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Indiana Water Science Center

Reconnaissance of Surface-Water
and Ground-Water Quality at the
Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
near Lincoln City, Indiana, 2001–02

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5066

By Paul M. Buszka and Kathleen K. Fowler

This report is available as a pdf.

Abstract

In cooperation with the National Park Service, the U.S. Geological Survey investigated water quality of key water bodies at the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial near Lincoln City in southwestern Indiana. The key water bodies were

  1. a stock pond, representing possible nonpoint agricultural effects on water quality;
  2. an ephemeral stream, representing the water quality of drainage from forested areas of the park;
  3. parking-lot runoff, representing water quality related to roads and parking lots;
  4. an unnamed ditch below the parking lot, representing the water quality of drainage from the parking lot and from an adjacent railroad track; and
  5. Lincoln Spring, a historical ground-water source representing ground-water conditions near a former diesel-fuel-spill site along a rail line.

Water samples were analyzed for pH, temperature, specific conductance, and dissolved oxygen and for concentrations of selected major ions and trace metals, nutrients, organic constituents, and Escherichia coli bacteria. Surface-water-quality data of water samples from the park represent baseline conditions for the area in relation to the data available from previous studies of area streams. Specific-conductance values and concentrations of most major ions and various nutrients in surface-water samples from the park were smaller than those reported for samples collected in other USGS studies in areas adjacent to the park. Water-quality-management issues identified by this investigation include potentially impaired water quality from parking-lot runoff, unknown effects on surface-water quality from adjacent railroads, and the potential impairment of water quality in Lincoln Spring from human influences. Parking-lot runoff is a source of calcium, alkalinity, iron, lead, and organic carbon in the water samples from the unnamed ditch. Detection of small concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons in water from Lincoln Spring could indicate residual contamination from a 1995 diesel-fuel spill and cleanup. The concentration of nitrite plus nitrate in water from Lincoln Spring was 16.5 milligrams per liter as nitrogen, greater than the State of Indiana standard for nitrate in drinking water (10 milligrams per liter as nitrogen). Lead concentrations in samples from the stock pond, parking-lot runoff, and the unnamed ditch exceeded the Indiana chronic aquatic criteria.

Contents

Abstract

Introduction

Purpose and Scope

Physical Setting

Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial Land Use and Park History

Methods of Study

Site Selection

Water-Quality Sampling

Selection of Sampling Constituents

Collection and Analysis of Water-Quality Samples

Collection and Analysis of Escherichia coli Sample

Quality Assurance

Reconnaissance of Surface-Water and Ground-Water Quality

Streamflow and Precipitation Conditions

Surface-Water and Ground-Water Quality

Physical Properties

Major Ions and Nutrients

Analysis of Water-Quality Samples

Quality-Assurance Analysis Results

Trace Metals and Organic Constituents

Analysis of Water-Quality Samples

Quality-Assurance Analysis Results

Escherichia coli Data

Limitations of Data and Interpretations

Summary and Conclusions

Acknowledgments

References Cited

Figures

1–3. Maps showing—

  1. Location of the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial near Lincoln City, Indiana, and selected streams and National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program weather stations
  2. Location of the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial and streams and sites closest to the study area that previously were sampled for water quality
  3. Locations of sampling sites, oil- and gas-exploration wells, and former surface coal mines
  1. Orthophoto showing sampling sites
  2. Graphs showing sampling dates plotted with the precipitation record for National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program weather station, Boonville, Indiana, and a hydrograph for the nearest U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging station, January 2001 to December 2002
  3. Doppler-radar image of total storm precipitation for Indiana, November 26–29, 2001, from National Weather Service, Indianapolis, Indiana
  4. Doppler-radar image of total storm precipitation for Indiana, March 25–26, 2002, from National Weather Service, Louisville, Kentucky
  5. Stiff diagrams showing the relation of major ions in surface-water and ground-water samples from sampling sites, 2001 and 2002

 

Tables

  1. Description and purpose of sampling for key water bodies at the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial near Lincoln City, Indiana, 2001–02
  2. National Park Service, Water Quality Inventory and Monitoring Program, Level 1, required and optional characteristics
  3. Analytical constituents and reporting limits for samples collected during water-quality sampling, 2001–02
  4. Surface-water- and ground-water-quality data from sites, 2001–02
  5. Quality-assurance data for water-quality samples collected, 2001–02
  6. Surface-water-quality characteristic and bacteria data from sites near the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, 1979 and 2000
  7. Surface-water-quality data from sites near the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, 1979
  8. Summary of volume-weighted mean concentrations for samples of wet deposition from site IN22, National Atmospheric Deposition Program National Trends Network, and range of concentrations in surface-water samples at the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial near Lincoln City, Indiana, 2001–02
  9. State of Indiana water-quality criteria for specific substances, Indiana Administrative Code
  10. Statistical analysis of paired water-quality and sequential duplicate samples from the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, near Lincoln City, Indiana, 2001–02, that was used to assess the reproducibility of analytical methods
  11. Differences in cation and anion equivalent concentrations in water samples collected, 2001–02
  12. Summary of surface-water- and ground-water-quality samples with nitrate, cadmium, or lead concentrations that are within or larger than 60 percent of the Indiana water-quality criteria, 2001–02

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