A classification of Arizona man-made lakes with applications to the prediction of water quality Item Type Thesis-Reproduction (electronic); text Authors Kessler, Steven Jack. Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 24/09/2021 14:38:28 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/191672 A CLASSIFICATION OF ARIZONA MAN-MADE LAKES WITH APPLICATIONS TO THE PREDICTION OF WATER QUALITY by Steven Jack Kessler A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1978 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his judg- ment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholar- ship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: ,A4:..'- ,01-t,4 APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: 7 ,7L/7 Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my major professor, Dr. Elisabeth Ann Stull, who helped me with this project with equal zeal from start to finish. It was on a research grant to her, from the United States Department of the Interior's Office of Water Resources and Technology (as authorized under the Water Resources Research Act of 1964), that the impetus and funding for this study arose. I also wish to thank the members of my committee, Dr. Robert Hoshaw, Dr. Jerry Tash, and Dr. Donald Thomson, for their assistance and patience in the completion of the thesis. For field sampling, I appreciate the assistance of Rick McCourt and John Kessler in the collection of samples during the initial survey of over 50 lakes and I would like to especially thank David Kreamer for making the two-week collecting period in July, 1976, most enjoyable. Others assisting in often tedious data collection were Katrina Mangan, Loretta Shelton, and a few high school students of Tucson District Number One's Professional Internship Program. Conversations with Carla Fisher and Tom Satterthwaite, students in the Cooperative Fishery Unit, were important to my understanding of the linnology of Arizona lakes. Also, special thanks to Linda Dobbyn and Pat Price for their assistance in typing of the rough draft under extreme time pressures. i v Without the continued help of the staff of the University of Arizona's Map Library and their excellent collections, many parts of this study could not have been completed. I also thank Mr. Phil Steago of the White Mountain Apache Reser- vation for permission to include Reservation, Horseshoe Cienega, Sunrise, and Cooley lakes in the study and the Arizona Game and Fish Department and their officers for their assistance. Dr. Donald Thomson and his marine science program was my starting point into water-related research for which I have always been most grateful. And, of course, very special thanks to my parents for always helping (and pushing) me in everything. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES vii . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix ABSTRACT 1. INTRODUCTION 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2 Arizona Lakes 2 Classification 4 3. METHODS 8 Lake Locations 8 Sailing Periods 8 Field Procedures 13 Sampling Location 13 Water and Temperature Profiles 13 Secchi Disk, Sediments, Field Notes 16 Laboratory Procedures 17 Water 17 Sediments 19 Cartographic Procedures 20 Statistical Procedures 22 Multiple Regression 22 Factor Analysis 22 Dendrographs 24 Variable Transformations 24 Computer Techniques 25 4. CHARACTERISTICS OF ARIZONA LAKES 26 Data Presentation 26 Lake Morphometry Parameters 27 Watershed Variables 27 Conservative Water Quality Parameters 27 Non-Conservative Water Quality Parameters 28 Physical Lake Characteristics 28 Sediment Parameters 28 Geographical Distribution of Water Quality 28 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS--Continued Page 5. SELECTION OF SIGNIFICANT VARIABLES 36 Lake Morphometry Variables 36 Watershed Variables 38 Conservative Water Quality Parameters 39 Non-Conservative Water Quality Parameters 39 Physical Lake Characteristics 42 Sediment Parameters 42 Summary 45 6. CLASSIFICATION 48 Dendrograph 48 Factor Analysis 53 Comparison of Dendrograph and Factor Analysis Classifications 58 A Classification of Arizona Lakes 58 7. PREDICTION OF WATER QUALITY IN UNCONSTRUCTED IMPOUNDMENTS • • 63 What Governs Water Quality'? 63 Multiple Regression Predictions of Water Quality . 65 8. CONCLUSIONS 71 APPENDIX A: RAW DATA FOR VARIABLES USED IN FACTOR ANALYSIS . 73 APPENDIX B: LIST OF VARIABLES AND THE MEAN AND STANDARD DEVIATION OF VALUES 81 APPENDIX C: Q MODE CORRELATION MATRIX OF THE 23 ARIZONA LAKES IN THE STUDY 83 LITERATURE CITED 85 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Types of classification systems 5 2. Location summary of the 23 lakes sampled in the study . 10 3. Sampling dates and station depth 12 4. Summary of laboratory procedures used in lake water and sediment analyses 18 5. Categories of parameters measured 26 6. Correlation of specific conductance with other conservative water quality parameters 31 7. Correlation of altitude with variables of lake morphometry, watershed topography, physical lake characteristics and sediments 35 8. Factor analysis coefficients of lake morphometry variables 37 9. Factor analysis coefficients of watershed variables . • • 38 10. Factor analysis coefficients of conservative water quality variables 40 11. Factor analysis coefficients of non-conservative water quality variables 41 12. Factor analysis coefficients of physical lake characteristics 43 13. Factor analysis coefficients of lake sediment variables . 44 14. Summary table of factor analysis results 46 15. Q mode factor analysis classification of 23 Arizona lakes based on 15 variables 54 16. Lake groups formed by the overlap of dendrograph and factor analysis techniques and their constituents . • • 59 vii viii LIST OF TABLES--Continued Table Page 17. Results of multiple regression analysis by water quality variables on variables of pre-lake construction determinability 67 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Location of the 23 Arizona lakes used in the study . • • 9 2. Continuous flow lake sampling device 14 3. Specific conductance of Arizona lakes in the study, presented geographically 30 4. Percent composition of cations of the 23 Arizona lakes in the study 32 5. Annual precipitation in Arizona 33 6. Dendrograph showing independence of R mode selected variables 47 7. Q mode dendrograph clustering of 23 Arizona lakes based on 15 variables 49 8. Lake groups formed by Q mode dendrograph clustering, presented geographically 50 9. Lake groups formed by Q mode factor analysis, presented geographically 56 10. Lake groups formed by the overlap of factor analysis and dendrograph clustering 60 ix ABSTRACT Twenty-three small to large man-made lakes in Arizona (13 to 909 hectares) were surveyed for 44 variables of lake morphometry, watershed topography and climate, conservative and non-conservative water quality, and lake sediments. Water and sediment collections were made in two 14-day sampling tours during the summer of 1976. R mode factor analysis technique reduced the original data set to 15 independent variables to be used in Q mode factor analysis and dendrograph lake classification. On the basis of the two clustering methods, six classes of lakes are indicated: 1) White Mountain, 2) Southern Arizona, 3) Salt River- Phoenix water supply, 4) Escudilla Mountain, 5) miscellaneous large irrigation, and 6) miscellaneous high altitude. Nine lakes are indepen- dent of all others. Predictions of water and sediment quality in Arizona lakes, based upon variables of lake morphometry, watershed topography and climate as selected by the R mode factor analysis technique, were per- formed using multiple regression analysis. The significant relation- ships found may be useful in the tentative prediction of water quality and fishery potential in unconstructed water bodies. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Man, in an effort to order natural occurrences on Earth, has attempted to classify lakes according to many different criteria on worldwide, regional and local levels. Potential effects of pollution, water level control, fishery harvest and natural eutrophication pro- cesses can be assessed with an adequate a priori classification. In the case of man-made lakes where preimpoundment data are available, classi- fication schemes may be used to predict effects of recreational use, fishery potential and water yield and quality. The interest in lake classification is old; but, in Arizona, expansive lake studies are nearly nonexistent. This study examines 23 man-made impoundments in Arizona and con- siders two major topics. A classification based on