Difference between revisions of "2017 Water Quality PEP"

How does our ability to model dissolved oxygen, temperature, nutrients, and conductivity in both Lake Powell and in its outflow compare to predictive capability in other systems using the same or different modeling approaches? What, if any, improvements can we make on our current modeling techniques?

• The current model seems adequate, particularly for hydrodynamics within Lake Powell.
• Phosphorus (P) modeling may need to await further information on controls on P concentrations in the reservoir; modeling should be a longer term goal.
• The current model could inform which Lake Powell sampling stations are critical to water quality prediction at the dam intake and in the main body of the lake.
• Linking the lake temperature predictions to downstream water temperatures immediately below the dam and in the downstream river reaches should already be possible with current information and models.

How should analysis of the historical dataset be prioritized to improve our understanding of how management actions and natural mechanisms affect phosphorus dynamics in Lake Powell?

• Analysis of historical records is important not only to show past trends but also to determine whether measurements should continue in future.
• There may be undiscovered data of value, for example from the Bureau of Reclamation’s Boulder City lab.
• Metadata records need improvement for P (and other measurements). Changes in methods including detection limits present a challenge to interpretation of the data.
• Ultimately, placing past and future data into USGS National Water Information System (NWIS) would be a good goal.

Is current monitoring being conducted at an appropriate number of depths and/or sites and at an appropriate temporal frequency to give accurate information on the current status and trends of water-quality conditions and to inform predictions using either the current modeling approach or a potentially improved model?

The recommended changes to the discrete sampling depths are:

• The deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) when it exists. Included within this recommendation is a formal definition of a DCM. Our suggestion is to define a DCM as a layer which has a chlorophyll concentration > 2 x the surface concentration, based on the SeaBird chlorophyll profile.
• Any apparent interflow layer. The SeaBird conductance profile could be used to objectively define the interflow layer. For example, a > 100 µS cm-1 change in mid water column could be used as the threshold to indicate a chemically distinct interflow layer.
• The current routine includes sample collection at 1 m above the bottom. This collection method risks disturbing the sediments and contaminating the sample. We recommend collecting deep water from the middle of the hypolimnion, as defined by the SeaBird profile. A trial using paired samples from 1 m above the bottom and the middle of the

hypolimnion could be conducted and if the samples compare well, the deeper samples should be discontinued.

• In addition, we recommend that the current sampling scheme at 1 m below the surface, a deep water sample, and at the penstock depth for the forebay site, should be maintained for long-term continuity. Therefore, the recommendations would result in an increase in the number of samples collected at each monitoring location.

Are there additional types of measurements or newer methodologies that should be incorporated into the routine monitoring program?

Recommendations for improving data management and accessibility.

The panel views improved data management as a primary recommendation. [1]

• 2017 Water Quality PEP Agenda
• 2017 Water Quality PEP Prospectus

• Water Quality page
• 2017 Water Quality PEP Agenda
• 2017 Water Quality PEP Prospectus
• 2017 Water Quality PEP Report 6/4/18 Final
• 2017 Water Quality PEP Suggested Priority Reading List
• 2017 Water Quality PEP Memorandum
• Final report of the 2001 Protocol Evaluation Panel for the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center Integrated Water Quality Program (IWQP)

Adaptive Management

• Melis et al. 2015. Surprise and Opportunity for Learning in Grand Canyon: the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program. Ecology and Society 20(3):22.

Calcite Coprecipitation

• Cohen et al. 2013. Diel phosphorus variation and the stoichiometry of ecosystem metabolism in a large spring-fed river. Ecological Monographs, Vol. 83, No. 2 (May 2013), pp. 155-176
• Corman et al. 2015. Stoichiometric impact of calcium carbonate deposition on nitrogen and phosphorus supplies in three montane streams. Biogeochemistry.
• Corman et al. 2016. Calcium carbonate deposition drives nutrient cycling in a calcareous headwater stream. Ecological Monographs, 86(4), 2016, pp. 448–461
• Hamilton et al. 2008. Biogenic calcite–phosphorus precipitation as a negative feedback to lake eutrophication. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 66: 343–350
• Otsuki and Wtzel. 1972. Coprecipitation of phosphate with carbonates in a marl lake.
• Reynolds and Johnson. 1974. Major element geochemistry of Lake Powell. Lake Powell Research Project Bulletin #5.
• Reynolds. 1978. Polyphenol inhibition of calcite precipitation in Lake Powell. Limnol. Oceanogr., 23(4), 1978, 585-597.

CE-QUAL Modeling

• ERM’s review of the Lake Powell CE-QUAL-W2 Model
• Williams, N.T., 2007, Modeling dissolved oxygen in Lake Powell using CE-QUAL-W2: Provo, Brigham Young University, thesis.
• Williams, N.T., 2007, Projecting Temperature in Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam Tailrace. Proceedings of the Colorado River Basin Science and Resource Management Symposium

Contaminants

• Hart et al. 2005. Physical and chemical characteristics of Knowles, Forgotten, and Moqui Canyons, and effects of recreational use on water quality, Lake Powell, Arizona and Utah: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2004–5120, 43 p.
• Schonauer. 2014. The presence and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and inorganic elements in water and lakebed materials and the potential for bioconcentration in biota at established sampling sites on Lake Powell, Utah and Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2013–1299, 28 p.
• Waddell and Wiens. 1993. Reconnaissance study of trace elements in water, sediment, and biota of Lake Powell.
• Walters. 2015. Mercury and selenium accumulation in the Colorado River food web, Grand Canyon, USA. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Vol. 34, No. 10, pp. 2385–2394, 2015

General Lake Powell Limnology

• Gloss. 1980. Advective control of nutrient dynamics in the epilimnion of a large reservoir. Limnol. Oceanogr., 25(2), 1980, 219-228
• Johnson and Page. 1981. Oxygen depleted waters: Origin and distribution in Lake Powell, Utah - Arizona. Proceedings of the Symposium on surface water impediments. American Society of Civil Engineers, NY.
• Johnson and Merritt. 1979. Convective and Advective Circulation of Lake Powell, Utah-Arizona, During 1972-1975. Water Resources Research. 15:4
• Stanford and Ward. 1990. Limnology of Lake Powell and the Chemistry of the Colorado River. Colorado River Ecology and Dam Management: Proceedings of a Symposium May 24-25, 1990 Santa Fe, New Mexico. Chap 5.
• Wildman and Vernieu. 2017. Turbid releases from Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona, following rainfall-runoff events of September 2013, Lake and Reservoir Management

Long-term Water Quality Trends

• Kelly 2001. Influence of reservoirs on solute transport: A regional-scale approach. Hydrol. Process. 15, 1227–1249
• Stets. 2014. Long-term trends in alkalinity in large rivers of the conterminous US in relation to acidification, agriculture, and hydrologic modification. Sci Total Environ. 2014 Aug 1;488-489:280-9

P Biogeochemistry

• Wildman et al. 2011. Physical, Chemical, and Mineralogical Characteristics of a Reservoir Sediment Delta (Lake Powell, USA) and Implications for Water Quality during Low Water Level. J Environ Qual. 2011 Mar-Apr;40(2):575-86.
• Bostrom et al. 1988. Exchange of phosphorus across the sediment-water interface. Hydrobiologia 170: 229-244
• Hering and Wildman. A study of the dynamics of phosphorus associated with suspended and deposited sediments in the Colorado River delta, Lake Powell, Utah.
• Kinsman-Costello et al. 2014. Re-flooding a Historically Drained Wetland Leads to Rapid Sediment Phosphorus Release. Ecosystems 17: 641–656
• Kinsman-Costello et al. 2016. Phosphorus release from the drying and reflooding of diverse shallow sediments
• Mayer and Gloss. 1980. Buffering of silica and phosphate in a turbid river. Limnol. Oceanogr., 25(l), 12-22
• Wildman and Hering. 2011. Potential for release of sediment phosphorus to Lake Powell (Utah and Arizona) due to sediment resuspension during low water level. Lake and Reservoir Management, 27:4, 365-375

USGS Data Series, Circulars, and other Reports

• GCDAMP FY 2017 Knowledge Assessment: Final Report from the Executive Coordinator for the Science Advisors Program
• Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program Triennial Budget and Work Plan— Fiscal Years 2018–2020
• USGS Workshop on Scientific Aspects of a Long-Term Experimental Plan for Glen Canyon Dam, April 10–11, 2007, Flagstaff, Arizona
• Final report of the 2001 Protocol Evaluation Panel for the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center Integrated Water Quality Program (IWQP)
• Historical Physical and Chemical Data for Water in Lake Powell and from Glen Canyon Dam Releases, Utah-Arizona, 1964–2013
• The State of the Colorado River Ecosystem in Grand Canyon: A report of the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center 1991-2004
• Biological Data for Water in Lake Powell and from Glen Canyon Dam Releases, Utah and Arizona, 1990–2009

Water Quality and Glen Canyon Dam Management

• Hueftle and Stevens. 2001. Experimental flood effects on the limnology of Lake Powell Reservoir, Southwestern USA. Ecological Applications, 11(3), pp. 644–656
• Effects of the 2008 High-Flow Experiment on Water Quality in Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam Releases, Utah-Arizona

Water Quality and Metabolism in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam

• Water quality investigation of seventeen Grand Canyon tributaries: July 2004 - May 2005
• Hall et al. 2015. Turbidity, light, temperature, and hydropeaking control primary productivity in the Colorado River, Grand Canyon. Limnol. Oceanogr. 60, 512–526
• Hall et al. 2012. Air–water oxygen exchange in a large whitewater river. Limnology and Oceanography: Fluids and Environments
• Larned et al. 2004. Mass-transfer–limited nitrogen and phosphorus uptake by stream periphyton: A conceptual model and experimental evidence. Limnol. Oceanogr., 49(6), 1992–2000
• Payn et al. 2017. A coupled metabolic-hydraulic model and calibration scheme for estimating whole-river metabolism during dynamic flow conditions. Limnol. Oceanogr.