Remote Water Quality Monitoring Network Baseline Conditions 2010
Remote Water Quality Monitoring Network Data Report of Baseline Conditions for 2010 - 2012 A SUMMARY Susquehanna River Basin Commission Publication No. 292 December 2013 Abstract The Susquehanna River Basin process can impact the specific trend at Choconut Creek, and pH and Commission (SRBC) continuously conductance of a stream, while the temperature showing an increasing monitors water chemistry in select infrastructure (roads and pipelines) trend at Hammond Creek. Dissolved watersheds in the Susquehanna needed to make drilling possible in oxygen did not show a trend at any of River Basin undergoing shale gas remote watersheds may adversely the stations and Meshoppen Creek did drilling activity. Initiated in 2010, impact stream sediment loads. The not show a trend with any parameters. 58 monitoring stations are included monitoring stations were grouped The natural gas well density varies in the Remote Water Quality by Level III ecoregion with specific within the watersheds; Choconut Monitoring Network (RWQMN). conductance and turbidity analyzed Creek has no drilling activity, the Specific conductance, pH, turbidity, using box plots. Based on available Hammond Creek Watershed has less dissolved oxygen, and temperature data, land use, permitted dischargers, than one well per square mile, and are continuously monitored and and geology appear to play the greatest the well density in the Meshoppen additional water chemistry parameters role with influencing turbidity and Creek Watershed is almost three times (metals, nutrients, radionuclides, etc.) specific conductance. that of Hammond Creek. Although are collected at least four times a year. the analyses were only performed on These data provide a baseline dataset In order to determine if shale three stations, the results show the for smaller streams in the basin, which gas drilling and the associated importance of collecting enough data previously had little or no data.
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