Ground and Surface Water Interactions and Quality of Discharging Ground Water, Lower Nooksack River Basin, WA

Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5255

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5255

Ground and Surface Water Interactions and Quality of Discharging Ground Water, Lower Nooksack River Basin, WA

Table 1. Ground-water and surface-water quality data for samples collected at the Nooksack River near Everson, lower Nooksack River basin, Whatcom County, Washington, February 2003 to September 2004.

[Abbreviations: col/100 mL, Colony forming unit per 100 milliliters; µS/cm, microsiemen per centimeter at 25ºC; °C, degrees Celsius; mg/L, milligram per liter; <, less than; >, greater than; –, no data]

Site/station No.	Date	Escherichia coli (col/100 mL)	Specific conductance (µS/cm)	Water temperature (ºC)	Dissolved oxygen as O₂ (mg/L)	Ferrous iron, dissolved (mg/L)	Nitrate plus nitrite, dissolved as N (mg/L)	Argon, dissolved (mg/L)	Nitrogen, dissolved as N₂ (mg/L)
Ground water
AFK 179	02-24-03	–	–	–	–	–	2.6	–	–
485340122195301	12-04-03	<1	480	10.7	0	3 to 5	–	–	–
	04-01-04	<1	470	9.6	.2	6	–	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	473	10.1	<.05	1.7	–	–	–
	09-29-04	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.661	22.9
AFK 178	02-24-03	–	249	9.9	.14	–	2.6	–	–
485340122195302	12-04-03	<1	310	10.0	.2	<.1	–	–	–
	04-01-04	<1	347	10.0	.03	<.1	–	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	348	10.9	.2	<.1	–	–	–
	09-29-04	–	–	–	–	–	–	.706	22.0
AFK 177	02-24-03	–	334	10.1	.03	–	<.06	–	–
485341122195301	12-04-03	<1	465	9.4	.2	<.1	–	–	–
	04-01-04	<1	503	9.6	.2	<.1	–	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	507	9.9	.2	<.1	–	–	–
	09-29-04	–	–	–	–	–	–	.706	22.0
AFK 176	02-24-03	–	296	10.5	.05	–	1.6	–	–
485341122195302	12-04-03	<1	382	10.3	<.1	<.1	1.4	–	–
	04-01-04	<1	400	10.3	.1	<.1	–	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	406	10.3	.05	<.1	–	–	–
	09-29-04	–	–	–	–	–	–	.687	24.8
AFK 175	12-04-03	<1	254	10.2	1	<.1	2.7	–	–
485336122195201	04-01-04	<1	259	10.5	>1	<.1	–	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	258	10.4	1	<.1	–	–	–
AFK 174	12-04-03	<1	258	10.0	>1.0	<.1	3.1	–	–
485336122195202	04-01-04	<1	254	10.2	.9	<.1	–	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	266	10.6	1	<.1	–	–	–
AFK 173	12-04-03	<1	333	10.7	.2	.8	.23	–	–
485336122195301	04-01-04	<1	349	9.6	.2	1	–	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	327	10.3	1	.96	–	–	–
AFK 172	12-04-03	<1	259	10.2	1	<.1	2.8	–	–
485336122195302	04-01-04	<1	264	10.1	.8	<1	–	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	267	10.5	1	<.1	–	–	–
AFK 170	12-04-03	<1	250	10.1	1	.1	3.2	–	–
485333122195502	04-01-04	<1	241	10.1	>1	–	–	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	249	10.4	>1	<.1	–	–	–
AFK 169	02-24-03	–	293	10.4	.04	–	1.6	–	–
485333122195203	12-04-03	25	442	9.6	–	–	–	–	–
	04-01-04	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	~500	–	–	–	–	–	–
AFK 168	12-04-03	<1	250	10.0	>1	<.1	3.2	–	–
485333122195204	04-01-04	<1	249	10.1	>1	<.1	–	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	252	10.5	>1	<.1	–	–	–
VNDW1-5	11-01-02	–	220	–	1.4	–	1.6	–	–
485341122194901	05-06-04	<1	339	10.5	–	<0.1	–	–	–
	09-30-04	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.684	24.8
Duplicate		–	–	–	–	–	–	.679	24.4
VNDW1-6	11-01-02	–	384	–	1.1	–	1.9	–	–
485336122195001	05-06-04	<1	404	10.5	–	<.1	–	–	–
	09-30-04	–	–	–	–	–	–	.685	24.7
Duplicate		–	–	–	–	–	–	.689	25.0
VNDW2-5	11-01-02	–	261	–	1	–	–	–	–
485336122195001	12-04-03	34	260	9.5	1	–	–	–	–
	04-01-04	<1	–	–	.6	<.1	–	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	270	11.1	.8	<.1	–	–	–
EVW1 PORT 3	04-01-04	<1	354	10.1	.1	<0.1	–	–	–
485341122191201	05-06-04	<1	355	10.5	.1	<.1	–	–	–
EVW1 PORT 5	04-01-04	338	9.1	.05	<.1	–	–	–
485341122191203	05-06-04	<1	341	10.4	.1	<.1	–	–	–
Duplicate		–	–	–	–	–	–	.697	27.0
Duplicate		–	–	–	–	–	–	.697	27.1
EVW1 PORT 4	04-01-04		338	9.9	0	.1	–	–	–
485341122191202	05-06-04	<1	340	10.4	0	<.1	–	–	–
	09-30-04	–	–	–	–	–	–	.690	27.0
Duplicate		–	–	–	–	–	–	.689	27.0
EVW2 PORT 5	04-01-04	<1	328	10.1	.3	.2	–	–	–
485342122193003	05-06-04	<1	363	10.8	.1	<.1	–	–	–
	09-30-04	–	–	–	–	–	–	.604	20.1
Duplicate		–	–	–	–	–	–	.652	22.8
Surface water
Nooksack River	02-24-03	–	88	–	–	–	2.6	–	–
12211100	12-04-03	2	85	9.6	–	–	–	–	–
	04-01-04	–	96	–	–	–	–	–	–
	05-06-04	23	–	–	–	<.1	–	–	–

Table 2. Ground-water and surface-water quality data for samples collected at Fishtrap Creek, lower Nooksack River basin, Whatcom County, Washington, October 2003 to September 2004.

[Abbreviations: col/100 mL, Colony forming unit per 100 milliliters; µS/cm, microsiemen per centimeter at 25ºC; ºC, degrees Celsius; mg/L, milligram per liter; RB, Right bank; LB, Left bank; CTR, Thalweg; <, less than; >, greater than; –, no data]

Site/station No.	Date	Escherichia coli (col/100 mL)	Specific conductance (µS/cm)	Water temperature (ºC)	Dissolved oxygen as O₂ (mg/L)	Ferrous iron, dissolved (mg/L)	Nitrate plus nitrite, dissolved as N (mg/L)	Argon, dissolved (mg/L)	Nitrogen, dissolved as N₂ (mg/L)
Fishtrap Creek at Assink Road
Ground water
FT ASSINK Lower RB	10-06-03	<1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
485849122254001	10-20-03	<1	484	13.2	<0.1	–	–	–	–
	03-31-04	<1	260	8.3	.05	2	<0.06	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	437	11.9	.4	4	–	–	–
	09-30-04	–	–	–	–	–	<.06	0.642	23.0
		–	–	–	–	–	–	.645	23.2
FT ASSINK Lower CTR	10-06-03	<1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
485849122254002	10-20-03	23	304	13.8	–	–	–	–	–
	03-31-04	<1	440	8.4	0	>10	<.06	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	448	15.7	.2	>10	–	–	–
	09-30-04	–	–	–	–	–	<.06	.611	25.8
		–	–	–	–	–	–	.609	25.6
FT ASSINK Lower LB	10-06-03	<1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
485849122253901	10-20-03	<1	365	13.4	<.1	–	–	–	–
	03-31-04	<1	472	9.2	–	>10	<.06	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	798	10.5	.3	0	–	–	–
	09-30-04	–	–	–	–	–	<.06	25.3	.741
		–	–	–	–	–	–	25.2	.736
FT ASSINK Upper RB	10-06-03	<1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
485851122253901	03-31-04	<1	403	9.9	0	>10	–	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	442	11.2	.3	>10	–	–	–
	09-30-04	–	–	–	–	–	–	22.7	.551
		–	–	–	–	–	–	22.7	.551
FT ASSINK Upper CTR	10-06-03	<1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
485851122253801	03-31-04	<1	–	10.4	0	>10	–	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	373	11.2	>1	>10	–	–	–
	09-30-04	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
FT ASSINK Upper LB	10-06-03	<1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
485851122253802	03-31-04	<1	476	9.5	0	>10	–	–	–
	05-06-04	<1	480	10.8	0	>10	<.06	–	–
	09-30-04	–	–	–	–	–	–	22.4	.445
		–	–	–	–	–	<.06	22.0	.432
Surface water
FT ASSINK SW	10-20-03	220	154	12.4	–	–	–	–	–
12211950	03-31-04	24	145	9.5	–	–	–	–	–
	05-06-04	51	279	13.3	–	–	–	–	–
Along Fishtrap Creek
PZF-01	10-20-03	9	138	13.4	0.3	–	–	–	–
490003122242401	05-06-04	<1	243	11.7	.3	0.6	–	–	–
	05-22-04	<1	217	11.7	.3	<.1	<0.06	–	–
	07-01-04	–	–	13.6	.1			–	–
PZF-02	10-20-03	–	396	13.1	<.1	–	–	–	–
485849122254101	05-06-04	<1	410	11.9	0	>10	–	–	–
	05-22-04	<1	426	10.5	0	1.4	<.06	–	–
	07-01-04	–	393	11.9	0			–	–
PZF-03	05-06-04	<1	288	11.5	0	10	–	–	–
485845122254201	05-22-04	<1	287	11.2	.2	–	<.06	–	–
	07-01-04	–	279	13.5	.1			–	–
PZF-04	05-06-04	<1	279	12.2	.1	.1	–	–	–
485752122254901	05-22-04	<1	285	12.7	1	<.1	3.5	–	–
	07-01-04	–	299	15.9	>1.0		–	–
	10-01-04		280	13.6	>1	<.1		0.621	17.0
	10-01-04							.628	17.4
PZF-05	05-06-04	<1	191	11.6	0	5	–	–	–
485721122262401	05-22-04	<1	168	11.2	.1	2.2	<.06	–	–
	07-01-04	–	183	12.1	–			–	–
	10-01-04	–	182	12.3	.05	5	–	.730	23.5
	10-01-04							.737	23.8
PZF-06	05-06-04	1	288	12.9	>1	0	–	–	–
485700122270001	05-22-04	<1	289	13.3	.8	<.1	2.9	–	–
	07-01-04	–	305	17.0	–			–	–
485643122273301	05-06-04		245	12.3	0	>10		–	–
	05-22-04	<1	251	12.2	0	5.0	<.06	–	–
	07-01-04	–	246	13.7	0			.761	25.7
	10-01-04		259	12.3	0			.757	25.6
	10-01-04							–	–
PZF-08	05-22-04	<1	269	–	–	3	.08	–	–
485620122284001	07-01-04	–	236	13.4	0			–	–
	10-01-04		323	13.2	0	>10		.675	24.6
	10-01-04							.653	23.4
PZF-09	05-22-04	<1	1,085	11.9	.2	26	E.03	–	–
485536122294101	07-01-04	–	1,080	16.3	0

Table 3. Ground-water and surface-water quality data for samples collected at Fourmile Creek, lower Nooksack River basin, Whatcom County, Washington, March 2004 to October 2005.

[Abbreviations: col/100 mL, Colony forming unit per 100 milliliters; µS/cm, microsiemen per centimeter at 25ºC; ºC, degrees Celsius; mg/L, milligram per liter; <, less than; >, greater than; –, no data]

Site/station No.	Date	Escherichia coli (col/100 mL)	Specific conductance (µS/cm)	Water temperature (ºC)	Dissolved oxygen as O₂ (mg/L)	Ferrous iron, dissolved (mg/L)	Nitrate plus nitrite, dissolved as N (mg/L)	Argon, dissolved (mg/L)	Nitrogen, dissolved as N₂ (mg/L)
Ground water
FMPZ-1	03-30-04	<1	743	9.8	<0.05	>10	–	–	–
485223122282501	05-06-04	<1	794	13.3	–	–	–	–	–
	05-28-04	–	869	11.0	<.05	23	<0.06	–	–
	06-04-04	<1	908	11.6	–	–	<.06	–	–
	10-25-05	–	1,400	10.5	<.05	>10	<.06	0.243	24.0
Duplicate		–	–	–	–	–	–	.245	24.2
FMPZ-2	03-30-04	<1	1,400	9.8	.2	.1	–	–	–
485223122282502	05-06-04	<1	1,400	13.2	.2	–	–	–	–
	05-28-04	–	739	12.5	.2	–	<.06	–	–
	06-04-04	<1	630	16.2	–	–	<.06	–	–
	10-25-05	–	–	–	.2	2	<.06	.428	24.6
Duplicate		–	–	–	–	–	–	.429	24.6
FMPZ-3	03-30-04	<1	1,200	10.1	.2	5	–	–	–
485223122282503	05-06-04	<1	1,400	12.5	.1	–	–	–	–
	05-28-04	–	1,400	12.5	<.05	–	<.06	–	–
	06-04-04	<1	1,400	13.1	–	–	<.06	–	–
	10-25-05	–	2,100	10.8	.1	.2	<.06	.751	24.1
FMPZ-4	03-30-04	<1	310	9.5	.3	.2	–	–	–
485225122282401	05-06-04	<1	347	12.8	–	–	–	–	–
	05-28-04	–	344	11.8	>1.0	<.1	<.06	–	–
	06-04-04	<1	353	14.6	–	–	<.06	–	–
	10-25-05	–	474	11.7	.1	.3	<.06	.542	24.7
Duplicate		–	–	–	–	–	–	.532	24.2
FMPZ-5	03-30-04	<1	247	11.0	.2	.1	–	–	–
485225122282402	05-06-04	<1	325	13.4	–	–	–	–	–
	05-28-04	–	314	13.9	.2	<.1	<.06	–	–
	06-04-04	<1	252	17.3	–	–	<.06	–	–
	10-25-05	–	309	10.7	.1	.2	<.06	.678	24.9
Duplicate		–	–	–	–	–	–	.657	23.1
FMPZ-6	03-30-04	<1	223	11.0	.2	.1	–	–	–
485225122282403	05-06-04	<1	244	12.0	–	–	–	–	–
	05-28-04	–	249	12.6	.6	<.1	<.06	–	–
	06-04-04	<1	322	21.0	–	–	<.06	–	–
	10-25-05	–	324	10.1	.2	.2	<.06	.575	20.8
Surface water
12212898	03-30-04	<1	274	–	–	–	–	–	–
	05-06-04	96	330	–	–	–	–	–	–
	05-28-04	34	332	–	–	–	<0.06	–	–
	10-25-05	–	398	–	–	–	<.06	–	–
Duplicate		–	–	–	–	–	<.06	–	–
4-mile downstream tile drain	03-30-04	<1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
485223122282504	05-28-04	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	06-04-04	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	10-25-05	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
4-mile upstream tile drain	03-30-04	<1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
485225122282404	05-06-04	<1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	05-28-04	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	06-04-04	dry	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	10-25-05	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

Table 4. Ground water and surface water quality data for samples collected at the tributary to Bertrand Creek, lower Nooksack River basin, Whatcom County, Washington, September 2003 to October 2004.

[Abbreviations: col/100 mL, Colony forming unit per 100 milliliters; µS/cm, microsiemen per centimeter at 25ºC; ºC, degrees Celsius; mg/L, milligram per liter; <, less than; >, greater than; –, no data]

Site/station No.	Date	Escherichia coli (col/100 mL)	Specific conductance (µS/cm)	Water temperature (ºC)	Dissolved oxygen as O₂ (mg/L)	Ferrous iron, dissolved (mg/L)	Nitrate plus nitrite, dissolved as N (mg/L)	Argon, dissolved (mg/L)	Nitrogen, dissolved as N₂ (mg/L)
Ground water
BERT N.C.	09-30-03	–	330	15	0	–	–	–	–
485756122284302	10-06-03	<1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	10-21-03	–	304	13	<.1	–	–	–	–
	12-04-03	<1	441	9	–	>10	–	–	–
	03-31-04	<1	386	10	0	>10	–	–	–
	05-07-04	<1	435	11	0	>10	–	–	–
	05-27-04	<1	426	11	0	–	<0.06	–	–
	06-04-04	<1	424	15	0	>10	<.06	0.792	24.1
	10-25-04	–	–	–	0	–	<.06	.788	23.7
BERT N.E.	09-30-03	–	272	15	.4	–	–	–	–
485756122284301	10-06-03	<1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	10-21-03	–	138	13	.2	–	–	–	–
	12-04-03	<1	418	10	–	>10	–	–	–
	03-31-04	<1	436	10	0	>10	–	–	–
	05-07-04	<1	483	11	0	>10	–	–	–
	05-27-04	<1	471	12	0	–	<.06	–	–
	06-04-04	<1	475	12	0	>10	<.06	.675	23.5
	10-25-04	–	–	–	0	–	<.06	.677	23.5
BERT N.W.	09-30-03	–	233	14	.2	–	–	–	–
485756122284303	10-06-03	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	10-21-03		244	13	.1	–	–	–	–
	12-04-03	<1	384	9	–	>10	–	–	–
	03-31-04	<1	410	9	0	>10	–	–	–
	05-07-04	<1	390	11	.3	>10	–	–	–
	05-27-04	<1	614	12	0	–	<.06	–	–
	06-04-04	<1	386	14	–	>10	<.06	.517	23.2
	10-25-04	–	–	–	–	–	<.06	.525	23.7
BERT C.C.	09-30-03	–	244	14	0	–	–	–	–
485755122284302	10-06-03	<1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	10-21-03		199	13	<.1	–	–	–	–
	12-04-03	<1	383	9	–	10	–	–	–
	03-31-04	<1	445	10	–	–	–	–	–
	05-07-04	<1	373	11	.1	>10	–	–	–
	05-27-04	<1	686	11	0	–	<.06	–	–
	06-04-04	<1	357	16	0	–	<.06	.685	22.3
	10-25-04	–	–	–	0	–	<.06	.682	22.0
BERT C.W.	09-30-03	–	254	15	0	–	–	–	–
485755122284303	10-06-03	<1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	10-21-03	–	214	13	<.1	–	–	–	–
	12-04-03	<1	411	9	–	>10	–	–	–
	03-31-04	<1	433	9	0	>10	–	–	–
	05-07-04	<1	425	11	.1	>10	–	–	–
	05-27-04	<1	–	11	0	–	<.06	–	–
	06-04-04	<1	428	14	0	>10	<.06	.715	23.9
	10-25-04	–	–	–	0	–	<.06	.720	24.1
BERT C.E.	09-30-03	–	254	13.8	0	–	–	–	–
485755122284301	10-06-03	<1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	10-21-03		392	14.5	<.1	–	–	–	–
	12-04-03	<1	375	10.2	–	>10	–	–	–
	03-31-04	<1	395	10.2	0	>10	–	–	–
	05-07-04	<1	393	10.8	0	>10	–	–	–
	05-27-04	<1	327	12.8	0	–	<0.06	–	–
	06-04-04	<1	402	14.5	0	>10	<.06	0.682	23.0
	10-25-04	–	–	–	–	–	<.06	.683	23.0
BERT S.E.	09-30-03	–	334	13.8	1	–	–	–	–
485754122284301	10-06-03	<1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	10-21-03	–	360	13.6	.5	–	–	–	–
	12-04-03	<1	425	11.1	–	>10	–	–	–
	03-31-04	<1	451	9.2	0	>10	–	–	–
	05-07-04	<1	402	10.9	.1	>10	–	–	–
	05-27-04	<1	755	11.4	0	–	<.06	–	–
	06-04-04	<1	365	17.4	0	>10	<.06	–	–
BERT S.C.	09-30-03	–	290	13.5	0	–	–	–	–
485754122284302	10-06-03	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	10-21-03	–	101	13.4	<.1	–	–	–	–
	12-04-03	<1	395	9.6	–	10	–	–	–
	03-31-04	<1	325	10.6	.3	10	–	–	–
	05-07-04	<1	334	11.8	.3	10	–	–	–
	05-27-04	<1	661	11.9	0	–	<.06	–	–
	06-04-04	<1	326	15.2	0	9	<.06	–	–
	10-25-04	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
BERT S.W.	09-30-03	–	236	13.4	0	–	–	–	–
485754122284303	10-06-03	<1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	10-21-03	–	114	13.4	0	–	–	–	–
	12-04-03	<1	436	11	–	>10	–	–	–
	03-31-04	<1	411	9.5	0	>10	–	–	–
	05-07-04	<1	410	10.3	0	>10	–	–	–
	05-27-04	<1	730	12.2	.5	–	<.06	–	–
	06-04-04	<1	422	13	0	>10	<.06	–	–
Surface water
BERT	12-04-03	4	360	14.3	–	1 to 2	<0.06	–	–
12212248	03-31-04	6	331	10.1	–	–	E0.04	–	–
	05-07-04	18	373	11.3	–	–	<.06	–	–
	05-27-04	3,500	356	13.4	–	–	–	–	–
	06-04-04	30	400	18.6	–	–	–	–	–

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