Nutrient and streamflow model-input data (1974-2016) and trend results (1987-2016) for selected Lake Erie tributaries

Data provided in this release support the findings in Choquette et al. (2019), utilizing methods for evaluating water-quality and daily-streamflow trends described also in Hirsch and DeCicco (2015 and 2018a) and Hirsch (2018).  The trend results and model-input data focus on 10 locations in the Lake Erie watershed that have long-term (20 or more years) water-quality and streamflow monitoring records.  The trend results include the years 1987 through 2016 or specified sub-periods during this time frame.  The model-input data records spanned the time period 1974 through 2016 although record lengths varied by site, data type, and trend analysis.
The water-quality records were provided by the National Center for Water Quality Research (NCWQR; Heidelberg University, Tiffin, Ohio) and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), and streamflow records were provided by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).  The 10 water-quality trend sites were identified using abbreviated names of the nearby USGS streamgage that provided streamflow data for determining nutrient fluxes at these sites (see Site_map.pdf and Site-summary_table.csv).
Trends in flow-normalized nutrient fluxes were determined using the method Weighted Regression on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS) method (Hirsch and DeCicco, 2015, 2018a, and 2018b) and streamflow (discharge) trends were determined using the graphical-statistical method of Quantile-Kendall plots (Hirsch, 2018).  The nutrient trend analyses focus on the parameters total phosphorus (TP, as P), soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP, as P), total nitrogen (TN, as N), nitrate plus nitrite (NO23, as N) filtered at NCWQR sites or unfiltered at IDEM sites, and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN, as N).  TN was calculated as TKN plus NO23.  SRP was monitored at only 6 of the 10 trend sites.  Additional information on field and laboratory methods appears in Choquette et al. (2019).
The dataset is presented in two parts:
1. Nutrient and Streamflow Model-Input Data
2. Nutrient and Streamflow Trend Results
References:
Choquette, A.F., Hirsch, R.M., Murphy, J.C., Johnson, L.T., and Confesor, R.B. Jr., 2019, Tracking changes in nutrient delivery to western Lake Erie: approaches to compensate for variability and trends in streamflow: J. of Great Lakes Research, v. 45, no. 1, p. 21-39, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2018.11.012.
Hirsch, R.M., 2018, Daily streamflow trend analysis: U.S. Geological Survey Office of Water Information Blog, 38 p., at: https://owi.usgs.gov/blog/Quantile-Kendall/.
Hirsch, R.M., and De Cicco, L.A., 2015 (revised). User Guide to Exploration and Graphics for RivEr Trends (EGRET) and dataRetrieval: R Packages for Hydrologic Data, Version 2.0, U.S. Geological Survey Techniques Methods, 4-A10. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA., 93 p. (at: http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/tm4A10).
Hirsch, R.M., and De Cicco, L.A., 2018a, Guide to EGRET 3.0 Enhancements: at https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/EGRET/vignettes/Enhancements.html.
Hirsch, R.M., and De Cicco, L.A., 2018b, EGRET release 3.0, and EGRETci release 2.0, at:  https://cran.r-project.org/ .

Tags: geoscientificinformation, great-lakes, indiana, lake-erie, michigan, nitrate, nitrogen, nutrient, ohio, phosphorus, streamflow, trend, usgs-5b0da1f9e4b0c39c934b0752, water-quality, weighted-regression-on-time-discharge-and-season-wrtds, western-lake-erie
Organization: Department of the Interior