Summer Water Chemistry Trends, Upper Ohio River Watershed
Targeted Study
WV Water Research Institute
Reason for Study
Recent global temperature increases have led to dry summer seasons in many regions, such as the Upper Ohio River Watershed. Wheeling, WV has reported the 4th driest year on record, 7” below average (USNews, 2020).
Temporal changes like these can have significant impacts on local water bodies.
Background
Parameters being measured:
1) High water temperature can harm aquatic life by decreasing the availability of oxygen in the water (EPA, 2016).
2) Specific Conductance (SpC) is a measure of the dissolved salts and metals in the water. High values can indicate high pollution loads (EPA, 2016).
Sampling Sites
24 sites in Upper Ohio River watershed near Wheeling, WV
Methods
Water temperature and SpC was measured with a calibrated YSI QuatroPro field meter. Samples were taken from June 1st to September 30th, 2020.
Wilcoxon Signed Range tests were used to determine if water temperature and SpC were significantly different between summer 2019 and summer 2020.
Findings
Overall, these findings indicate that the hot and dry 2020 summer had a larger effect on SpC than it did on water temperature in these streams.
Mean summer SpC in 2020 was higher in all 24 sites and significantly higher (p <0.05) in 58% of sites, averaging an increase of 88 µS cm-1 in the non-AMD impact sites.
However, the mean water temperature was higher in only 47% of the sites, averaging an increase of 0.2ºC and only one site was significantly higher in 2020.
Figure 1
Hydrograph of Wheeling Creek
Figure 2
Specific conductance (SpC) of four of the 24 sites between summer 2019 and 2020
Conclusion
The hot dry summer of 2020 impacted a majority of the sites, by showing increases in SpC and to a lesser extent higher water temperatures.
Streams impacted by AMD may be acutely susceptible to prolonged dry conditions resulting in increased concentrations of metals exported into downstream waterways.
References
EPA. (2016, August 16). National Aquatic Resource Surveys. Retrieved from United States Environmental Protection Agency
EPA. (2016, August). Stream Temperature. Retrieved from Climate Change Indicators in the United States: Stream Temperature.
USNews 2020 https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/west-virginia/articles/2021-01-04/some-west-virginia-cities-have-top-10-rainiest-years
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Three Rivers Quest (3RQ), the National Science Foundation under Award No. NSF OIA-1632888. and the NASA WV Space Grant Consortium. Any opinions, findings and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funders.
