U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Data Series 283
Results of the Level-1 Water-Quality Inventory at the Pinnacles National Monument, June 2006
Prepared in cooperation with the National Park Service
By James W. Borchers and Michael S. Lyttge
Table of Contents
Conversion Factors
Abstract
Introduction
Sampling Plan
Sampling Protocols
Water-Quality Results
Summary
References Cited
Appendix A. Water-quality Terminology and Parameter Definitions
Figures
Figure 1. Location of Pinnacles National Monument, California.
Figure 2. Location of springs in Pinnacles National Monument sampled by the USGS during June 2006.
Figure 3. Willow Spring sampling site at Willow Spring South Rivulet.
Figure 4. A chain-link enclosure sometimes used to trap feral pigs, adjacent to the sampling site at Willow Spring South Rivulet.
Figure 5. The concrete cistern at Oak Tree Spring opened for examination.
Figure 6. The overflow pipe on the west side of the Oak Tree Spring cistern.
Figure 7. View upslope (to the east) toward McCabe Canyon Spring No. 1.
Figure 8. McCabe Canyon Spring No. 1.
Figure 9. Seepage at Chalone Bridge Spring.
Figure 10. An inscription on the downslope end of the concrete cistern at Chalone Bridge Spring indicating that the cistern was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps on January 12, 1937.
Figure 11. Seepage from Superintendent’s Spring.(The folding scale is bent to the side at 2 feet.)
Figure 12. Mossy “levees” adjacent to the spring outflow channel downslope from Superintendent’s Spring.
Figure 13. View to the west at the location of the subterranean concrete cistern at Split Rock Spring.
Figure 14. Inflow to the cistern at Split Rock Spring through 2-inch diameter steel pipe near the cistern ceiling.
Figure 15. Ground water discharging from Moses Spring.
Figure 16. Moses Spring in a 1.5-foot-wide declivity in the rock wall adjacent to the Moses Spring Trail.
Figure 17. Ground water issuing from Moses Spring at a hole in rhyolite breccia about 1.5 feet above the mossy spring pool.
Figure 18. Major-ion composition of samples from springs in Pinnacles National Monument in June 2006.
Figure 19. Stable isotopic composition of samples from springs in Pinnacles National Monument in June 2006.
Figure 20. The concentrations of tritium in ground water sampled from springs in Pinnacles National Monument in June 2006 are shown as triangles plotted at zero years, or present day at the time of this study, and the concentration range of tritium that remained in water that fell as precipitation in central coastal California when tritium concentrations in atmospheric water were at background levels between 9.6 and 16 pCi/L (green and black lines respectively).
Tables
Table 1. Location and description of spring sampling sites in Pinnacles National Monument, California, June 2006
Table 2. Physical property, major-ion, trace-element, and isotopic data for ground water sampled from springs at Pinnacles National Monument, California, June 2006.
Table 3. Statistical summary of the concentration of major ions, trace elements, nutrients, and isotopes in spring samples, type of comparison threshold for drinking water and the corresponding threshold level, and threshold levels for freshwater aquatic life.
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Send questions or comments about this report to the author, James Borchers, (916) 278-3005.
For more information about USGS activities in California, visit the USGS California Water Science Center home page.
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
