Chickasaw NRA (2000-09). ..... 5 Table 3. Summary statistics for E. coli bacteria at NRA swimming areas....................... 31 Table 4. Summary statistics for "old" water quality monitoring sites (1987-94). ............ 37 Table 5. Summary statistics for "new" water quality monitoring sites (2000-09)............ 45 iv Summary • Fundamental objectives of the National Park Service’s Inventory and Monitoring Program (“vital signs”) include developing an inventory of existing water quality data, establishing water quality benchmarks, identifying potential water quality problems and establishing a water quality database for each park. Chickasaw National Recreation Area (NRA) personnel have been monitoring the quality of streams, springs, and lakes