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Open-File Report 03-335

Data on Streamflow and Quality of Water and Bottom Sediment in and near Humboldt Wildlife Management Area, Churchill and Pershing Counties, Nevada, 1998-2000

By Angela P. Paul and Carl E. Thodal

Report Version 1.1, released January 2004

CONTENTS

Abstract
Introduction
Background
Purpose and Scope
Previous Investigations
Acknowledgments
Description of Study Area
Location and Climate
Hydrologic Setting
Contaminant Criteria
Study Approach and Methods
Results
Field Blanks
Humboldt River and Drains
  • Surface Water
    • Streamflow
    • Specific Conductance
    • pH and Temperature
    • Dissolved Oxygen
    • Sodium
    • Chloride
    • Dissolved solids
    • Nutrients
      • Nitrogen
      • Ammonia
      • Total Phosphorus
    • Trace Elements
    • Arsenic
    • Boron
    • Mercury
    • Molybdenum
    • Selenium
    • Uranium
    • Hydrogen and Oxygen Isotopes
    • Constituent Loading
  • Bottom Sediment
    • Arsenic
    • Cadmium
    • Chromium
    • Copper
    • Mercury
    • Nickel
    • Selenium
Upper Humboldt Lake Wetland
  • Surface Water
  • Bottom Sediment
Summary
References Cited
Appendix
  1. Compiled water quality data for U.S. Geological Survey samples from the lower Humboldt River system, 1998-2000
  2. Compiled bottom-sediment quality data for U.S. Geological Survey samples from the lower Humboldt River system, 1998-2000

ILLUSTRATIONS

1-3. Map showing:

    1. Location of the Humboldt River Basin
    2. Site locations in the Humboldt River Basin for collection of streamflow and surface-water and bottom-sediment quality samples, 1998-2000
    3. Site locations in the lower Humboldt River Basin downstream from Lovelock for the collection of streamflow and surface-water and bottom-sediment quality samples
  1. Schematic diagram showing the flow system, stream-gaging stations, and various water uses within the study area

5-7. Graphs showing:

    1. Median monthly discharge in Army Drain during "pump-on" and "pump-off" periods, June 1999- September 2000
    2. Estimated median monthly discharge values for the unnamed drain, June 1999-September 2000
    3. Estimated monthly volumes in Army Drain and the contribution from the unnamed drain, June 1999- September 2000

8-14. Graphs showing concentrations in surface water samples collected from the lower Humboldt River, selected drains, and Upper Humboldt Lake; May 1998-July 2000:

    1. Sodium
    2. Chloride
    3. Dissolved solids
    4. Arsenic
    5. Boron
    6. Molybdenum
    7. Selenium
  1. Graph showing stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen in surface-water samples collected from the lower Humboldt River, selected drains, and Upper Humboldt Lake; May 1998 through July 2000
  2. Graph showing estimated cumulative permitted mine-dewatering discharges to the surface waters of the Humboldt River and tributaries from June 1998 through September 1999

17-23. Graphs showing concentrations in sediment samples collected from the lower Humboldt River, selected drains, and Upper Humboldt Lake; August 1998, August 1999, and April and July 2000:

    1. Arsenic
    2. Cadmium
    3. Chromium
    4. Copper
    5. Mercury
    6. Nickel
    7. Selenium

TABLES

  1. Selected sites for the collection of water and bottom-sediment samples in the lower Humboldt River Basin, 1998-2000
  2. Drainage areas and long-term annual mean discharge, for selected U.S. Geological Survey gaging stations, Humboldt River Basin
  3. Selected effect concentrations and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Nevada Division of Environmental Protection water-quality criteria for inorganic substances
  4. Summary of Canadian Interim Freshwater Sediment-Quality Guidelines for the protection of aquatic life (Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, 1999), Department of the Interior (1998) and consensus-based sediment-effect concentrations
  5. National Water Quality Laboratory and field reporting limits for constituents in water and bottom- sediment samples collected in 1998 through 2000
  6. Constituent concentrations in field blanks during water sampling of the Humboldt River and selected drains, June 1998 through September 1999
  7. Minimum, median, and maximum discharge in the lower Humboldt River and selected drains, June 1998 through September 1999
  8. Minimum, median, and maximum specific conductance values in samples collected from the lower Humboldt River and selected drains, June 1998 through September 1999

9-17. Minimum, median, and maximum concentrations in samples collected from lower Humboldt River and selected drain waters, June 1998 through September 1999:

    1. Dissolved oxygen
    2. Sodium
    3. Chloride
    4. Dissolved solids
    5. Total nitrogen
    6. Un-ionized ammonia
    7. Total phosphorus
    8. Arsenic
    9. Boron
  1. Total- and methyl-mercury concentrations in samples collected from the lower Humboldt River and selected drains, August 1999

19-21. Minimum, median, and maximum concentration in samples collected from the lower Humboldt River and selected drains, June 1998 through September 1999:

    1. Molybdenum
    2. Selenium
    3. Uranium
  1. Minimum, maximum, and median instantaneous discharges and calculated instantaneous loads of selected constituents at sampling sites along the lower Humboldt River and selected drains, June 1998 through September 1999
  2. Summary of concentrations of selected constituents found in filtered surface waters collected from Upper Humboldt Lake: May 1998, August 1999, and April and July 2000
  3. Summary of constituents in surface water collected during this study that exceeded ecological criteria in the lower Humboldt River system
  4. Summary of constituents in sediments collected during this study at concentrations exceeding Canadian Interim Freshwater Sediment-Quality Guidelines in the lower Humboldt River system
  5. Summary of constituents in sediments collected during this study at concentrations exceeding probable-effect levels in the lower Humboldt River system

CONVERSION FACTORS, VERTICAL DATUM AND ABBREVIATED WATER QUALITY UNITS

Multiply   By To obtain
acre   4,047 square meter (m2)
acre-foot (acre-ft)   1,233 cubic meter (m3)
acre-foot per day (acre-ft/d)   0.001233 cubic hectometer per day (hm3/d)
acre-foot per month (acre-ft/mo)   0.001233 cubic hectometer per month (hm3/mo)
acre-foot per year (acre-ft/yr)   0.001233 cubic hectometer per year (hm3/yr)
cubic foot per second (ft3/s)   0.02832 cubic meter per second (m3/s)
foot (ft)   0.3048 meter
inch (in.)   25.4 millimeter
mile (mi)   1.609 kilometer
square mile (mi2)   2.590 square kilometer
tons per day (tons/day)   907.2 kilograms per day (kg/day)

Temperature: Degrees Celsius (°C) can be converted to degrees Fahrenheit (°F) by using the formula °F = [1.8(°C)]+32. Degrees Fahrenheit can be converted to degrees Celsius by using the formula °C = 0.556(°F-32).

Sea level: In this report, "sea level" refers to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD of 1929, formerly called "Sea-Level Datum of 1929"), which is derived from a general adjustment of the first-order leveling networks of the United States and Canada.

Abbreviated Water Quality Units:
g (gram) mm (millimeter)
g/min (gram per minute) mg/kg (milligram per kilogram)
L (liter) mg/L (milligram per liter)
µg/g (microgram per gram ng/g) ng/g (nanogram per gram)
µg/L (microgram per liter) ng/L (nanogram per liter)
µS/cm (microsiemens per centimeter at 25° C) pCi/L (picocurie per liter)

Return to OFR 03-335 or the Abstract.

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