Smith Mountain Lake Water Quality Monitoring Program 2018 Report
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Smith Mountain Lake Water Quality Monitoring Program 2018 Report Prepared by Dr. Carolyn L. Thomas, Dr. Maria A. Puccio, Dr. Delia R. Heck, Dr. David M. Johnson, Dr. Bob R. Pohlad, Ms. Carol C. Love, School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Ferrum College Sponsored by The Smith Mountain Lake Association Funded by American Electric Power Bedford County Regional Water Authority Smith Mountain Lake Association Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Western Virginia Water Authority (WVWA) December 17, 2018 SMLA WATER QUALITY MONITORING PROGRAM 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE of CONTENTS .................................................................................................................... i FIGURES ........................................................................................................................................ iii TABLES .......................................................................................................................................... v 2018 Officers .................................................................................................................................. vii 2018 Directors ................................................................................................................................ vii 2018 Smith Mountain Lake Volunteer Monitors ............................................................................ viii 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Conclusions – Trophic Status ................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Conclusions – Dissolved Oxygen, Temperature, pH and Conductivity Lake Depth Profiles .. 2 1.3 Esherichia coli Measurements and Bacterial Source Tracking ............................................... 2 1.4 Algae in Smith Mountain Lake .............................................................................................. 3 2. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 4 3. METHODS ................................................................................................................................. 7 4. TROPHIC STATUS MONITORING........................................................................................ 11 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 11 4.2 Methods .............................................................................................................................. 11 4.3 Results ................................................................................................................................ 13 4.4 Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 16 4.5 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 21 5. WATER QUALITY TRENDS BY ZONE ................................................................................ 22 5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 22 5.2 Methods .............................................................................................................................. 22 5.3 Results ................................................................................................................................ 24 5.4 Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 28 5.5 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 32 6. VERTICAL PROFILES OF WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS........................................... 33 6.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 33 CONTENTS i SMLA WATER QUALITY MONITORING PROGRAM 2018 6.2 Methods .............................................................................................................................. 34 6.3 Results ................................................................................................................................ 34 6.4 Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 39 6.5 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 40 7. BACTERIA IN SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE ........................................................................... 41 7.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 41 7.2 E. coli Methods ................................................................................................................... 41 7.3 E. coli Results and Discussion ............................................................................................. 42 7.4 E. coli Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 45 7.5 Bacterial Source Tracking Methods ..................................................................................... 46 7.6 Bacterial Source Tracking Results and Discussion .............................................................. 46 7.7 Bacterial Source Tracking Conclusions ............................................................................... 51 8. ALGAE IN SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE ................................................................................. 53 8.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 53 8.2 Methods .............................................................................................................................. 53 8.3 Results ................................................................................................................................ 54 8.4 Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 63 8.5 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 63 9. QUALITY ASSURANCE/QUALITY CONTROL ................................................................... 64 9.1 Calibration Data for Total Phosphorus and Total Nitrogen .................................................. 64 9.1.1 Summary of Calibration Data ...................................................................................... 64 9.2 Comparison of Standards over the Course of Analysis ........................................................ 65 9.2.1 Summary of Precision of Analysis over Analysis Time................................................ 66 9.3 Blanks and Spiked Blanks ................................................................................................... 66 9.3.1 Summary of Blank and Spiked Blank Analysis ............................................................ 67 9.4 Duplicate and Spiked Sample Analysis for Total Phosphorus and Total Nitrogen ................ 68 CONTENTS ii SMLA WATER QUALITY MONITORING PROGRAM 2018 9.4.1 Summary of Duplicate and Spiked Samples ................................................................. 69 9.5 Analysis of Purchased Standard .......................................................................................... 69 9.5.1 Summary of Analysis of Purchased Standard ............................................................... 70 9.6 QA/QC for Chlorophyll-a ................................................................................................... 70 9.7 QA/QC for Secchi Disk Depth ............................................................................................ 70 9.8 QA/QC for E. coli ............................................................................................................... 70 9.8.1 Summary of QA/QC for E. coli ................................................................................... 72 10. SAMPLING EFFICIENCY ...................................................................................................... 73 11. CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................................... 74 12. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... 78 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................... 79 APPENDIX .................................................................................................................................... 81 FIGURES Figure 4.1. Trophic status parameters (total nitrogen, total phosphorus, chlorophyll-a, and Secchi depth) for Smith Mountain Lake for each sampling period ....................... 15 Figure 4.2. Variation of trophic status parameters with distance to the dam for Smith Mountain Lake in 2018 .......................................................................................