The North Santiam River, Oregon, Water-Quality Monitoring Network
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The North Santiam River, Oregon, Water-Quality Monitoring Network In February 1996, North U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released west Oregon experienced water from Detroit Lake. This turbid lake some of the most severe flood water flowed downstream, keeping turbi ing in recorded history. dity values at the water-treatment facility Heavy, warm rain fell on intakes high until July 1996. The City of above average snowpack in Salem was forced to temporarily cease the Cascade Range of the Wil operations of the facility for 8 days and lamette River Basin, resulting acquire water from reserve sources and in 50- to 100-year flood events neighboring communities until an alter in many area rivers. The nate treatment scheme was developed. North Santiam River at In 1998, a monitoring program was Mehama crested at nearly initiated to better understand the sources 2½ feet above flood stage on and transport of sediment that causes high the afternoon of February 7, turbidity within the North Santiam River 1996. Although the water Basin. The project is a cooperative effort level returned to normal of the City of Salem, the U.S. Geological within a few weeks, the water The City of Salem water-treatment facility withdraws water Survey (USGS), the U.S. Forest Service, from the North Santiam River. Changes in water quality, as quality was affected for and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In during floods, affect the facility’s operation. months to come. anticipation of future events like the 1996 flooding, the agencies now continuously monitor hydrologic and water-quality con- Why Monitor Water Quality? Lake was held back to prevent further ditions throughout the basin. The data col- flooding downstream. When the turbid lected by this program are available online The water quality of the North Santiam waters of the North Santiam tributaries River is important to more than 170,000 in real-time and are used by the coopera- flowed into the lake, the larger sand parti- tors for current operational decisions, residents of the Salem, Oregon area that cles settled out of the water. The fine silt rely on the river as their primary source of ongoing research projects and future basin and clay particles, stirred by currents, wind management. drinking water. The river normally runs so and waves, remained suspended. As the clear that the City of Salem is able to use a flood waters downstream receded, the relatively inexpensive and environmentally low-impact water-treatment process called slow-sand filtration. This process uses sand and gravel filters to remove suspended What Is TURBIDITY? organic and inorganic particles in conjunc Turbidity is a measure of the tion with natural biological processes to “muddiness” of water caused by remove dissolved organic contaminants. If suspended and dissolved material, the river turbidity (see inset) is greater than as well as organic matter. The cur 10 NTU, these filters can become clogged. rently accepted numerical mea To keep the facility running smoothly, the sure of turbidity is the nephelo intake water is tested daily. If the turbidity metric turbidity unit (NTU). An NTU value represents the amount remains consistently above 10 NTU, the of light scattered by particles in water intakes are closed. the water. As the number of sus During the 1996 flooding, the North pended particles in the water in Santiam River had turbidity values in creases, the intensity of scattered excess of 100 NTU at the water-treatment light increases, which results in facility intakes. (It is impossible to deter higher turbidity values. In this mine the exact maximum turbidity value photograph, the North Santiam because there was no continuous water- River near Detroit has a turbidity quality monitoring system in place at the of approximately 700 NTU. time.) Much of the water entering Detroit U.S. Department of the Interior USGS Fact Sheet FS–2004–3069 U.S. Geological Survey December 2004 The North Santiam River Basin Table 1. North Santiam River Basin monitoring stations. Subbasin area USGS station Date of water-quality Number of suspended- Map number Site name (square miles)1 number Station name probe installation2 sediment samples3 1 Mehama 655 14183000 North Santiam River at Mehama April 2000 156 2 Little North 112 14182500 Little North Santiam River near Mehama April 2000 150 3 Niagara 453 14181500 North Santiam River at Niagara April 2000 93 4 French 9.9 14179100 French Creek near Detroit June 2001 64 5 Breitenbush 108 14179000 Breitenbush River near Detroit October 1998 131 6 North Santiam 216 14178000 North Santiam River near Detroit October 1998 4227 7 Blowout 26 14180300 Blowout Creek near Detroit October 1998 158 1Includes the area upstream from the station location and contributing subbasins. 2Includes water temperature, specific conductance, pH, and turbidity. 3Samples collected manually through June 30, 2004. 475 samples from automatic pumping sampler. The North Santiam River Basin flows and landslides that supply sediment Lake), formed by the damming of the Study to the rivers. The central basin is bounded river. The reservoirs are operated by the on the east by less steep and younger High Corps of Engineers for power generation, The North Santiam River Basin is Cascades volcanics and on the west by flood control, streamflow management, located on the western slopes of the Cas- Willamette Valley alluvial lowlands. and recreation. cade Range in northwestern Oregon, east Average annual precipitation in the area of Salem. The river flows west from ranges from 45 inches in Stayton to over How Is Water Quality of the North Mount Jefferson to the Willamette River, 200 inches at Mount Jefferson. The basin Santiam River Monitored? draining 766 square miles upstream from contains the main-stem North Santiam Salem’s water-treatment facility. The River, its major tributaries (Breitenbush The USGS operates a network of geology of the central part of the basin is River, Blowout Creek, French Creek, and monitoring stations (sites) throughout the dominated by Western Cascade volcanic the Little North Santiam River), and two North Santiam River Basin. Seven sites rocks. The steep terrain and older, weath- reservoirs (Detroit Lake and Big Cliff provide water-quality and streamflow ered soils of this area produce many earth- information (table 1). Three sites are located downstream from Detroit Lake tions of chemical ions in the water. Abrupt (map numbers 1–3), and four sites are conductance deviations may result from located on streams that flow into the lake chemical spills or sewage overflows (map numbers 4–7). Each site has equip entering a stream, lake, or other water- ment that measures the water level of the body. river and several water-quality parame ters. These data are recorded electroni cally every half-hour. Several times a day, the data are uploaded to the USGS Port land office, stored in a database, and made available through a Website (http:// The summer water temperature in the North or.water.usgs.gov/santiam). These provi Santiam River at Mehama (map number 1) o sional data are immediately available to sometimes peaks above 16 C on several the agencies involved in the study, as well consecutive days, potentially exceeding the as to the public. The USGS periodically Oregon standard, which is calculated by aver aging the maximum values of the previous 7 corrects or deletes the raw data according days. to routine field checks of the water-quality A dramatic spike in conductivity appeared in probes and other calibration or perfor the Breitenbush River (map number 5) over Turbidity mance issues. The final data are then pub just a few hours. Periods of regularly occur lished in a year-end report. ring spikes such as this may lead to an investi Turbidity is used as a monitoring and gation of possible causes of contamination regulatory parameter in the industrial, Multiparameter Water-Quality upstream of the monitoring station. sanitation, and environmental fields, and Probes can be used as a substitute for suspended- pH sediment concentration. Elevated turbid Water-quality probes in the North San pH is the measure of the alkaline or ity reduces the transparency of water due tiam River Basin measure specific con acidic properties of water. Proper pH is to the presence of suspended and dis ductance, pH, water temperature, and tur important for the survival and abundance solved materials. Increases in turbidity bidity. These physical and chemical of aquatic plant and animal communities, can reduce biological primary production characteristics are important indicators of as well as for the aesthetic qualities of (algal growth), important to the health and the overall health of the aquatic system. drinking water, such as taste, odor, and balance of the aquatic ecosystem, and may color. aid in transporting contaminants attached to suspended particles. Turbidity can be an indicator of water suitability for fish ery, drinking, industrial, and recreational uses, and has been used to evaluate the effects of mining, dredging, stream-side construction, wastewater effluent, log ging, road building, and other land use activities. Warm, sunny afternoons result in increased photosynthetic activity from instream algae and rooted aquatic plants. This can be ob served in daily variations of pH values at Little North Santiam River near Mehama (map num ber 2). Summer heat and low-flow conditions can cause pH to exceed the Oregon standard of 8.5. A USGS scientist calibrates a water-quality The sudden increase in turbidity at Blowout instrument at the Breitenbush monitoring sta Water Temperature Creek (map number 7) reached the sensor’s tion. Optimal water temperature is impor maximum value (about 1,350 NTU) in just min utes, gradually dropping after remaining for 2 tant for the survival and vitality of fish and Specific Conductance hours at the sensor limit.