Table of Contents
In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began to implement
a National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program. The long-term goals
of the NAWQA program are to describe the status and trends in the quality
of a large, representative part of the Nation's surface- and ground-water
resources and to provide a sound, scientific understanding of the primary
natural and anthropogenic factors affecting the quality of these resources.
To achieve these goals, the USGS is employing a multi-discipline
approach which includes the collection of physical, chemical, ecological,
and ancillary anthropogenic data. These data will provide multiple lines
of evidence to assess water quality.
The study-unit investigations comprise the principal building
blocks of the national assessment. The 60 study-unit boundaries are based
on one or more of the following: surface-water drainage basins, the extent
of ground-water aquifers, and political boundaries (fig. 1).
The Western Lake Michigan Drainage Basin (WMIC) was among
the first 20 NAWQA study units selected to begin study activities in 1991.
The WMIC study unit encompasses a 20,000 square-mile area in eastern Wisconsin
and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (fig. 2).
The study unit is comprised of streams draining to Lake
Michigan, including the Fox-Wolf, Menominee, Oconto, and Peshtigo River
basins in Wisconsin, and the Escanaba and Ford River basins in Michigan.
The overall population in the area is 2,435,000 (1990). Agriculture is
a major activity, with about 35 percent of the land use in the study unit
devoted to cropland and pasture. About 50 percent of the study area, including
a large percentage of land in the northwest part of the basin, is forested.
Major water-quality issues in the study unit include nonpoint-source
contamination of surface and ground water by agricultural chemicals, contamination
in bottom sediments of rivers and harbors by toxic substances, including
PCB's, other synthetic organic compounds, and trace elements, and nutrient
enrichment of streams resulting from nonpoint- and point-source discharges.
The staff of the WMIC NAWQA study unit is comprised of
a diverse group of water-resources professionals, hydrologic technicians,
and university students working out of the USGS offices in Madison, Wisconsin,
and Escanaba and Lansing, Michigan. The members of the WMIC NAWQA team are:
Charlie Peters (Study Unit Chief); Dale Robertson (Research
Surface Water Specialist); Sharon Fitzgerald (Research Biogeochemist);
Dan Sullivan (Surface Water Chemist and Fish Specialist); Steve Rheaume
(Benthic Invertebrate Specialist and Ground Water Hydrologist); Faith
Fitzpatrick (Geomorphology and Habitat Specialist); Barbara Scudder (Biologist
and Trace Element Specialist); Dave Saad (Ground Water Specialist); Jana
Stewart (GIS Specialist and Data Base Manager); Kevin Richards (Lead Hydrologic
Technician); Bernie Lenz (Hydrologist Trainee); Jim Ellis (Supervisory
Hydrologic Technician); John Knudson (Hydrologic Technician); and University
of Wisconsin students Scott Parsons (Water Resources), Amy Matzen (Water
Resources); Brian Dalsing (Cartography); Evan Bloyer (Geography); and
Ross Bagwell (Cartography).
The Western Lake Michigan NAWQA team is compiling this
newsletter to provide updates on the status of our activities to the water-resources
community of Wisconsin and Michigan. The NAWQA program is designed to work
with liaison committee members in developing a policy-relevant data-collection
and research program. By informing you of our ongoing work we hope to facilitate
your involvement with the process and to develop other cooperative efforts.
The distribution of the newsletter is intended to be to
all water-resources stakeholders that may have an interest in our work.
If you would like your name added to or removed from this mailing list,
or if you have any comments regarding this newsletter or our workplans,
call Charlie Peters at (608) 276-3810,
or write to:
WMIC NAWQA
U.S. Geological Survey
6417 Normandy Lane
Madison, Wisconsin 53719
or send e-mail to capeters@usgs.gov
The WMIC study unit investigation began in 1991 with
2 years of planning, reconnaissance, and analysis of existing data. The
second phase, 3 years of high-intensity sampling, began in 1993. The third
phase, report production, has been ongoing since 1992 and will continue
into 1998. The fourth phase, low-intensity sampling, will begin in 1996
and continue until 2001 when the cycle is scheduled to begin again. Table
1 further describes the second phase.
The surface-water component of the study-unit investigation
includes sampling at a network of fixed sites and in a series of synoptic
surveys. The 11 Basic Fixed-Monitoring Sites (BFS's) (fig. 2) are stream
sites at which hydrologic conditions are continuously monitored and water-quality
samples are collected repetitively. Stream-water samples are being collected
at the BFS's on a monthly basis beginning in 1993 and continuing through
1995. Weekly samples were collected at a subset of the BFS's in 1993 and
1994. Additional samples are collected at all BFS's during hydrologic
events. The results of sampling at the BFS's will provide long-term data
for the analysis of water-quality trends. The synoptic surveys were designed
to address specific issues or concerns about water quality in the WMIC
study unit; these surveys involve the sampling of sites once or twice
and may include sampling at the BFS's. Planned or completed synoptic surveys
include a study-unit-wide water-quality study during which about 80 sites
will be sampled, and nutrient sampling at 5 to 10 tributaries in subbasins
of 7 of the BFS's (with concurrent BFS sampling) during periods of low
and high flow. The basin-wide water-quality study is designed to measure
the spatial representativeness of the 11 BFS's, while the nutrient study
is designed to compare the input of nutrients from fertilizers, the atmosphere,
and point sources to outputs of nutrients in streamflow.
The ground-water component includes a flow-path study,
two land-use surveys, and a study-unit survey. The flow-path study is
designed to determine the transport and fate of selected constituents
in groundwater on a local scale. The flow-path study is being done in
an agricultural area underlain by sandy surficial deposits and carbonate
bedrock. The land-use surveys are designed to document the effects of
agricultural land use on shallow ground-water quality. Two agricultural
areas are targeted for land-use surveys and differ only in the texture
of surficial deposits and bedrock type. The study-unit survey is designed
to assess the water quality in the major water-supply aquifers in the
study unit. The study-unit survey will be divided into several parts,
the first of which will characterize parts of the Cambrian-Ordivician
aquifer, a predominantly sandstone aquifer underlying all but the northwesternmost
parts of the study unit.
The ecological component includes collection of samples
of algae, benthic invertebrates, and fish communities; collection of biological
tissue and bed-sediment samples for analysis of trace elements, pesticides
and other synthetic organic components; and description of associated
stream reach habitats at the 11 BFS's in each of the three years of intensive
sampling and at 31 sites as part of a synotic survey conducted in 1993
and 1995. The ecological sampling at the BFS's is designed to provide
additional information on water quality in the study unit by assessing
species abundance and diversity, and the bioavailability of contaminants
at these sites. The ecological synoptic survey was designed to identify
the biotic communities and aquatic habitat in relatively pristine streams
in predominantly agricultural areas. The results will define "healthy"
stream ecosystems that can be compared to ecosystem results from streams
affected by agricultural runoff to determine the degree of change that
could be expected in the affected stream if agricultural Best Management
Practices were implemented.
A geographic information system (GIS) data base is being
developed that will incorporate digitized hydrologic boundaries and site
locations for surface-water, ground-water, and ecological studies, as
well as ancillary data on natural and anthropogenic features for specific
study areas and study sites.
For each round of the NAWQA program, specific water-quality
topics of national concern are defined. Pesticides are a current national-synthesis
topic. In the WMIC, pesticides are a concern because of the large percentage
of agricultural land use, especially in the southeastern part of the study
unit.
Stream-water samples were collected for pesticide analysis
at all BFS's (fig. 2) except for mainstem sites on the Fox and Menominee
Rivers. Samples were collected during runoff events early in the growing
season to coincide with the largest expected concentrations of pesticides
in streams. In addition, stream-water samples were collected during low
flow in agricultural and non-agricultural basins to determine background
levels of pesticides in a variety of streams in the study area.
Atrazine was detected at every site during low-flow sampling
including sites at which upstream agricultural activity is minimal. However,
at the sites in non-agricultural areas, observed concentrations of atrazine
were very low--just above minimum detection levels. The maximum concentrations
of atrazine were observed in samples collected during periods of storm
runoff in June and July of 1993 and 1994 from two streams draining agricultural
areas. Due to unusual weather conditions in those two years, samples will
again be collected at one site in 1995 to better determine runoff/pesticide
concentration relationships in agricultural areas of the WMIC.
During August and September, 1994, land-use studies were
completed in two areas of the WMIC study unit (fig. 3).
The studies focused on the effect of agricultural land
use on shallow ground-water quality. The two areas have similar land use
but different types of surficial deposits. One area (Area 3) is underlain
by relatively impermeable sand and clay, while the other area (Area 20/26)
is underlain by highly permeable sand and gravel. Approximately 30 wells
were installed near corn and/or alfalfa fields in each area and water
samples from each well were analyzed for approximately 150 water-quality
constituents, including nitrate and atrazine.
In Area 3, 7 percent of the ground water samples contained
nitrate (as N) concentrations that exceeded 10 milligrams per liter (mg/L)
and 32 percent exceeded 2 mg/L. In Area 20/26, 37 percent exceeded 10
mg/L and 83 percent exceeded 2 mg/L. The most commonly detected pesticides
in both areas were atrazine and one of its metabolites de-ethyl atrazine.
Atrazine and/or de-ethylatrazine was detected in 73 and 93 percent of
the water samples from wells in Area 3 and Area 20/26, respectively. These
results indicate a strong correlation between the permeability of surficial
deposits and elevated nitrate and atrazine concentrations in shallow ground
water in areas of agricultural land use.
A geographic information system (GIS) is being used in
the WMIC NAWQA to integrate a wide variety of data into a spatial and relational
database, so that water quality data from single or multiple sites can be
related to other natural or anthropogenic features in the landscape.
A GIS was used during initial stages of the WMIC study
to characterize the surface-water basins and ground-water aquifers for
sampling-site selection. Land-use/land-cover data were overlaid with bedrock
geology and surficial geology to subdivide the study area into relatively
homogenous units. In essence, these units were defined on the basis of
unique combinations of natural and anthropogenic features thought to affect
surface- and ground-water quality. Once sampling-site selection was completed,
site locations and aquifer and subbasin boundaries for all sampling sites
were digitized in a GIS. Existing land cover, derived from satellite imagery,
will become another GIS layer and will be used to further characterize
sub-basins and aquifers and identify relations to water quality through
statistical analyses and modeling.
Effective environmental monitoring is essential to understanding,
managing, and protecting water resources. Personnel from several agencies,
including NAWQA, are collecting water-quality information throughout Wisconsin.
In 1992, the USGS, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR),
and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) began a partnership
to try to strengthen the coordination of these monitoring efforts. This
partnership is part of a national thrust program called the Intergovernmental
Task Force on Monitoring Water Quality (ITFM).
The primary goals of the ITFM program in Wisconsin are
to (1) develop a framework that will coordinate and improve information
being collected on surface- and ground-water quality, (2) develop and
recommend application of environmental indicators and standard descriptors
of aquatic conditions, and (3) recommend linkages between various information
systems that would result in a water-information network that allows personnel
from various agencies to share data quickly and easily.
A field study was conducted as part of this program during
the summer of 1994 to compare water-quality sample-collection methods
used by the USGS and WDNR. The goal of this study was to determine the
comparability of methods being used to collect data by these two agencies.
By understanding the similarities and differences in the data collected
by each agency, a larger data base will potentially be available to all
data users in Wisconsin. For more information about this program, contact
Gail Epping (Wisconsin ITFM Coordinator) at (608) 267-0555.
Five reports are required by the NAWQA national leadership
team for consistency between study units. These include: a study unit Fact
Sheet, an environmental setting report; a nutrient and suspended-sediment
retrospective report; a non-technical report; and a summary report. Of these,
the Fact Sheet has been published and the environmental setting and the
retrospective reports are in the review process. The non-technical report
and the summary report will be prepared following the conclusion of the
intensive sampling phase.
In addition to these required reports, numerous short topical
reports are planned for release as abstracts, proceedings, journal articles,
and in various USGS report formats. Of these topical reports, 13 abstracts,
2 proceedings, a Master's Thesis, this newsletter and 2 Fact Sheets have
been approved for publication or have been published. Nine other topical
reports are planned for approval in 1995. Lists of the reports published,
approved for publication, in review, and in preparation, are as follows:
Published
- National Water-Quality Assessment Program -- Western
Lake Michigan Drainage Basin, Water Fact Sheet, OFR 91-161, J.O. Setmire,
1991.
- National Water-Quality Assessment: An Integrative
Approach to Assess Water Quality in Western Lake Michigan Basins, Abstract,
Wisconsin Chapter-American Water Resources Association annual meeting,
D.M. Robertson, 1992.
- Biological Assessments in the National Water-Quality
Assessment Program - Western Lake Michigan Drainages Study Unit, Abstract,
Society of Environmental Toxicology and Contamination annual meeting,
B.C. Scudder, et al, 1993.
- A Comparison of Nitrate Concentrations in Ground
Water and Surface Water of the Western Lake Michigan Drainages Study
Unit, Abstract, Wisconsin Chapter-American Water Resources Association
annual meeting, D.A. Saad, 1994.
- Nutrient Loss from Forest and Agricultural Areas,
Abstract, Wisconsin Chapter-American Water Resources Association annual
meeting, D.M. Robertson, 1994.
- Assessment of Alternative Methods for Stratifying
Landsat TM Data to Improve Land-Cover Classification Accuracy Across
Areas Exhibiting Physiographic Variation, Abstract, International Society
for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Symposium on Mapping and Geographic
Information Systems, J.S. Stewart, 1994.
- Influence of Surficial Soils, Land Use, and Stream
Gradient on Suspended-Sediment and Phosphorous Loads in Streams Entering
the Great Lakes, Abstract, American Geophysical Union annual meeting,
San Francisco, D.M. Robertson, 1994.
- Assessment of Alternative Methods for Stratifying
Landsat TM Data to Improve Land-Cover Classification Accuracy Across
Areas with Physiographic Variation, Master's Thesis, University of Wisconsin-Madison,
J.S. Stewart, 1994.
- NAWQA News, National Water Quality Assessment Program
-- Western Lake Michigan Drainage Basins, newsletter, v. 1, no. 1, Jan.
1995.
Approved
- National Water Quality Assessment Program - Nitrate
in Ground Water in the Western Lake Michigan Drainage, Water Fact Sheet,
Open-File Report 95-xxx, D.A. Saad, 1995.
- National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program:
Scope of the Western Lake Michigan Drainages Basin Study Unit Investigation,
Abstract, Proceedings of Wisconsin Chapter of the American Water Resources
Association chapter annual meeting, March 1-3, 1995, C.A. Peters.
- Nutrients and Pesticides in Ground Water of Two
Agricultural Land-Use Areas in the Western Lake Michigan Drainages NAWQA
Study Unit, Abstract, Proceedings of Wisconsin Chapter of the American
Water Resources Association, March 1-3, 1995, D.A. Saad.
- Inputs of Phosphorous and Suspended-Sediments into
Lake Michigan and the United States part of Lake Superior, Abstract,
Proceedings of Wisconsin Chapter of the American Water Resources Association,
March 1-3, 1995, D.M. Robertson.
- Trace Elements in Caddisflies and Streambed Sediments
from Streams in the Western Lake Michigan Drainage, Abstract, Proceedings
of the North American Benthological Society National Meeting, May 30
to June 2, 1995, B.C. Scudder et al.
- Bottom Sediment Behavior and Composition in the
Upper Reaches of the East River Watershed, Brown County, Wisconsin,
the Geological Society of America North Central/South Central sections
meeting, April 1995, G.W. Mason, T.H. McIntosh, and D.M. Robertson.
- Stratification of Landsat Thematic Mapper Data,
Based on Regional Landscape Patterns, To Improve Land-Cover Classification
Accuracy of Large Study Areas, Proceedings Paper, annual conference
of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping and the American Society
for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, February 27 to March 3, 1995,
Charlotte, NC, J.S. Stewart.
- National Water Quality Assessment: Western Lake
Michigan Drainages, Proceedings of the Clean Water - Clean Environment
- 21st Century conference presented by the USDA working group on water
quality, March 5-8, 1995, Kansas City, Missouri, D.J. Sullivan and K.D.
Richards, 4 p.
- U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment
Program -- Western Lake Michigan Drainages, Abstracts of Liaison Committee
Meeting, Green Bay, WI, March 28-29, 1995, Open-File Report 95-xxx,
C.A. Peters, ed., 30 p.
In Review
- Water-Quality Assessment of the Western Lake Michigan
Drainages --Analysis of Available Information on Nutrients and Suspended
Sediment, Water Years 1971-90, Water Resources Investigation Report
95-xxx, D.M. Robertson and D.A. Saad, 1995, 200 p.
- National Water-Quality Assessment Program--Environmental
Retrospective of the Western Lake Michigan Drainages, Water Resources
Investigations Report 95-xxx, C.A. Peters, ed., 1995, 150 p.
In Preparation
- Relatively Pristine Streams in Agricultural Settings
in Wisconsin: Environmental Setting, Water Resources Investigations
Report 95-xxx-A, S.J. Rheaume, J.S. Stewart, and B.N. Lenz, 1995, 20
p.
- Water-Quality Assessment of the Western Lake Michigan
Drainages -- Summary of Biological Investigations Relating to Surface-Water
Quality, Water Resources Investigations Report 95-xxx, B.C. Scudder,
S.J. Rheaume, D.J. Sullivan, and B.N. Lenz, 1995, 20 p.
- Water-Quality Assessment of the Western Lake Michigan
Drainages -- Environmental Setting of the Basic Fixed-Monitoring Sites,
Water Resources 96-xxx-A, D.J. Sullivan, B.C. Scudder, and S.J. Rheaume,
1995, 20 p.
1995 Plans
- NAWQA News, National Water-Quality Assessment Program
-- Western Lake Michigan Drainages, newsletter, v. 1, no. 2, August,
1995, 4 p.
- Transport of Sediment and Nutrients out of the
Western Lake Michigan Drainages, journal, D.M. Robertson, 1996, 10 p.
- Comparison of Land-Cover Data Bases in the Fox-Wolf
River Basin, Water Fact Sheet, Open-File Report 95-xxx, J.S. Stewart,
1995, 2 p.
- Relatively Pristine Streams in Agricultural Settings
in Wisconsin: Algae, Water Resources Investigations Report 95-xxx-B,
B.C. Scudder and J.S. Stewart, 1996, 20 p.
- Relatively Pristine Streams in Agricultural Settings
in Wisconsin: Benthic Invertebrates, Water Resources Investigations
Report 95-xxx-C, S.J.Rheaume and B.N. Lenz, 1996, 20 p.
- Relatively Pristine Streams in Agricultural Settings
in Wisconsin: Habitat, Water Resources Investigations Report 95-xxx-D,
F.A. Fitzpatrick, J.S. Stewart, and B.N. Lenz, 1996, 20 p.
- Relatively Pristine Streams in Agricultural Settings
in Wisconsin: Fish, Water Resources Investigations Report 95-xxx-E,
D.J. Sullivan, 1996, 20 p.
- Statistical Analysis of Data Comparing Water-Quality
Monitoring Results Obtained by Different Sampling Techniques, Water
Resources Investigations Report 95-xxx, D.M. Robertson and P.A. Kammerer,
1995, 20 p.
The 1995 liaison committee meeting is being planned for
March 28 and 29, 1995, at the Radisson Inn located in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday and end at 2:30 p.m. on
Wednesday. Presentations of findings by the NAWQA staff on the high- and
low-flow synoptic study, pesticides in surface water, the ground-water land-use
and flow-path studies, the relatively pristine streams in agricultural settings
ecological study, trace elements in bed sediments and biotic tissue study,
and updates on GIS research will be given. In addition, presentations will
be made by other (non-USGS) researchers doing relevant studies in the WMIC.
A block of rooms is reserved (until March 1) at the Radisson Inn for Tuesday
night, March 28. Make your plans now to get together with the NAWQA staff
and other basin water-resource investigators for two stimulating days of
presentations and discussion. If you have any questions concerning the liaison
meeting or have suggestions for topics for inclusion, call Charlie Peters
at (608) 238-8343.
The next newsletter from the WMIC NAWQA team is scheduled
to be published in August, 1995. The major focus of the next issue will
be findings from the ecological studies, although updates on other aspects
of the NAWQA program will also be included. Please feel free to contact
Charlie Peters at (608) 276-3810 if there is something in particular you
would like to see in the next issue of NAWQA News.
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