And Ground-Water Interactions in the Upper Hillsborough River Watershed, West-Central Florida
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Hydrology, Water Quality, and Surface- and Ground-Water Interactions in the Upper Hillsborough River Watershed, West-Central Florida By J.T. Trommer, L.A. Sacks, and E.L. Kuniansky Prepared in cooperation with the Southwest Florida Water Management District Scientific Investigations Report 2007-5121 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior DIRK KEMPTHORNE, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Mark D. Myers, Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2007 For product and ordering information: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS For more information on the USGS--the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this report. Suggested citation: Trommer, J.T., Sacks, L.A., and Kuniansky, E.L., 2007, Hydrology, Water Quality, and Surface- and Ground- Water Interactions in the Upper Hillsborough River Watershed, West-Central Florida: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007-5121, 73 p. iii Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................................................1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................2 Purpose and Scope .....................................................................................................................................3 Previous Investigations ..............................................................................................................................3 Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................................................4 Description of Study Area ....................................................................................................................................5 Data Collection and Methodology ....................................................................................................................................................8 Surface Water ................................................................................................................................................8 Ground Water ...............................................................................................................................................9 Ground- and Surface-Water Interaction ..............................................................................................11 Water Quality ...............................................................................................................................................................................12 Hydrogeologic Framework ................................................................................................................................13 Ground-Water Geochemistry ...........................................................................................................................19 Surface-Water Hydrology ...............................................................................................................................................................20 Streamflow ..................................................................................................................................................20 Flow Duration..............................................................................................................................................22 Surface-Water Quality .......................................................................................................................................24 Nutrients ......................................................................................................................................................31 Loads, Yields, and Trends ...............................................................................................................33 Interaction Between Surface- and Ground-Water Systems .....................................................................35 Streamflow Gains and Losses .................................................................................................................35 Hydrograph Separation ............................................................................................................................40 Ground-Water Levels and Flow Direction ....................................................................................................................41 Hydrogeologic Cross Sections ......................................................................................................41 Simulated Ground-Water Discharge .................................................................................................................44 Summary ...............................................................................................................................................................52 Selected References ..........................................................................................................................................................................55 Appendix 1. Ground-water data-collection sites sampled during this study ............................61-62 Appendix 2. Statistical summary of selected water-quality data from surface-water sites in the upper Hillsborough River watershed, water years 2000–2002 .......63-66 Appendix 3. Nutrient loads at the HR6, HR4, BWC and IC2 sites in the upper Hillsborough River watershed water years 2001 and 2002 ................................... 67-68 Appendix 4. Nutrient yields at the HR6, HR4, BWC and IC2 sites in the upper Hillsborough River watershed water years 2001 and 2002 ....................................69-70 Appendix 5. Ground-water and surface-water levels at the Blackwater Creek, Hillsborough River at State Road 39, and upper Hillsborough River Tract transect sites ...........................................................................................................71-73 iv Figures 1-3. Maps showing: 1. Location of the Hillsborough River watershed and the upper Hillsborough River watershed, west-central Florida ..............................................................................2 2. Location of the upper Hillsborough River watershed and the surface-water data-collection network ........................................................................................................4 3. Physiography and topography in the upper Hillsborough River watershed ..............6 4. Graph showing departure from the 30-year mean annual rainfall for the dry (October–March) and wet (June through September) seasons in the upper Hillsborough River watershed, water years 2000–2002 ..............................................................7 5. Map showing location of the upper Hillsborough River watershed and the ground-water data collection network ...........................................................................................9 6. Map showing location of the upper Hillsborough River watershed and the water-quality sampling sites ...........................................................................................................12 7. Generalized hydrostratigraphy for the study area .....................................................................14 8. Maps showing potentiometric surface of the Upper Floridan aquifer in the upper Hillsborough River watershed and adjacent areas, May 2001 and September 2002 ..........16 9-12. Graphs showing: 9. Comparison of water levels in the Upper Floridan and surficial aquifers at selected ROMP 86.5 well sites with continuous data, 2000–2002 .......................17 10. Trends in mean annual ground-water levels at three well sites with long-term data ........................................................................................................................18 11. Daily mean discharge at the Hillsborough River stations and at the Blackwater and Itchepackesassa Creek stations, water years 2000–2002 ...........21 12. Duration curves of the daily mean discharge at the Hillsborough River near Zephyrhills, Hillsborough River above Crystal Springs, and Blackwater Creek near Knights stations for the period of record and study period (2000–2002) ................................................................................................... 23 13. Piper diagram of water chemistry at the twelve surface-water sites, and one Upper Floridan aquifer ground-water reference sample in the upper Hillsborough River watershed, 2000–2002 ...................................................................................25 14. Maps showing distribution of water chemistry at the twelve surface-water sites in the upper Hillsborough River watershed, May and September, 2002 ......................26 15-19. Graphs showing: 15. Selected constituent concentrations in water at the upper Hillsborough River sites and at the Blackwater