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# Changes in Streamflow, Concentrations, and Loads in Selected Nontidal Basins in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, 1985-2006 

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007-1372 

By  Michael J. Langland, Douglas L. Moyer, and Joel Blomquist 

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This report is available online in Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader,it is available for free download from Adobe Systems Incorporated.
**View the full report in PDF 2.0 MB****Appendix 1 362 KB (PDF)****Appendix 2 4.3 MB (PDF)****Appendix 3 78 KB (Excel download)****Appendix 4 755 KB (PDF)****Appendix 5 56 KB (Excel download)****Appendix 6 56 KB (Excel download)****Appendix 7 5.9 MB (PDF)****Appendix 8 66 KB (Excel download)****Appendix 9 1.0 MB (PDF)****Appendix 10 795 KB (PDF)**
Abstract
 Water-quality and streamflow data from 34 sites in nontidal parts of the Chesapeake Bay watershed are presented to document annual nutrient and sediment loads and trends for 1985 through 2006, as part of an annual evaluation of water-quality conditions by the U.S. EPAChesapeake Bay Program. This study presents the results of trends analysis for streamflow, loads, and concentrations. Annual mean flow to the bay for 2006 (78,650 cubic feet per second) was approximately 1 percent above the long-term annual mean flow from 1937 to 2005. Total freshwater flow entering the bay for the summer season (July-August-September) was the only season classified as 'wet' in 2006. For the period 1985 through 2006, streamflow was significantly increasing at two of the 34 sites. Observed (bias-corrected) concentration summaries indicate higher ranges in concentrations of total nitrogen in the northern major river basins (Pennsylvania, Maryland, and northern Virginia) than in the southern basins in Virginia. Results indicate almost half of the monitoring sites in the northern basins exhibited significant downward bias-corrected concentration trends in total nitrogen over time; results were similar for total phosphorus and sediment. Generally, loads forall constituents at the nine River Input Monitoring Program (RIM) sites, which comprise 78 percent of the streamflow entering the bay, were lower in 2006 than in 2005. The loads for total nitrogen are below the long-term average loads at eight of the nine RIM sites and totalphosphorus and sediment loads are also below the long-term average at seven RIM sites. Combined annual mean total nitrogen flow-weighted  concentrations from the nine RIM sites indicated an upward tendency in 2006; in contrast, total phosphorus and sediment indicated a downward tendency.

From 1990 to 2006 for the 9 RIM sites, the mean concentrations of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and sediment were 3.49, 0.195, and 116 milligrams per liter, respectively. Flow-weighted concentrations for phosphorus and sediment were lowest in the Susquehanna River at Conowingo, Md., most likely because of the trapping efficiency of three large reservoirs upstream from the sampling point. 

For all 34 sites and all constituents, trends in concentrations (not adjusted for flow) showed 12 statistically significant upward trends and 59 statistically significant downward trends for the period 1985 through 2006. When trends in concentrations are adjusted for flow, they can be used as indicators of human activity and effectiveness of management actions. The flow-adjusted trends indicated significant downward trends at approximately 74, 68, and 32 percent of the sites for total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and sediment, respectively. This may indicate that management actions are having some effect in reducing nutrients and sediments. 
Table of Contents
Abstract 

Introduction 

Method of Study 

Data-Set Construction 

Streamflow 

Water Quality 

Observed Concentrations and Bias-Corrected Trends 

Flow-Weighted Concentration 

Non-Flow-Adjusted Trend 

Flow-Adjusted Trend 

Load Computation

Changes in Streamflow 

Changes in Concentration 

Observed Concentration 

Annual Flow-Weighted Concentration 

Non-Flow-Adjusted Trends in Concentration and Load

Flow-Adjusted Trend in Concentration 

Changes in Load 

Summary and Conclusions 

Acknowledgments 

References 

Appendix 1. Annual and seasonal flow variations for the River Input Monitoring and 25 Multi-Agency Nontidal Monitoring Program stations 

Appendix 2. Observed concentrations for the 9 River Input Monitoring Program sites and the 25 Multi-Agency Nontidal Monitoring Program sites   in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, 1985-2006 

 Appendix 3. Concentration percentiles and Spearman rho for the 9 River Input Monitoring Program sites and the 25 Multi-Agency Nontidal Monitoring   Program sites in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, 1985-2006 

Appendix 4. Bias-corrected distribution and mean of observed concentrations of (A) total nitrogen, (B) nitrite plus nitrate, (C) total phosphorus,   (D) dissolved inorganic phosphorus, and (E) sediment for the 25 Multi-Agency Nontidal Monitoring Program sites, Chesapeake Bay watershed,   1985-2006 

 Appendix 5. Non-flow-adjusted trends in concentration for the 9 River Input Monitoring Program sites and 25 Multi-Agency Nontidal Monitoring   Program sites, 1985-2006 

 Appendix 6. Non-flow-adjusted trend in load for the 9 River Input Monitoring Program Sites and 25 Multi-Agency Nontidal Monitoring Program   sites, 1985-2006 

Appendix 7. Four-panel plots used to display non-flow-adjusted trend results for 9 River Input Monitoring Program sites and the 25 Multi-Agency   Nontidal Monitoring Program sites in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, 1985-2006 

Appendix 8. Flow-adjusted trends for the 9 River Input Monitoring Program Sites and 25 Multi-Agency Nontidal Monitoring Program sites, 1985-2006 

 Appendix 9. Flow-adjusted trend plots for the 9 River Input Monitoring Program Sites and 25 Multi-Agency Nontidal Monitoring Program sites,   1985-2006 

Appendix 10. Graphs showing annual loads, annual-mean streamflow, mean annual load, and annual-mean streamflow for the 9 River Input Monitoring   Program sites and the 25 Multi-Agency Nontidal Monitoring Program sites in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, 1985-2006 

This report is available online in Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have the AdobeAcrobat PDF Reader, it is available for free download from Adobe Systems Incorporated. 

**View the full report in PDF 2.0 MB**

**For more information about USGS activities in Pennsylvania contact:   Director  USGS Pennsylvania Water Science Center   215 Limekiln Road   New Cumberland, Pennsylvania 17070  Telephone: (717) 730-6960  Fax: (717) 730-6997  or access the USGS Water Resources of Pennsylvania home page at: http://pa.water.usgs.gov/.**
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U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological SurveyPersistent URL: http://pubsdata.usgs.gov/pubs/of/2007/1372/		Page Contact Information: USGS Publishing NetworkLast modified: Wednesday, December 07 2016, 08:25:53 PM