SURFACE-WATER-QUALITY ASSESSMENT of the YAKIMA RIVER BASIN, WASHINGTON: ANALYSIS of AVAILABLE WATER-QUALITY DATA THROUGH 1985 WATER YEAR by J.F
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SURFACE-WATER-QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF THE YAKIMA RIVER BASIN, WASHINGTON: ANALYSIS OF AVAILABLE WATER-QUALITY DATA THROUGH 1985 WATER YEAR By J.F. Rinella, S.W. McKenzie, and GJ. Fuhrer With sections on: Water-resource development, By Onni J. Perala, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Major metals and trace elements-bed sediment, By T.L. Fries and J.L. Ryder, U.S. Geological Survey; Fish and other aquatic biological communities, By S.S. Embrey, U.S. Geological Survey and B.D. Watson, Yakima Indian Nation U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Open-File Report 91 453 Portland, Oregon 1992 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MANUEL LUJAN, JR., Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L. Peck, Director For additional information Copies of this report can write to: be purchased from: District Chief U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey Books and Open-File Reports Section 10615 S.E. Cherry Blossom Drive Federal Center, Box 25425 Portland, Oregon 97216 Denver, CO 80225 ii FOREWORD One of the great challenges faced by the Nation's water-resources scientists is providing reliable information to guide the management and protection of our water resources. That challenge is being addressed by Federal, State, Tribal, and local water-resources agencies and by academic institutions. Many of these organizations are collecting water-quality data for a host of purposes including: compliance with permits and water-supply standards; development of remediation plans for specific contamination problems; operational decisions on industrial, wastewater, and water-supply facilities; and research to advance our understanding of water-quality processes. In fact, during the past two decades, tens of billions of dollars have been spent on water-quality data-collection programs. Unfortunately, the utility of these data for present and future regional and national assessments is limited by such factors as the areal extent of the sampling network, the frequency of sample collection, the varied collection and analytical procedures, and the types of water-quality characteristics determined. Therefore, despite these expenditures, only a small part of the data collected can be used to assess the status, trends, and causes of water-quality conditions at regional and national scales. In order to address this deficiency, the Congress appropriated funds for the U.S. Geological Survey to begin testing and refining concepts in 1986 for a National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program that, if fully implemented, would: 1. provide a nationally consistent description of water-quality conditions for a large part of the Nation's water resources; 2. define long-term trends (or lack of trends) in water quality; and 3. identify, describe, and explain, as possible, the major factors that affect observed water-quality conditions and trends. As presently envisioned, a full-scale NAWQA Program would be accomplished through investigations of a large set of major river basins and aquifer systems distributed throughout the Nation, which in aggregate, would account for a large percentage of the Nation's population and freshwater use. Each investigation would be conducted by a small team of individuals familiar with hydrologic system(s). Thus, the investigations would take full advantage of the region-specific knowledge of individuals in the areas under study. At present, four surface-water projects and three ground-water projects are being conducted as part of the pilot program to test and refine assessment methods and to help determine the need for and the feasibility of a full-scale program. iii The final interpretive results of the pilot NAWQA Program will be presented in a series of U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Papers. Each of the seven pilot projects will be described in a Water-Supply Paper with separate chapters assigned to key elements of each investigation. Chapter A will be reserved for a summary report. Chapter B will be an analysis of available water-quality data for each project. Additional chapters will be written on specific topics appropriate for individual projects. The pilot projects have depended heavily on cooperation and information from many Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies. The assistance and suggestions of all are gratefully acknowledged. Philip Cohen Chief Hydrologist iv CONTENTS Page Foreword --------------------------------------------------------- iii Executive summary ------------------------------------------------ 1 Introduction ----------------------------------------------------- 13 Background -------------------------------------------------- 13 Purpose and scope ------------------------------------------- 14 Acknowledgments --------------------------------------------- 16 Description of the Yakima River basin ---------------------------- 16 Physiography, geology, and topography ----------------------- 17 Land use and population ------------------------------------- 18 Climate ----------------------------------------------------- 20 Surface-water hydrology ------------------------------------- 24 Water use --------------------------------------------------- 30 Water-resource development by Onni J. Perala ----------- 30 The beginning: 1850-1900 -------------------------- 30 Organized development: 1900-20 -------------------- 32 Largest and latest storage developed: 1920-40 ----- 33 Multiple-use management: 1940-70 ------------------ 33 Increased needs and preservation: 1970-90 --------- 34 Fishery ------------------------------------------------ 38 Point-source loads ------------------------------------------ 39 Stream classification and associated water-quality standards-------------------------------------------------- 39 Assessment approach ---------------------------------------------- 44 Collation of water-quality data for the Yakima River basin ----------------------------------------------- 44 Selection of constituents and properties for analysis ------- 47 Evaluation of water-quality data ---------------------------- 47 Quantitative-analysis approach ------------------------- 47 Qualitative-analysis approach -------------------------- 49 Methods of analysis ----------------------------------------- 50 Characterizing spatial water-quality variability ------- 50 Identifying potential problem areas -------------------- 50 Quantitative comparisons of water-quality conditions --- 52 Loads -------------------------------------------------- 52 Trends analysis ---------------------------------------- 53 Seasonal Kendall test unadjusted for streamflow --- 53 Seasonal Kendall slope estimator ------------------ 54 Seasonal Kendall flow-adjusted procedure ---------- 54 Sources and characteristics of available surface-water-quality data ----------------------------------------------------------- 55 Sources of water-quality data ------------------------------- 55 Types of water-quality determinations ----------------------- 56 Spatial distribution of sampling sites ---------------------- 57 Temporal and hydrological distribution of samples used in the quantitative data analysis ---------------------------- 59 Other relevant data bases ----------------------------------- 62 CONTENTS- -Continued Page Analysis of available surface-water-quality data ----------------- 62 Streamflow conditions --------------------------------------- 62 Relation of hydrologic conditions during 1974-81 water years to long-term hydrologic conditions in the Yakima River basin ------------------------------- 62 Water-quality constituent loads during low-, median-, and high-streamflow years ------------------- 64 Spatial and seasonal variations ------------------------ 64 pH, alkalinity, and acidity --------------------------------- 70 Major cations and anions, and related measures -------------- 78 Suspended sediment and turbidity ---------------------------- 87 Spatial variation -------------------------------------- 88 Seasonal variation ------------------------------------- 90 Trends ------------------------------------------------- 91 Sediment loads ----------------------------------------- 94 Nutrients --------------------------------------------------- 95 Spatial variation ------------------------------------- 98 Seasonal variation ------------------------------------- 104 Trends ------------------------------------------------- 107 Loads -------------------------------------------------- 114 Water temperature ------------------------------------------- 122 Dissolved oxygen -------------------------------------------- 126 Organic carbon and related measures ------------------------- 132 Maj or metals and trace elements ----------------------------- 134 Water -------------------------------------------------- 137 Bed sediment by T.L. Fries and J.L. Ryder -------------- 142 Fish tissue -------------------------------------------- 147 Radionuclides ----------------------------------------------- 148 Pesticides and other synthetic organic compounds ------------ 150 Fecal-coliform bacteria ------------------------------------- 158 Fish and other aquatic biological communities by S.S. Embrey and B.D. Watson ------------------------------------------- 163 Historical perspective --------------------------------- 163 Distribution, abundance, and productivity of fish ---------------------------------------------- 164 Anadromous fish ----------------------------------- 164 Resident fish ------------------------------------- 171 Relation to habitat and water-sediment chemistry ------- 173 Other biological data ---------------------------------- 174 Needs for future data collection