Open-File Report 2009–1041
ABSTRACTStreamflow and water-quality data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) or the Providence Water Supply Board, Rhode Island’s largest drinking-water supplier. Streamflow was measured or estimated by the USGS following standard methods at 23 streamgage stations; 10 of these stations were also equipped with instrumentation capable of continuously monitoring specific conductance. Streamflow and concentrations of sodium and chloride estimated from records of specific conductance were used to calculate instantaneous (15-minute) loads of sodium and chloride during water year (WY) 2002 (October 1, 2001, to September 30, 2002). Water-quality samples were also collected at 35 of 37 sampling stations in the Scituate Reservoir drainage area by the Providence Water Supply Board during WY 2002 as part of a long-term sampling program. Water-quality data are summarized by using values of central tendency and are used, in combination with measured (or estimated) streamflows, to calculate loads and yields (loads per unit area) of selected water-quality constituents for WY 2002. The largest tributary to the reservoir (the Ponaganset River, which was monitored by the USGS) contributed about 13 cubic feet per second (ft3/s) to the reservoir during WY 2002. For the same time period, annual mean1 streamflows measured (or estimated) for the other monitoring stations in this study ranged from about 0.14 to 8.1 ft3/s. Together, tributary streams (equipped with instrumentation capable of continuously monitoring specific conductance) transported about 530,000 kilograms (kg) of sodium and 850,000 kg of chloride to the Scituate Reservoir during WY2002; sodium and chloride yields for the tributaries ranged from 2,900 to 42,000 kilograms per square mile (kg/mi2) and from 4,100 to 70,000 kg/mi2, respectively. At the stations where water-quality samples were collected by the Providence Water Supply Board, the median of the median chloride concentrations was 16.8 milligrams per liter (mg/L), median nitrite concentration was 0.002 mg/L as N, median nitrate concentration was 0.02 mg/L as N, median orthophosphate concentration was 0.03 mg/L as P, and median concentrations of total coliform and Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria were 22 and 14 colony forming units per 100 milliliters (CFU/100 mL), respectively. The medians of the median daily loads (and yields) of chloride, nitrite, nitrate, orthophosphate, and total coliform and E. coli bacteria were 21 kg/d (12 kg/d/mi2), 5.1 g/d (3.2 g/d/mi2), 53 g/d (24 g/d/mi2), 85 g/d (41 g/d/mi2), and 370 million colony forming units per day (CFU×106/d) (120 CFU×106/d/mi2) and 300 CFU×106/d (88 CFU×106/d/mi2), respectively. 1 The arithmetic mean of the individual daily mean discharges for the year noted or for the designated period. |
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Breault, R.F., 2010, Streamflow, water quality, and constituent loads and yields, Scituate Reservoir drainage area, Rhode Island, water year 2002: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2009–1041, 25 p. (Also available at https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2009/1041.)
Abstract
Introduction
Streamflow Data Collection and Estimation
Water-Quality Data Collection and Analysis
Data Collected by the U.S. Geological Survey
Data Collected by the Providence Water Supply Board
Estimating Daily, Monthly, and Annual Loads and Yields
Streamflow
Water Quality and Constituent Loads and Yields
Sodium and Chloride Loads and Yields Estimated from Specific-Conductance Monitoring Data
Physical and Chemical Properties and Daily Loads and Yields Estimated from Data Collected by the Providence Water Supply Board
Physical and Chemical Properties
Constituent Concentrations and Daily Loads and Yields
Bacteria
Chloride
Nutrients
References Cited