USGS - NAWQA - Water Quality in the Allegheny and Monongahela River Basins

STUDY UNIT DESIGN

Stream Chemistry and Ecology

Surface-water assessments included water, bed sediment, and fish tissue chemistry; fish, invertebrate, and algal communities; and physical habitat. Sites were chosen across the study area for spatial coverage and distribution in the major aquatic ecological settings within the Allegheny and Monongahela River Basins (fig. 26). Basic and intensive sites were sampled monthly for chemistry and annually for ecological condition. One urban site and one agricultural site also were intensively sampled during storms to assess the influence of storm runoff on stream contaminant concentrations. Eighty-nine additional synoptic sites were sampled once to assess the influence of coal mining on water quality across the study area.

Figure 26. In addition to intensive water-quality sampling at a few sites, one-time sampling at many sites across the study area provided data related to specific land uses. The Cheat River Basin (shaded pink) was similarly sampled.

Ground-Water Chemistry

Two reconnaissance-type studies were done. The first focused on the fractured-rock aquifers of the coal-bearing Pittsburgh Series rocks of middle and late Pennsylvanian age. The second was set in the coarse- and fine-grained glaciofluvial deposits of the valley-fill aquifers in the northern area of the Allegheny River Basin (fig. 27). An additional study that focused on mining land use involved sampling of wells that drew water from the fractured-rock aquifers and that were near surface coal mines where mining and reclamation efforts have been completed. The quality of these samples was compared to that of water from 15 wells sampled in unmined areas of the same aquifers.

$Figure 27. Ground water was sampled from two major aquifer systems, valley-fill aquifers of the northern Allegheny River Basin, and fractured-rock aquifers in the Pittsburgh Series rocks that contain the largest quantities of commercially minable bituminous coal in the ALMN.$

Figure 27. Ground water was sampled from two major aquifer systems, valley-fill aquifers of the northern Allegheny River Basin, and fractured-rock aquifers in the Pittsburgh Series rocks that contain the largest quantities of commercially minable bituminous coal in the ALMN.

Site number (fig. 26)	Site name	Site type	Basin area (square miles)	Site number (fig. 26)	Site name	Site type	Basin area (square miles)
1	East Hickory Creek near Queen, Pa.	Forested	20.3	6	Allegheny River at New Kensington, Pa.	Mixed	11,50
2	French Creek at Utica, Pa.	Mixed	1,028	7	Monongahela River at Braddock, Pa.	Mixed	7,337
3	South Branch Plum Creek at Five Points, Pa.	Agriculture	33.3	8	Youghiogheny River at Sutersville, Pa.	Mixed	1,715
4	Deer Creek near Dorseyville, Pa.	Urban	27.0	9	Dunkard Creek at Shannopin, Pa.	Mining	4,440
5	Stonycreek River at Ferndale, Pa.	Mining	451	10	Cheat River near Mt. Nebo, W. Va.	Mixed	1,132

**SUMMARY OF DATA COLLECTION IN THE ALLEGHENY AND MONONGAHELA RIVER BASINS, 1996-98**
Study component	What data were collected and why	Types of sites sampled	Number of sites	Sampling frequency and period
Stream Chemistry
Basic Sites-- General water chemistry	Concentrations, seasonal variation, and annual loads. Data included streamflow, field measurements, major ions, nutrients, organic carbon, suspended sediment, trace elements.	Basic Fixed Sites: Representative of common land-use mixes, as well as basin outflow sites.	8	Monthly, April 1996-Sept. 1998
Intensive sites-- Pesticides and VOCs	Concentrations and seasonal variations in pesticides. Data included same constituents as above, plus 83 pesticides (dissolved) and 87 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (only 1 site).	Basic Fixed Sites with intensive urban or agricultural land use.	2	1997, 1998
Contaminants in bed sediments	Occurrence and distribution of contaminants in bed sediment. Data include trace elements, organochlorine compounds, and volatile organic compounds.	Depositional zones of most stream sites sampled in other components of study.	19	Monthly and more frequently
Contaminants in fish tissue	Occurrence and distribution of contaminants in biota. Data included total PCBs, 30 organochlorine pesticides in whole fish, and 24 trace elements in fish livers.	Most stream sites sampled in other components of study where tissue could be collected.	17	Fish Tissue: Summer 1996 and Summer 1997 (Duplicate taxa at two sites)
Stream Ecology
Ecological assessments	Macroinvertebrates (benthic invertebrates), fish, algae, aquatic and riparian habitat.	Basic Fixed Sites. Intensive Sites.	8 2	1996-97 (10 sites), 1998 (6 sites) One 3-reach site 1996 and 1997
Synoptic studies	Unmined basin to compare to mined basins. The same data were collected at Basic Sites.	Synoptic Site.	1	Once in 1997
Ground-Water Chemistry
Aquifer survey-- Pittsburgh Series fractured rock	Assess quality across aquifer extent. Data include field measurements, major ions, trace metals, nutrients, Pesticides, VOCs, radon, dissolved organic carbon (DOC).	Existing domestic wells chosen with a statistically random selection process. Well depth range 30 to 250 feet.	30	Once in 1996 (July-August)
Aquifer survey-- Glaciofluvial deposits of the valley-fill aquifers	Assess quality across aquifer extent. Data include field measurements, major ions, nutrients, pesticides, VOCs, radon, dissolved organic carbon (DOC).	Existing domestic wells chosen with a statistically random selection process. Well depth range 30 to 250 feet.	30	Once in 1996 (September-October)
Land-use effects-- Surface coal mining	Compare ground-water quality near reclaimed surface mines to that in unmined areas. Data include major ions, trace metals, nutrients, VOCs, radon, trace elements, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).	Existing domestic wells chosen with a statistically random selection process. Well depth range 30 to 250 feet. (Data from 10 fractured-rock sampling sites were re-used as reference data in the Land-use effects study.)	45	Once in 1997 (August-October)
Special Studies
Low-flow synoptic survey of streams in the Appalachian coal fields	To assess quality of surface water relative to type and age of coal mining in the basins. Standard: Mine-drainage indicators, field measurements. Intensive: same as standard sites, plus: major ions, trace elements, macroinvertebrates, aquatic habitat.	Standard Site network. Intensive Site network.	89 32	Standard sites: Once in summer 1998 Intensive sites: Once in summer 1998

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U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1202

Suggested citation:

Anderson, R.M., Beer, K.M., Buckwalter, T.F., Clark, M.E., McAuley, S.D., Sams, J.I. III, and Williams, D.R., 2000, Water Quality in the Allegheny and Monongahela River Basins Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, and Maryland, 1996-98: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1202, 32 p., on-line at https://pubs.water.usgs.gov/circ1202/

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