2015 Nutrients and Suspended Sediment in the Susquehanna River Basin
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2015 NUTRIENTS AND SUSPENDED SEDIMENT IN THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER BASIN Publication No. 313 May 18, 2017 Kevin H. McGonigal Environmental Scientist James P. Shallenberger Manager, Monitoring & Protection Program This report is prepared in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Quality Protection, Division of Conservation Districts and Nutrient Management, under Grant ME4100064572. Basil Seggos, New York Commissioner James M. Tierney, New York Alternate Paul D’Amato, New York Alternate Scott Foti, New York Alternate Patrick McDonnell, Pennsylvania Commissioner Dana Aunkst, Pennsylvania Alternate Jennifer Orr, Pennsylvania Alternate Ben Grumbles, Maryland Commissioner Saeid Kasraei, Maryland Alternate Virginia Kearney, Maryland Alternate Brig. General William H. Graham, U.S. Commissioner Colonel Edward P. Chamberlayne, U.S. Alternate David J. Leach, U.S. Alternate Amy M. Guise, U.S. Alternate Andrew D. Dehoff, P.E., Executive Director The Susquehanna River Basin Commission was created as an independent agency by a federal-interstate compact* among the states of Maryland and New York, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the federal government. In creating the Commission, the Congress and state legislatures formally recognized the water resources of the Susquehanna River Basin as a regional asset vested with local, state, and national interests for which all the parties share responsibility. As the single federal-interstate water resources agency with basinwide authority, the Commission's goal is to coordinate the planning, conservation, management, utilization, development, and control of Basin water resources among the public and private sectors. *Statutory Citations: Federal - Pub. L. 91-575, 84 Stat. 1509 (December 1970); Maryland - Natural Resources Sec. 8-301 (Michie 1974); New York - ECL Sec. 21-1301 (McKinney 1973); and Pennsylvania - 32 P.S. 820.1 (Supp. 1976). This report is available on our web site (www.srbc.net) by selecting Public Information/Technical Reports. For a CD or hard copy, contact the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, 4423 N. Front Street, Harrisburg, Pa. 17110- 1788, Phone: (717) 238-0423, Fax: (717) 238-2436, E-mail: [email protected]. TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................................. 1 KEY FINDINGS ........................................................................................................................................... 1 BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................................................... 2 WATER SAMPLE COLLECTION .............................................................................................................. 8 LABORATORY ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................... 9 HYDROLOGIC DATA: PRECIPITATION .............................................................................................. 10 HYDROLOGIC DATA: DISCHARGE (FLOW) ...................................................................................... 11 2015 PRECIPITATION AND DISCHARGE ............................................................................................ 11 DATA REDUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 12 Concentrations, Estimated Loads, and Estimated Yields .................................................................. 13 Long-Term Mean Ratio ..................................................................................................................... 14 Distributed Targets ............................................................................................................................ 15 Trends ................................................................................................................................................ 16 Adjustments for Flow and Season ..................................................................................................... 17 Colorized Heat Charts ....................................................................................................................... 18 2015 RESULTS .......................................................................................................................................... 23 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................................. 24 DISTRIBUTED LOADS ............................................................................................................................ 34 KEY POLLUTANT: SUSPENDED SEDIMENT ..................................................................................... 38 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................... 40 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 42 FIGURES Figure 1. Locations of Sampling Sites Within the Susquehanna River Basin ...................................... 6 Figure 2. Conceptual Storm Hydrograph and Group A and Group B Storm Sampling Targets .......... 8 Figure 3. Precipitation and Average Daily Flow (ADF) Seasonal and Annual Statistics for 2015 and the Approximately 30-year Long-term Mean for Group A NTN Monitoring Stations in the Susquehanna River Basin .................................................................................................... 12 Figure 4. Comparison of Total Nitrogen Yield (left) and Load (right) for the Marietta and Conestoga Stations ................................................................................................................................ 14 Figure 5. 2015 Annual Pollutant Loads and Discharge for Group A NTN Monitoring Stations as Fractions of the Long-Term Mean ...................................................................................... 15 Figure 6. Annual and Mean Discharge Susquehanna River at Marietta in Cubic Feet/Second (cfs) . 24 Figure 7. Peak Discharge Susquehanna River at Marietta in Cubic Feet/Second (cfs) ...................... 24 Figure 8. Annual Pollutant Loads and Peak Annual ADF in Chronological Order from 1999 to 2015 for Marietta Station .............................................................................................................. 25 Figure 9. 2015 and LTM TN, TP, and SS Yields at All Sites in Pounds Per Acre ............................. 29 Figure 10. Long-term FNC and FNF Trend Directions at Group A Sites ............................................ 32 Figure 11. Short-term FNC and FNF Trend Directions at All Sites ..................................................... 33 Figure 12. 2015 and LTM TN, TP, and SS Yields and 2025 Targets at All Sites in Pounds Per Acre 36 Figure 13. Small Tributary Monitoring Locations ................................................................................ 40 i TABLES Table 1. Data Collection Sites and Their Drainage Areas and 2000 Land Use Percentages ............... 7 Table 2. Water Quality Parameters, Laboratory Methods, and Detection Limits ............................. 10 Table 3. TN, TP, and SS loads (1000’s of pounds) at Towanda, Danville, and Marietta ................. 15 Table 4. 2017 and 2025 Loads (1000’s of lbs) and Yield (lb/ac) Targets, (BayTas 2.0) for the Susquehanna River Basin .................................................................................................... 16 Table 5. Heat Chart of TN When All Group A sites, Except Conestoga, Are Colorized Together .. 19 Table 6. Heat Chart of TN When All Group A sites, Except Conestoga, Are Colorized Together .. 20 Table 7. Heat Chart of TN When All Group A sites, Except Conestoga, Are Colorized Together .. 21 Table 8. Heat Chart of TN When All Group A sites, Except Conestoga, Are Colorized Together .. 22 Table 9. Heat Chart of TN When All Group A sites, Except Conestoga, Are Colorized Together .. 23 Table 10. Loads of TN, TP, and SS during Two Four-Year Low Flow Periods at Marietta ............... 25 Table 11. Suspended Sediment Loads at Susquehanna River Sites .................................................... 26 Table 12. SS Colorized Heat Chart at Danville ................................................................................... 27 Table 13. Select Monthly Discharge and Load Ratios ........................................................................ 28 Table 14. Flow, TN, TP, and SS Loads (1000’s of pounds) for 2015 and Similar Flow Years .......... 28 Table 15. Monthly Precipitation, Flow, and Suspended Sediment Loads at Marietta......................... 30 Table 16. Short-term Flow Normalized Trend Percent Change at All Sites by Subbasin ................... 31 Table 17. 2015 10-year Average, and 2025 Distributed Loads (1000’s of lbs) for all Sites ............... 35 Table 18. Annual Reductions Needed (1000’s of Pounds) to Attain 2025 Target Levels at All Sites 37 Table 19. Monthly Reductions Needed (1000’s of Pounds) to Attain 2025 Target Levels at Group A Mainstem Susquehanna ....................................................................................................... 37 Table 20. Monthly Reductions Needed (1000’s of Pounds) to Attain 2025 Target