Sediment Accumulation and Distribution

in Lake Kampeska, Watertown,

South Dakota

Water-Resources Investigations Report 02-4171

Prepared in cooperation with the 

Lake Kampeska Water Project District

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Tail-1

Tail-2

Cores

1 and 2

Cores

3, 4, and 5

Tail-3

Body-1

Body-2

Body-3

Body-4

Mouth-1
U.S. Department of the Interior 

U.S. Geological Survey 

Sediment Accumulation and Distribution 

in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, 

South Dakota 

By Bryan D. Schaap and Steven K. Sando 

Water-Resources Investigations Report 02-4171 

Prepared in cooperation with the 

Lake Kampeska Water Project District 
U.S. Department of the Interior 

GALE A. NORTON, Secretary 

U.S. Geological Survey 

Charles G. Groat, Director 

The use of firm, trade, and brand names in this report is for identification purposes only and 

does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Government. 

Rapid City, South Dakota: 2002 

For additional information write to:


District Chief


U.S. Geological Survey


1608 Mt. View Road


Rapid City, SD 57702


Copies of this report can be purchased from:


U.S. Geological Survey


Information Services


Building 810


Box 25286, Federal Center


Denver, CO 80225-0286

CONTENTS 

Abstract.................................................................................................................................................................................. 1


Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................... 1


Purpose and Scope....................................................................................................................................................... 1


Description of Lake Kampeska Area........................................................................................................................... 3


Nomenclature............................................................................................................................................................... 4


Previous Studies........................................................................................................................................................... 4


Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................................................... 5


General Methods of Investigation.......................................................................................................................................... 5


Age-Dating of Sediment.............................................................................................................................................. 5


Water-Depth Data ........................................................................................................................................................ 6


Evaluation of Sediment-Accumulation Rates and Distribution............................................................................................. 6


Information from Previous Studies.............................................................................................................................. 7


1951 Water-Depth Survey.................................................................................................................................. 7


1990-91 Survey.................................................................................................................................................. 8


Water Depth............................................................................................................................................. 9


Sediment Thickness................................................................................................................................. 9


Lake-Bottom Material ............................................................................................................................. 11


Cross Section ........................................................................................................................................... 11


1995-96 Survey.................................................................................................................................................. 11


Lake Boundary ........................................................................................................................................ 11


Water Depth............................................................................................................................................. 13


Lake-Bottom Material ............................................................................................................................. 13


Information Collected for this Study........................................................................................................................... 13


Sediment Samples.............................................................................................................................................. 13


Marine Seismic Surveys .................................................................................................................................... 18


1994 Water Depth and Sediment Thickness............................................................................................ 21


2000 Water Depth and Sediment Thickness............................................................................................ 21


Comparison of Information from Various Sources and Times.................................................................................... 21


Tail ..................................................................................................................................................................... 23


Body................................................................................................................................................................... 27


Mouth................................................................................................................................................................. 27


Summary................................................................................................................................................................................ 33


Selected References............................................................................................................................................................... 33


Supplemental Information ..................................................................................................................................................... 35


Contents III 
FIGURES 

1-5. Map showing: 

1. Location of Lake Kampeska........................................................................................................................ 2


2. Water depth in 1951 and collection sites of sediment cores in 2000........................................................... 7


3. Data-collection locations and sediment thickness; and a cross section showing


transect 1990-line 10 across Lake Kampeska, 1990-91 .............................................................................. 10


4. Coarse-grained lake-bottom material showing sand, gravel, and rock, 1990-91 ........................................ 12


5. Water depth and bottom material in 1996 ................................................................................................... 14


6.	 Graph showing profiles in bottom-sediment cores of cesium-137 collected during October 2000,


and time since deposition estimated from lead-210 data collected during 1998 .................................................. 17


7. Map showing transects of a marine seismic survey during June 1994 ................................................................. 19


8. Map showing transects of a marine seismic survey during October 2000............................................................ 20 

9. Map showing selected transects used for comparisons between studies .............................................................. 22


10-17. Graphs showing cross sections for transects across Lake Kampeska:


10. Tail-1............................................................................................................................................................ 24


11. Tail-2............................................................................................................................................................ 25


12. Tail-3............................................................................................................................................................ 26


13. Body-1 ......................................................................................................................................................... 28


14. Body-2 ......................................................................................................................................................... 29


15. Body-3 ......................................................................................................................................................... 30


16. Body-4 ......................................................................................................................................................... 31


17. Mouth-1 ....................................................................................................................................................... 32


18. Map showing water depth in Lake Kampeska based on 1990-2000 data............................................................. 37


TABLES 

1. Sediment cores for cesium-137 analysis collected at Lake Kampeska on October 17, 2000 ................................ 15


2. Selected transects used for comparisons of cross sections across Lake Kampeska ............................................... 23


CONVERSION FACTORS, ABBREVIATIONS, AND VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL DATUM 

Multiply By To obtain 

acre 4,047 square meter 

acre 0.4047 hectare 

cubic foot per second (ft3/s) 0.02832 cubic meter per second 

foot (ft) 0.3048 meter 

foot per day (ft/d) 0.3048 meter per day 

foot per year (ft/yr) 0.3048 meter per year 

gallon (gal) 3.785 liter 

inch 2.54 centimeter 

mile (mi) 1.609 kilometer 

ton, short (2,000 lb) 0.9072 megagram 

Sea level: In this report, “sea level” refers to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 

of 1929)—a geodetic datum derived from a general adjustment of the first-order level nets of both 

the United States and Canada, formerly called Sea Level Datum of 1929. 

Horizontal coordinate information is referenced to the North American Datum of 1927 (NAD27), 

unless otherwise noted. 

IV Contents 
Sediment Accumulation and Distribution 

in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, 

South Dakota 

By Bryan D. Schaap and Steven K. Sando 

ABSTRACT 

Lake Kampeska is a natural lake of about 

5,075 acres located within the city limits of Watertown, South Dakota. The lake is important as a 

water supply and recreational resource. Sediment 

accumulation has been a concern for many years, 

and several studies have been conducted to learn 

more about the sediment, including how fast it is 

accumulating. This study attempted to evaluate 

previously estimated sediment-accumulation rates 

and to describe the distribution of sediment in the 

lake. 

Analysis of cesium-137 concentrations in 

sediment cores and changes in lake-bottom elevation over time led to the conclusion that during 

about the last 50 years, the sediment has been 

accumulating at a rate on the order of 0.01 foot per 

year or less. Changes in lake-bottom elevation 

during this time period indicate that the only 

significant deposition occurred in the area near the 

connection of Lake Kampeska to the Big Sioux 

River. Direct physical measurements and marine 

seismic surveys indicate that the flat-bottom interior part of the lake has 10 feet or more of sediment 

over a relatively irregular subbottom. 

INTRODUCTION 

Lake Kampeska is a natural lake of about 

5, 075 acres located within the city limits of Watertown, South Dakota (fig. 1). The lake has a surfacewater connection to the Big Sioux River and is hydraulically connected to the Big Sioux aquifer. Almost 

200,000 people live within 65 miles of the lake, which 

serves as a water-supply and recreational resource 

(Steuven and Steward, 1996). Sediment accumulation 

within the lake has the potential to impair these beneficial uses by making it more difficult to extract water, by 

adversely affecting the number of desirable fish in 

the lake, and by ultimately filling the lake. Previous 

investigations produced very different estimates of 

sediment-accumulation rates from each other. The 

consideration of various management plans, such as 

dredging the lake, indicated the need for a better understanding of the historical sediment-accumulation rate 

and the distribution of sediment within the lake. 

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Lake Kampeska Water Project District, 

conducted a study of sediment accumulation and distribution in Lake Kampeska. The objectives of the study 

were to: (1) estimate the rate of sediment accumulation 

in the lake, and (2) describe the distribution of sediment in the lake. Methods and results of this study may 

be useful in sediment studies of other lakes in similar 

settings. 

Purpose and Scope 

The purpose of this report is to provide information about the rate of sediment accumulation and 

sediment distribution within Lake Kampeska. This is 

accomplished by providing summaries of previous sedimentation studies and comparing the historical data to 

the data collected for this study. 

Introduction 1 
97o07'30" 97o02'30" 

45o 

Big

Sioux

River

81 

81 

212 

212 

20 

20 

29 

29 

Lake Kampeska 

Pelican Lake 

WATERTOWN WATERTOWN ATERTOWN

CODINGTON COUNTY 

97o12'30" 

44o 

44o 

55' 

50'	 Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital data, 1:100,000, 1995 0 1 2 3 4 MILES 

Universal Transverse Mercator projection, zone 14 0 1 2 3 4 KILOMETERS 

SOUTH 

MI 

DAKOTA 

Lake 

Kampeska 

Area 

shown 

Big Sioux 

R 

EXPLANATION 

EXTENT OF BIG SIOUX AQUIFER 

(modified from Hansen, 1990) 

SSOURI 

RIVER 

iv r e 

Figure 1. Location of Lake Kampeska.


2 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota

The sediment in the lake has been studied previously using several different methods. To allow comparison of the various studies, the results from different 

time periods were incorporated into a geographic information system (GIS), and vertical measurements were 

reported relative to a common elevation. Previous 

studies provided information about the rate of sediment 

accumulation, measurements of water-depth, descriptions of lake-bottom material, and the thickness of the 

sediment in the lake. Collection and analysis of sediment samples for cesium-137 concentrations during 

October 2000 and a marine seismic survey used to 

collect information about water depth and sediment 

thickness in 2000 are described. Comparisons of the 

various studies are used to evaluate estimated rates of 

sediment accumulation. Selected information from 

studies conducted from 1990 through 2000 was used to 

create a water-depth map of the lake. 

Description of Lake Kampeska Area 

Lake Kampeska is located in a geographic region 

known as the Prairie Hills. This broad trough includes 

the well-developed drainage of the Big Sioux River 

near its center and hummocky poorly developed 

drainage along the edges (Gries, 1996; Bryce and 

others, 1998). 

The bedrock in the Lake Kampeska area consists 

of the Upper Cretaceous-age Niobrara Formation, 

Carlile Shale, and Pierre Shale. These bedrock formations, which generally do not yield water to wells, are 

considered to be confining beds to the overlying surficial aquifers. 

The surficial deposits in the Lake Kampeska area 

are Quaternary-age glacial deposits, which consist primarily of till and outwash. Only the glacial-outwash 

deposits that are composed primarily of sand and gravel 

yield substantial quantities of water to wells (Hansen, 

1990). The Big Sioux aquifer (fig. 1), which is one of 

the most important aquifers in the State, has a fluvial 

origin and consists of poorly to well-sorted surficial 

outwash ranging from medium-sized sand to mediumsized gravel (Putnam and Thompson, 1996). 

Lake Kampeska was formed thousands of years 

ago by glacial processes (probably the melting of a 

remnant ice block) in a zone of glacial stagnation on the 

boundary between end-moraine till and outwash 

deposits (Steece, 1957). The composition of bed material of the lake shortly following the lake’s formation 

probably consisted of till with overlying outwash in 

some parts. Because of the uncertainty concerning the 

specific formation processes, the extent and thickness 

of outwash in the original lake bed is not known. 

There is a direct connection between the Big 

Sioux River and Lake Kampeska. Near Lake 

Kampeska, the Big Sioux River has a meandering 

channel, and relief in the area is only a few feet. It is 

possible that the Big Sioux River and Lake Kampeska 

were naturally connected early in their history and that 

surface connection may have been reduced or eliminated as the Big Sioux River deposited sands and 

gravels along the northeast side of the lake. The 

modern history of the connection is uncertain, but 

some connection, at least when the Big Sioux River 

was at flood stages, probably occurred since the late 

1800’s based on old newspaper accounts. In the 

1930’s, the surface-water connection between the 

river and the lake was channelized (Madison, 1994); 

however, this channelization may have been an 

enhancement of a connection that had been in existence for some time based on historical information 

(Watertown Public Opinion, 1969). Since the 1940’s, 

the inlet also has served as the outlet after the original 

outlet along the southeastern part of the lake was 

blocked during the construction of an airport 

(Madison, 1994). 

The Big Sioux River and Lake Kampeska are 

hydraulically connected to the Big Sioux aquifer 

(Barari, 1971; Hansen, 1990; Putnam and Thompson, 

1996). Information presented in Putnam and 

Thompson (1996, p. 4) indicates that the thickness of 

the Big Sioux aquifer around Lake Kampeska is 

extremely variable, with a range of 6 to 47 feet and an 

average of 20 feet for eight test holes surrounding the 

lake. The elevation of the bottom of the Big Sioux 

aquifer is about 1,680 feet above sea level in the Lake 

Kampeska area (Putnam and Thompson, 1996, p. 6). 

Recharge can occur from infiltration of precipitation 

and from the Big Sioux River and lakes in the area 

when surface-water levels are higher than adjacent 

ground-water levels. Ground-water levels can be 

reduced by evapotranspiration and pumping. Groundwater flow generally is parallel to the flow in the Big 

Sioux River and is from north-northwest to southsoutheast in the vicinity of the lake (Hansen, 1990; 

Putnam and Thompson, 1996). 

More than 96 percent of the land in the lake 

subbasin primarily is used for agriculture, and most of 

this is used as cropland rather than pasture (Madison, 

1994). The Lake Kampeska subbasin has an area of 

about 17,278 acres, and the contributing Big Sioux 

Introduction 3 
River Basin from the headwaters downstream to and 

including the Lake Kampeska subbasin has an area of 

about 223,006 acres (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

2000). If the 5,075 acres of Lake Kampeska are subtracted, then the remaining portion of the Lake 

Kampeska subbasin is about 5.5 percent of the contributing area to this part of the river basin. 

Nomenclature 

In this report, the data sets provided by various 

organizations and researchers are described, then comparisons are made among the common components 

from the various studies. It was necessary to provide a 

common basis for comparison, and basic information 

often is presented in terms of elevation, in feet above 

sea level. In some instances, comparisons are made to 

an elevation of 1,717.8 feet, which has been defined by 

the State of South Dakota as the normal lake elevation 

and is the assumed reference elevation for “above 

normal” and “below normal” conditions at Lake 

Kampeska. 

The term “sediment” is used throughout most of 

this report to refer to the fine-grained sediment that was 

deposited in Lake Kampeska after its glacial origin. 

This same material was referred to as “silt” in some of 

the previous studies, and that term is used when referring to maps or literal descriptions of notes from those 

studies. The term “subbottom” refers to the lowest 

extent of the fine-grained material, and “sediment 

thickness” refers to the distance from the top of the sediment to the subbottom. This is an important distinction 

because the methods described in this report were not 

used to determine the bottom of the sediment in the 

sense of defining the interface between sediment and 

bedrock, but rather were used to define the interface 

between fine-grained material and the assumed underlying glacial deposits from the time of the lake’s origin. 

Lake Kampeska, in map view, is shaped generally like a fish, and the terms “mouth,” “body,” and 

“tail” can be useful descriptors for general areas of the 

lake. The mouth of the lake is in the northeast end of the 

lake, approximately at the Big Sioux River inlet. The 

body of the lake is the ovoid, flat-bottomed, steep-sided 

area to the southwest of the mouth and is the largest part 

of the lake. The area to the southwest of the body, 

including the narrows, is referred to as the tail. The lake 

is about 4.7 miles long from mouth to tail, and the 

width varies from about 0.7 mile to about 2.3 miles. 

Previous Studies 

Lake Kampeska has been the subject of considerable interest and study over the years. Some studies 

have been general and examined the role of the lake in 

the hydrologic system, and others have examined 

specific issues directly or indirectly related to sediment 

in the lake. 

The South Dakota Geological Survey has published several reports describing the geology of Lake 

Kampeska and the factors affecting lake levels (Rothrock, 1933; Steece, 1958a, 1958b). In a comprehensive 

report describing the hydrology of the lake, Barari 

(1971) concluded that in addition to the direct surfacewater connection, the Big Sioux River is hydraulically 

connected to Lake Kampeska by the Big Sioux aquifer, 

and therefore, water levels in the river and the lake are 

affected by water levels in the aquifer. 

A study based on many factors, including land 

use and soil types, reported that an estimated 

4,052 tons of sediment were deposited annually in 

Lake Kampeska, and that more than 30 percent of this 

sediment came from lake-shore erosion (South Dakota 

Department of Water and Natural Resources, 1985). 

This corresponds to an average reduction of about 

0.006 foot per year in lake depth, assuming that the 

4,052 tons were deposited uniformly throughout the 

lake. Based on analysis of water samples, Madison 

(1994) concluded that most of the suspended solids 

coming into the lake did so during flood stages of the 

Big Sioux River, and that the sediment in the lake 

settles out of the water column quickly. 

During the winters of 1990 and 1991, the 

Kampeska Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of 

America undertook an all-volunteer study to measure 

water depth and sediment thickness at more than 2,000 

locations on the lake (Jim Madsen, Izaak Walton 

League, written commun., 2000). The methods and 

results of that study are described in more detail later in 

this report. 

The USGS conducted a study of the water 

resources, including Lake Kampeska, of Codington 

and Grant Counties (Hansen, 1990). A digital model of 

ground-water flow in the Big Sioux aquifer for an area 

that included Lake Kampeska was described by 

Putnam and Thompson (1996). 

Suspended sediment samples collected at the 

Big Sioux River inlet during an April 1997 flood led 

to estimates that from October 1, 1996, through 

September 30, 1997, the net increase in Lake 

Kampeska sediment was 28,800 tons, and from 

4 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota 
October 1, 1993, through September 30, 1997, the net 

increase in Lake Kampeska sediment was 61,700 tons 

(John R. Little, Lake Kampeska Water Project District, 

written commun., 2000). These estimates correspond to 

sediment-accumulation rates of about 0.0025 foot per 

year and about 0.0013 foot per year, respectively, 

during these 1-year and 4-year time periods. 

Day and Butler (1998) studied lead-210 and 

chironomid (aquatic insects) trends in sediment cores to 

determine a correlation between sediment accumulation and the lake environment in the past. Sediment 

cores were collected from the southwestern part of the 

lake “approximately 100 feet SW of the rock pile” in 

the tail part of the lake, well away from the mouth or the 

connection with the Big Sioux River. The core was 

described as homogeneous, consisting primarily of a 

very fine silty mud, and the only visible difference with 

greater depth was an increase in shells and organic 

matter. Lead-210 is a naturally occurring isotope that 

decays with time (half-life of 22.3 years), and the 

amount of lead-210 decreases with increasing sediment 

depth in undisturbed deposits. The lead-210 analyses 

from sub-samples of the core were used to estimate the 

age of the sediment at 20-centimeter intervals. The 

average sediment-accumulation rate from 1918 through 

1998 was about 0.04 foot per year (3.28 feet cumulative), and the average sediment-accumulation rate from 

1989 through 1998 was about 0.08 foot per year (Day 

and Butler, 1998). The chironomid analysis was for the 

purpose of assessing the environmental conditions 

during the time of sediment deposition and was not 

used to provide any information about the time of 

sediment deposition. 

A study by the Natural Resources Conservation 

Service was designed to provide information about sediment and nutrients in the Upper Big Sioux River Basin. 

Computer simulation models indicated that the Lake 

Kampeska subbasin is contributing about 5.3 percent of 

the total sediment load contributed by the basin from 

the headwater areas downstream to and including Lake 

Kampeska (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2000). 

As part of a fish-movement study, Blackwell 

(2001) collected information about Lake Kampeska 

during 1995-96 including the lake boundary, bottom 

materials, and water depth. This information is 

described more fully later in this report. 

Acknowledgments 

The authors gratefully acknowledge the efforts 

of all those who provided information and guidance. 

Many people provided valuable information about the 

history of Lake Kampeska and the many observations 

of lake conditions that have been made over the years. 

Jim Madsen, one of the volunteers, was particularly 

helpful in providing information about the 1990-91 

survey by the Kampeska Chapter of the Izaak Walton 

League of America to measure water depth and sediment thickness in the lake. John R. Little, a technical 

advisor to the Lake Kampeska Water Project District, 

provided summaries of information about the 

hydrology of the Upper Big Sioux River and Lake 

Kampeska. Brian Blackwell provided information 

about conditions in the lake during 1995-96 from his 

doctoral dissertation. The authors also wish to 

acknowledge the Watertown Community Foundation 

and Watertown Municipal Utilities for their assistance. 

GENERAL METHODS OF INVESTIGATION 

The historical sediment-accumulation rate was 

evaluated using two methods. One method used trends 

observed in sediment cores based on cesium-137 

values to age-date the sediment. The other method 

involved the comparison of water-depth information 

collected over a span of several decades. Both 

methods are described further in this section of the 

report. 

The distribution of the sediment in the lake was 

based on three sources of data: (1) probing data collected by the Kampeska Chapter of the Izaak Walton 

League of America, (2) samples collected and evaluated by Blackwell (2001), and (3) marine seismic 

surveys by the USGS for this study. Specific details 

for the collection of sediment distribution data are 

provided later in this report. 

Age-Dating of Sediment 

One way to estimate the rate of sediment accumulation at a specific location is to collect samples of 

the sediment and to correlate changes with depth to 

events known to have occurred on specific dates. This 

method is based on the assumption that the sediment 

has not been affected by excavation, wind-caused 

mixing, biological activity, or other forces that might 

have disrupted the relative age sequence of the 

sediment as originally deposited. 

General Methods of Investigation 5 
Sediment samples from various depths often are 

obtained by collecting a vertical core of lake deposits 

and selecting samples from various intervals. These 

cores can be several feet long and can include sediment 

deposited over a period of many years. Depending on 

many factors including collection conditions and the 

method used, the core can be shorter than the known 

distance of penetration into the sediment. This can be 

caused by compression of the sediment and loss of sediment. The effects of compression may not be evenly 

distributed throughout the length of the core, and this 

can hinder efforts to determine the absolute depth of the 

sediment before it was collected. Precautions are taken 

to prevent the sediment from leaving the top or the 

bottom of the coring tube once it has entered the tube, 

but some sediment may be dispersed by the downward 

movement of the coring tube and not enter the tube. 

Samples of the uppermost few tenths of a foot of 

the sediments can be obtained by using a bottom sampler. When the bottom sampler is lowered slowly to 

the lake bottom, a small stainless steel rotary scoop on 

the bottom of the sampler is activated when the weight 

of the sampler is supported by the sediment and not by 

the suspension cable. The bottom sampler also may 

disperse some sediment and the sampler may settle 

slightly into the sediment before the scoop is activated. 

Samples collected this way can be compared to the 

samples from the upper part of the core. Specific details 

for the collection of sediment samples during 2000 for 

this study are provided later in this report. 

Several different methods can be used to estimate the rate of sediment accumulation based on 

changes with depth. The selected method generally is 

based on many factors, including the time interval of 

interest and the constituents likely to be found within 

the sediment during that time interval. Studies of sediment accumulation within the past few tens to hundreds 

of years can use techniques based on constituents introduced by human activity, such as cesium-137, or 

naturally occurring isotopes, such as lead-210. Additional details of the cesium-137 methods are provided 

later in this report. 

Sediment may not accumulate uniformly 

throughout a lake, and analysis of sediment from a few 

selected locations can be used only to estimate an 

average rate of sediment accumulation. These results 

can be used to develop a qualitative relation between 

the factors outside the lake and the amount of sediment 

deposited in the lake. In the case of Lake Kampeska, 

the most interest is in relating factors from the last 

several decades rather than from the thousands of years 

since its origin. Factors such as the development of 

intensive row crop agriculture in the Big Sioux River 

Basin upstream of the lake, human manipulation of the 

surface connection between the Big Sioux River and 

Lake Kampeska, and development along the lake shore 

may affect the rate of sediment accumulation within the 

lake. 

The rate of sediment accumulation can be estimated by associating times with depths and dividing 

the change in depth, associated with the sediment 

thickness, by the change in time. In addition to analytical results, other information can be used to associate 

a time to a depth. The top of the core is associated with 

the time of collection. Lower in the core, changes in 

vegetation, soil horizons, or sediment type can be associated with known periods of change, such as droughts, 

floods, or dam construction. 

Water-Depth Data 

Changes in water depth over time also can be 

used to estimate an average sediment-accumulation 

rate. Assuming that no processes, such as isostatic 

rebound, subsidence, erosion, or dredging, have 

affected the lake bottom, any decrease in water depth 

over time would be associated with an increase in 

sediment thickness. Because the lake surface may be at 

different elevations when water-depth measurements 

are made, comparisons between measurements can 

only be made when the water depths are compared 

relative to a common elevation. 

EVALUATION OF SEDIMENT-ACCUMULATION 

RATES AND DISTRIBUTION 

Information from previous studies and information collected for this study is used to evaluate sediment 

accumulation rates and distribution in Lake Kampeska. 

Previous studies have provided information regarding 

water depth, sediment thickness, lake-bottom material, 

and the lake boundary. Information collected for this 

study includes trends in cesium-137 concentration with 

sediment depth obtained from sediment samples and 

water depth and sediment thickness obtained during 

two marine seismic surveys. The various information 

from different sources and times is compared in cross 

sections at selected transects of the lake. 

6 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota 
Information from Previous Studies 

Selected information from the previous studies 

described earlier is presented in this section of the 

report. This information includes data collected during 

surveys in 1951 (Barari, 1971), 1990-91 by the Izaak 

Walton League, and 1995-96 (Blackwell, 2001). 

1951 Water-Depth Survey 

The South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and 

Parks produced a water-depth map of Lake Kampeska 

(fig. 2) based on data collected during March 1951 and 

a lake boundary from an air photo taken during 1958 

(Barari, 1971). According to the Watertown Public 

Opinion (1969), the water-depth measurements were 

made through hundreds of holes drilled through the 

ice. The lines of equal water depth start at a depth of 

5.0 feet with intervals of 2.5 feet and were drawn 

during 1964, 13 years after the water-depth measurements were made. Versions of this map have been 

published in several publications (Watertown Public 

Opinion, 1969; Barari, 1971; Madison, 1994; Steuven 

and Stewart, 1996). Although the lines of equal water 

depth were consistent from publication to publication, 

the reference elevation was stated as 1,720 feet above 

0 

0 0.5 1 

0.5 1

KILOMETER 

MILE 

EXPLANATION 

COLLECTION SITES OF SEDIMENT CORES 

LINE OF EQUAL WATER DEPTH, IN FEET 

(Barari, 1971) 

Cores 1 and 2 

Cores 3, 4, and 5 

0 (lake boundary from Blackwell, 2001) 

5 

7.5 

10 

12.5 

Figure 2. Water depth in 1951 and collection sites of sediment cores in 2000. 

Evaluation of Sediment-Accumulation Rates and Distribution 7 
mean sea level in Barari (1971) and stated as 1,725 feet 

above sea level in Steuven and Stewart (1996). Several 

individuals associated with various agencies were contacted in an effort to determine the true reference 

elevation for this map, but the discrepancy could not be 

resolved without making comparisons to more recently 

collected water-depth data. 

A GIS version of the 1951 water-depth map was 

created for this report (fig. 2) by digitizing the map 

from Barari (1971, p. 5). The use of the lake boundary 

from Blackwell (2001) (described in a following 

section) required slight modifications of some of the 

lines of equal water depth with smaller values in a few 

places, but the orientation and shape of the lines fit 

fairly well within the high-resolution lake boundary. 

The GIS version of the 1951 water-depth map appears 

to adequately represent the information in the published paper version. 

In order for data from the 1951 survey to be 

comparable with data from other studies, the reference 

elevation for the 1951 data had to be resolved. Comparisons to water-depth data collected during surveys in 

1990-91 and 2000 (described later in this report) 

indicated that neither the 1,720-foot nor 1,725-foot 

reference elevation could be correct unless the lake has 

been getting deeper since 1951. This can be shown by 

observing that the 10-foot line of equal water depth 

would correspond to a lake-bottom elevation of 

1,710 feet if the reference elevation were 1,720 feet, 

and would correspond to a lake-bottom elevation of 

1,715 feet if the reference elevation were 1,725 feet. 

Comparisons with more recently collected data consistently indicated lake-bottom elevations well below 

1,710 feet in these areas. If the lake is not getting 

deeper at these locations, then the reference elevation 

for the 1951 water-depth map must be less than 

1,720 feet. 

Several comparisons between the lines of equal 

water depth based on the 1951 survey and the waterdepth measurements made during the 1990-91 survey 

indicated that the appropriate reference elevation for 

the 1951 water-depth map should be about 1,715.2 feet. 

This estimate was based on the assumptions that little 

deposition had occurred in the southwestern part of the 

lake during the intervening years and that the elevation 

of the lake bottom in this area was about the same in 

1951 as it was in 1990-91. These assumptions are based 

on the hypotheses that most of the sediment is coming 

into the lake from the inlet/outlet on the opposite end of 

the lake (Madison, 1994), and that any additional 

deposition would more likely be composed of the finegrained sediment found in the middle of the lake and 

not the sand, rock, or gravel described in the notes from 

the 1990-91 survey done by the Lake Kampeska 

Chapter of the Izaak Walton League. 

The 1,715.2-foot elevation was used to estimate 

the lake-bottom elevations throughout the lake associated with the water-depth map shown in Barari (1971). 

Considering the technology used in 1951 and the interpretations inherent in creating lines of equal water 

depth from water-depth point data, the transect comparisons indicate that the 1951 values, based on the 

1,715.2 reference elevation, match the more recent 

lake-bottom elevations fairly well in areas where little 

or no deposition is believed to have occurred, such as 

the sandy shores along the northwestern and southeastern sides of the body. If the true reference elevation 

was significantly higher or lower, then comparisons 

with more recent information from the entire lake 

would show a pattern of unexpected increases or 

decreases in the lake-bottom elevation, which was not 

the case. 

1990-91 Survey 

During February 1990 and January to February 

1991, the Kampeska Chapter of the Izaak Walton 

League of America organized volunteers to measure 

water depth and sediment thickness in Lake Kampeska. 

More than 2,000 holes were drilled through the ice, and 

measurements were made of water depth and sediment 

thickness. Observations were made regarding the type 

of lake-bottom material. A summary of the study and 

available copies of the field notes (Jim Madsen, Izaak 

Walton League, written commun., 2000) were used to 

input the information into a GIS. 

The field work for the 1990-91 survey included 

establishing where the holes should be drilled, drilling 

the holes, making the water-depth measurements, 

making the sediment-thickness measurements, and 

recording the results. Sixty-two different people 

assisted with these tasks at some time during the 

survey. The measuring teams typically consisted of 3 or 

4 people, and each person of the team was responsible 

for a specific task at each site. 

A grid system was established by defining two 

reference lines across the lake. The first reference line 

was defined by connecting the points along the eastern 

side of the narrow part of the lake at what might be considered the dividing line between the body and the tail. 

8 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota 
The second reference line was defined as a perpendicular to the first reference line where the first line intersected the southeastern lake shore. All of the other lines 

in the grid system were established in 300-foot increments from these two lines. The first part of a two-part 

label for transects from this survey are identified with 

“1990,” the first year data were collected. The second 

part is a line number for those transects parallel to the 

second reference line. For those transects parallel to the 

first reference line, the second part of the label indicates 

the distance in feet and direction from the first reference 

line. 

For this report, a GIS version of the data was 

created by generating an orthogonal set of points with 

300-foot intervals. Then the entire set was rotated and 

shifted until it matched as closely as possible the 

description of the reference lines and points used for the 

survey, and the points outside the lake were deleted. 

Figure 3A shows the locations of the measuring sites 

during the two field seasons. No measurements were 

made at some near-shore locations because of open 

water. During 1990, data collection in the eastern part 

of the lake was hindered by a fracture in the ice and subsequent differential movement along the fracture. Some 

locations in the fracture area were measured in both 

1990 and 1991; the 1991 values were used for this 

report. 

Water Depth 

Water-depth measurements were made with a 20-

foot section of 2-inch PVC pipe calibrated in tenths of 

a foot. In those areas where sediment was on the lake 

bottom, 0.5 foot was subtracted from the measured 

value to compensate for the difficulty in determining 

the top of the soft sediment. When the measurements 

were made in 1990, the lake level was described as 

2 feet below normal (approximately an elevation of 

1,715.8 feet), and when measurements were made in 

1991, the lake level was described as 3 feet below 

normal (approximately an elevation of 1,714.8 feet). 

Water-level records from the Watertown Utilities 

Department (John R. Little, Lake Kampeska Water 

Project District, written commun., 2000) reported 

similar values for these time periods and indicate that 

the lake level typically does not vary by more than a 

few tenths of a foot during winter. 

The water-depth data at specific locations are not 

shown in this report, but water-depth measurements 

were used in the calculation of the lake-bottom 

elevation and sediment-bottom elevation points 

shown in the comparative cross sections presented 

later in this report. For example, during the 1990 field 

season, a water depth of 10.0 feet and a sediment 

thickness of 14.8 feet might have been recorded for a 

specific location. The lake-bottom elevation would be 

calculated as 1,705.8 feet (1,715.8 feet minus 10 feet). 

The sediment-bottom elevation would be calculated as 

1,691.0 feet (1,705.8 feet minus 14.8 feet). 

Sediment Thickness 

Sediment-thickness measurements were made 

with a 5/8-inch-thick steel probe with a handle welded 

to the top. In most instances, a 25-foot probe was used. 

The probe was pushed through the soft silt, and the 

greater resistance encountered at the subbottom was 

easily detected. At a few locations where the 25-foot 

probe was unable to reach the bottom of the sediment, 

a 30-foot probe was used, but it also was unable to 

reach the bottom of the sediment. 

At almost 40 percent of the nearly 2,200 

measurement locations, the sediment thickness was 

greater than the maximum measuring capability of the 

probe. For example, at such a location, the water depth 

might have been 10 feet, and the sediment thickness 

would have been more than 15 feet. Because the lake 

level was 1 foot higher during the 1990 field season 

than during the 1991 field season, the maximum thickness of sediment that could be measured was 1 foot 

less during 1990 than during 1991. 

Figure 3B shows a map of measured sediment 

thickness in three general categories: 0 foot (no 

sediment); greater than 0 foot and less than 10 feet, 

and equal to or greater than 10 feet. The result is a 

concentric-type pattern similar to the water-depth pattern where the sediment thickness of zero generally 

occurs around the exterior of the lake. Sediment thickness from 0 to 10 feet was measured at a few locations 

closer to the interior of the lake, and sediment thickness greater than 10 feet was measured in most of the 

rest of the interior of the lake. The locations where the 

sediment was so thick that the subbottom could not be 

measured also are shown in figure 3B. As previously 

described, the bottom of the sediment is assumed to be 

the interface between the fine-grained sediment or silt 

and the underlying deposits of sand, gravel, or till 

from the time of the lake’s origin. 

Information from Previous Studies 9 
10 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota

Fi

gure 3. Maps showing (A) data-collection sites and (B) sediment thickness; and a cross section showing (C) transect 1990-line 10 across Lake 

Kampeska,

1990-91 (based on data collected by the Kampeska Chapter of the Izaak Walton League).

24,000 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 18,000 20,000 22,000

DISTANCE FROM SOUTHWESTERN END OF TRANSECT 1990-LINE 10, IN FEET

1,7201,7101,7001,6901,680

VE SEA LEVEL TION, IN FEET ABO A ELEV

LAKE SURFA

CE

LAKE BOTTOM

SUBBOTTOMSEDIMENT— Deeper than maximum measurable depth

LAKE BOTTOM IN 1951 (Barari, 1971)

Transect 1990-line 10

EXPLANATION

DATA-COLLECTION SITESTRANSECT 1990-LINE 10

19901991

SEDIMENT THICKNESS, IN FEETTRANSECT 1990-LINE 10

No sedimentGreater than 0 to less than 10Equal to or greater than 10Greater than could be measured

Data-collection sites during 1990 and 1991 Sediment thickness

A

B

C

VERTICAL SCALE GREATLY EXAGGERATED X600
Lake-Bottom Material 

The nature of the lake-bottom material was determined by feel and sound during the measurement 

process, but there was no defined set of terms used consistently by the volunteers. A standard form was used 

throughout the 1990-91 survey, but it appears that 

different teams used slightly different methods for 

describing the bottom material. Figure 4 shows three 

maps of the lake-bottom material as recorded in the 

field forms. Figure 4A shows those locations where 

“sand” appeared in the “BOTTOM/COMMENTS” 

column of the field form. Such locations described as 

“sand,” “sand/gravel,” “gravel/sand,” “sand-rock,” 

“mud and sand,” “sand-clay,” “mud/sand,” “sandy,” 

and “sand/rocks” are included. In the same way, 

figure 4B shows those locations where “gravel” 

appeared as part of the description, and figure 4C 

shows those locations where “rock” appeared as part of 

the description. This approach means that some locations appear in more than one of these three maps. Also, 

more than 60 percent of the locations did not have a 

comment of any type. The lake bottom was sediment at 

many of these locations, but that description probably 

became so common that some teams failed to record it, 

and some may have assumed that it was evident that the 

bottom was sediment if there was a sediment thickness 

recorded for that location. 

This qualitative characterization of the lake 

bottom lacks the systematic approach and rigorous definitions used by Blackwell (2001), but it has the advantage of having about 20 times as many sampling sites. 

This information is included in this report in part to 

provide a published description of the 1990-91 survey 

by the Izaak Walton League. In addition, the estimation 

of the reference elevation for the water-depth map 

produced by the South Dakota Department of Game, 

Fish and Parks (Barari, 1971) was based on the assumption of little sediment deposition in some areas of the 

lake. The locations where the 1990-91 survey reported 

coarse-grained sediments are shown in figure 4. 

Cross Section 

Figure 3C shows a cross section of the transect 

1990-line 10 from southwest to northeast across Lake 

Kampeska. This transect extends from southwest to 

northeast across the entire length of the lake, approximately in the middle of the lake from northwest to 

southeast, and has few locations where measurements 

were not made. 

Figures 3B and 3C show that there is little or no 

sediment in the shallow areas on the southwestern end 

of the transect, the narrows at the northeastern end of 

the tail, and the northeastern end of the transect. The 

intervening areas of deep water have a flat bottom and 

greater than 10 feet of sediment. 

These data also provide the opportunity to compare the 1951 lake-bottom elevation contours to the 

1990-91 lake-bottom point measurements. The 1951 

elevations were calculated so that they matched the 

1990-91 elevations in the southwestern part of the 

lake, so it is not surprising that the results should be 

similar near the beginning of transect 1990-line 10. 

Farther along the transect, it appears that lake-bottom 

elevations from the two sources are usually within 

1 foot of each other. So many measurements were 

made during the 1990-91 survey that a measurement 

often was made near the intersection of the 1951 lakebottom elevation contours and 1990-line 10. A visual 

comparison of these two different data sets indicates 

that there has been little change in the lake-bottom elevation during the 40-year period. The primary source 

of any differences may be due to the conversion of the 

1951 point data to contour lines and the interpretation 

inherent in such a process. 

1995-96 Survey 

Selected information collected for a survey 

during 1995-96 by Blackwell (2001) is presented 

in this section of the report. Information on the lake 

boundary was collected during 1995, and information 

on water depth and lake-bottom material was 

collected during 1996. 

Lake Boundary 

During 1995, the lake boundary was mapped by 

walking along the edge of the lake with a hand-held 

GPS (global positioning system) unit and recording 

the location every 3 seconds (Blackwell, 2001). Based 

on this new information, the lake area is considered to 

be about 5,075 acres or about 5 percent more than the 

4,817 acres determined using a planimeter (Barari, 

1971). This digital lake boundary (fig. 2) was transmitted to the USGS as an ArcInfo export file. This was 

considered to be the most accurate lake boundary 

available and is used throughout this report to provide 

a common lake boundary for all maps. 

Information from Previous Studies 11 
A Sand B Gravel 

C Rock 

0 MILES

0 2 

1 2 

1 KILOMETERS 

Figure 4. Coarse-grained lake-bottom material showing (A) sand, (B) gravel, and (C) rock, 1990-91 (based on data 

collected by the Kampeska Chapter of the Izaak Walton League). 

12 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota 
Water Depth 

During 1996, water depths were recorded at 112 

locations, primarily based on a 500-by-500-meter grid. 

This information was used to create a water-depth map 

(Blackwell, 2001). This information was transmitted to 

the USGS as an ArcInfo export file and is presented in 

figure 5 (metric units retained). This map shows the 

generalized concentric form of the transition from the 

shallow exterior to the relatively deep, flat interior of 

the lake. These data are not used later in the report for 

the comparison of lake-bottom elevations at various 

times, primarily because of the relatively short time 

interval between 1996 and 1994 when the USGS 

collected water-depth and marine seismic data. 

Lake-Bottom Material 

During 1996, an Ekman dredge was used to 

collect lake-bottom samples at the 112 locations where 

water depths were measured. The samples were classified visually by Blackwell (2001) as follows: (1) silt, 

less than 0.059 millimeter in diameter; (2) sand, 0.06 to 

1 millimeter in diameter; (3) gravel, 2 to 15 millimeters 

in diameter; or (4) rock, greater than 16 millimeters 

in diameter. Based on this information, silt covered 

about 73 percent of the lake, sand covered about 

26 percent of the lake, and gravel and rock covered less 

than 1 percent of the lake (Blackwell, 2001). This map 

showing bottom material type was transmitted to the 

USGS as an ArcInfo export file and is presented without modification in this report (fig. 5). The pattern is 

similar to that for the lines of equal water depth, with 

the sand, gravel, and rock on the exterior part of the lake 

and the silt in the interior part. 

Information Collected for this Study 

Sediment samples were collected and two marine 

seismic surveys were conducted for this study. These 

efforts were designed to provide information about 

trends in sediment accumulation and to provide additional information about the thickness of the sediment. 

Sediment Samples 

On October 17, 2000, five sediment cores were 

collected from two locations within the lake (fig. 2). 

Table 1 provides details about the core collection and 

the analytical results. The coordinates of the collection 

sites were determined using a hand-held GPS unit. The 

cores were collected using a Benthos gravity corer 

mounted on a pontoon boat. The cores were collected 

in a cellulose acetate butyrate transparent tube, with 

an inside diameter of 2.625 inches. Every effort was 

made to keep the entire sample in the tube, and there 

was no evidence that these efforts were not successful. 

A sediment catcher, which acts as a one-way trap door, 

was placed in the bottom of the tube, and a plunger 

was used to seal the top of the tube once the corer had 

stopped moving downward. The depth of penetration 

for each core was determined by measuring the distance that the corer traveled after starting with the 

nose of the corer at water level and subtracting the 

measured depth of water. For example, the corer 

dropped a total of 22.0 feet during the collection of 

core 1 and the water-depth at the site was 12.3 feet, so 

the corer was calculated to have penetrated 9.7 feet of 

sediment. The length of each recovered core was less 

than the penetration depth; this difference is assumed 

to be caused by compression of the sediment during 

collection. Cores 1 and 2 were collected in the tail part 

of the lake near the site described by Day and Butler 

(1998). Cores 3, 4, and 5 were collected near the 

center of the body of the lake in an area that represented the deepest part of the lake based on the 1951 

water-depth map (Barari, 1971) (fig. 2). 

The samples from the cores were analyzed for 

cesium-137 concentrations. Cesium-137 is a radioactive isotope that was distributed in the Earth’s 

atmosphere by thermonuclear activity, including 

nuclear weapons testing. The deepest sediment with a 

measurable cesium-137 concentration above background levels would have been deposited during about 

1952. At the depth where the maximum cesium-137 

concentration is found, the sediment would have been 

deposited during about 1963-64. Since 1964, the 

amount of cesium-137 released into the atmosphere 

has decreased as above-ground nuclear testing has 

decreased (Holmes, 1998). Several studies have used 

the cesium-137 method to produce age-dating results 

that have been consistent with reservoir histories and 

pesticide concentration trends (Kalkhoff and Van 

Metre, 1997; Pope, 1998; Christensen, 1999; Christensen and Juracek, 2001). A study in North Carolina 

(Weaver, 1994) found similar sediment-accumulation 

rates from sediment cores using the cesium-137 

method and the lead-210 method, which was the 

method used by Day and Butler (1998). A study in 

Devils Lake Basin of North Dakota found that the 

cesium-137 and lead-210 methods produced similar 

results for some lakes, but different results for others, 

and these differences were attributed to biological and 

physical mixing (Lent and Alexander, 1997). 

Information Collected for this Study 13 
EXPLANATION 

LINE OF EQUAL WATER DEPTH, 

IN METERS 

0 (lake boundary) 

2 

3 

4 

5 

DATA-COLLECTION 

LOCATIONS 

MILES 

0 

0 2 

1 2 

KILOMETERS 

MILES 

EXPLANATION 

BOTTOM MATERIAL 

Silt 

Sand 

Gravel 

Rock 

1 

0 

0 2 

1 2

1 KILOMETERS 

Figure 5. Water depth and bottom material in 1996 (from Blackwell, 2001). 

14 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota 
-- --

-- --

-- --

-- --

-- --

Table 1. Sediment cores for cesium-137 analysis collected at Lake Kampeska on October 17, 2000 

[dd-mm-ss.ss; degrees-minutes-seconds.decimal seconds; --, not applicable] 

Penetration Core Sample Cesium-1371 

Latitude Longitude Water into interval concentration Site number Core (NAD27) (NAD27) depth sediment length from top (picocuries per (dd-mm-ss.ss) (dd-mm-ss.ss) (feet) (feet) (feet) (feet) gram) 

445436097134700 1 44-54-35.75 97-13-46.78 12.3 9.7 6.53 

0.05 - 0.15 1.45 +-/ 0.299 

0.20 - 0.30 0.598 +/- 0.143 

0.35 - 0.45 0.0162 +/- 0.0541 

445436097134700 2 44-54-35.75 97-13-46.78 12.3 9.7 No analysis done 

445553097121600 23 44-55-53.08 97-12-16.06 10.7 8.8 6.25 

(frozen) 

0.00 - 0.10 1.83 +/- 0.275 

0.10 - 0.20 1.67 +/- 0.224 

0.20 - 0.30 1.48 +/- 0.212 

0.30 - 0.40 1.20 +/- 0.181 

0.40 - 0.50 0.831 +/- 0.151 

0.50 - 0.60 0.338 +/- 0.0915 

0.60 - 0.70 0.198 +/- 0.0956 

0.70 - 0.80 -0.00873 +/- 0.046 

0.80 - 0.90 0.0248 +/- 0.0467 

0.90 - 1.00 0.0136 +/- 0.0536 

1.00 - 1.10 -0.0424 +/- 0.0488 

1.10 - 1.20 0.00897 +/- 0.0462 

1.20 - 1.30 -0.0641 +/- 0.0718 

1.30 - 1.40 -0.0209 +/- 0.0466 

1.40 - 1.50 -0.00929 +/- 0.0409 

1.50 - 1.60 -0.0292 +/- 0.0384 

1.60 - 1.70 0.00129 +/- 0.0467 

1.70 - 1.80 -0.0446 +/- 0.0422 

1.80 - 1.90 0.0155 +/- 0.0445 

1.90 - 2.00 -0.0284 +/- 0.0430 

445553097121600 4 44-55-53.08 97-12-16.06 10.7 8.8 5.83 

0.05 - 0.15 1.84 +/- 0./326 

0.20 - 0.30 1.670 +/- 0.247 

0.35 - 0.45 0.962 +/- 0.190 

0.50 - 0.60 0.238 +/- 0.115 

0.65 - 0.75 0.0135 +/- 0.0571 

0.80 - 0.90 0.0245 +/- 0.0539 

0.95 - 1.05 0.0590 +/- 0.0706 

445553097121600 5 44-55-53.08 97-12-16.06 10.7 8.8 5.67 

0.05 - 0.15 1.90 +/- 0.283 

0.20 - 0.30 1.85 +/- 0.267 

0.35 - 0.45 0.215 +/- 0.0951 

1Cesium-137 analysis is done in comparison to standards. At very low levels, slight differences between the environmental sample and the standard 

may produce analytical results with negative numbers. The cesium-137 concentration in the environmental sample is not negative, but at these very low levels, it had a lower concentration than the standard. 2Core 3 was frozen to allow continuous sub-sampling without intervals between samples. 

Information Collected for this Study 15 
Cores 1, 4, and 5 were prepared for sampling by 

draining the water from the top of the tube, securing a 

wooden plug into place at the top of the core, setting the 

tube on its side, and cutting away a strip the length of 

the tube about one-third the circumference of the tube. 

Each of the cores had about 0.02 foot of light gray silt 

on top, about 0.15 foot of darker gray silt below that, 

and the remaining several feet consisted of a uniform 

black silt with some shell material (snails and bivalves) 

sparsely scattered throughout. The sediment in the core 

was distinctly more dense from top to bottom in the top 

few tenths of a foot and was gradually more dense after 

that. There was no sign of vegetation remains and no 

appearance of sand or any other variation in stratigraphy that indicated any major change in depositional 

environment or major disturbance. 

Individual samples were collected from the core 

using a strategy based on the assumption that the Day 

and Butler (1998) findings were correct and that the 

highest cesium-137 values would be detected about 

2.1 feet from the top of the core and background levels 

would be encountered about 2.5 feet from the top of the 

core. Therefore, as many samples as possible were 

collected from the upper 3 feet of each of these cores. 

Each sample interval had to include about 0.10 foot 

of the core to produce the 50 grams needed for the 

cesium-137 analysis, and a 0.05-foot interval was left 

between sample intervals to allow sampling of distinct 

intervals in the soft sediment. For each of the cores, the 

top of the core was not sampled because that was 

assumed to represent the date of collection, so the first 

sample was from 0.05 foot through 0.15 foot from the 

top of the core, the 0.15-foot through 0.20-foot interval 

was skipped and left in the tube, the second sample was 

from 0.20 foot through 0.30 foot, and so on. In this 

manner, 20 samples were collected for the upper 3 feet 

of each core, and below 3 feet, the skipped interval was 

increased to 0.10 foot. For cores, 1, 4, and 5, a total of 

37, 34, and 34 samples were collected, respectively. 

The samples were submitted for analyses to STL 

Richland in Richland, Washington, with the instruction 

that analysis for each core should begin with the sample 

from the uppermost part of the core and continue in 

sequence with samples from lower in the core until 

background cesium-137 levels had been encountered. 

Then one more sample should be analyzed. For cores 1, 

4, and 5, the highest cesium-137 concentrations were 

found in the uppermost samples submitted; concentrations at or below background levels were found after 

the second or third sample from the top (table 1). 

In an effort to confirm these analytical results 

and get the most information from the sediment cores, 

samples from core 3 were collected using a slightly different method. Core 3 was frozen before the samples 

were collected so that no interval would be needed to 

maintain the separation between sampling intervals. 

The sampling started from the top of the core and continued down to 2 feet. There was some expansion in the 

length of the core when it was frozen, but this was on 

the order of a few percent and would not have affected 

the relative position of the cesium-137 within the core. 

A total of 20 samples were submitted for analysis. The 

results (table 1 and fig. 6A) have the same pattern as 

those for the other cores, with the sample from the 

uppermost part of the core having the highest 

cesium-137 concentration. The lack of any peaks at 

depth indicates that the upper 2 feet of the core had not 

been affected by episodic processes that led to the 

removal, addition, or mixing of the sediment after it 

had been deposited. Samples below 2 feet were not 

analyzed because there does not appear to be any likely 

series of events that could have produced this 

decreasing trend with depth of the cesium-137 results 

and produced a secondary peak nearer the depth 

predicted by Day and Butler (1998). The age-dating 

results presented by Day and Butler (1998) show 

gradually decreasing lead-210 concentrations with 

depth at 20-centimeter intervals throughout a 1-meter 

core (fig. 6B). 

16 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota 
0 

0 

A 

1 

2 

3 

4 

2.0 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 -0.2 

CESIUM-137 CONCENTRATION, IN PICOCURIES PER GRAM 

B 

0 

1 

2 

3 

4 

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 

Average estimated rate of sediment accumulation 

from 1918-98 is about 0.04 foot per year 

(modified from Day and Butler, 1998) 

Estimated depth for 1951 (about 2.46 feet from 

the top) 

Estimated depth for 1952 (about 2.43 feet from 

the top) 

TIME SINCE DEPOSITION ESTIMATED FROM LEAD-210 DATA, IN YEARS 

Figure 6. Profiles in bottom-sediment cores of (A) cesium-137 concentrations collected during October 2000, 

and (B) time since deposition estimated from lead-210 data collected during 1998. 

Information Collected for this Study 17 

DEPTH FROM 

T

OP OF CORE, IN FEET DEPTH FROM 

TOP OF CORE, IN FEET 

Core 1 (see figures 2, 9) 

Core 4 (see figures 2, 9) 

Core 5 (see figures 2, 9) 

Core 3 (see figures 2, 9) 
Because the largest cesium-137 values in the 

sediment cores were found in the uppermost intervals 

and the penetration of about 10 feet of sediment produced cores of about 6 feet in length, there was some 

concern that some of the sediment might have been lost 

during the collection of the cores. If, for example, the 

upper 4 feet of the sediment was missing and the sediment in the cores was actually from 4 to 10 feet below 

the lake bottom, then the largest cesium-137 concentrations might have been within the missing 4 feet and 

closer to the depth predicted by the Day and Butler 

(1998) results. There was also some concern that perhaps the apparent compression of the sediment might 

have occurred almost exclusively in the upper part of 

the cores. If this had happened, then the apparent 

depths in the upper part of the cores would have been 

considerably less than the true depths. In either case, 

the overall effect would be that the uppermost part of 

the collected sediment cores would not provide a true 

representation of the uppermost sediment deposits. On 

November 20, 2001, a GPS unit was used to locate the 

approximate sites where the core samples were collected, and a bed sampler (US BMH-60) was used to 

collect surficial sediment samples. Two samples, one 

from each site, were submitted for cesium-137 analysis, and the results of 1.38 picocuries per gram (near 

cores 1 and 2) and 1.57 picocuries per gram (near 

cores 3, 4, and 5) are comparable to the results from a 

depth of about 0.25 foot from the cores. This indicates 

that the tops of the cores do represent the uppermost 

sediment at these locations. 

Based on the cesium-137 results, it appears that 

the sediment-accumulation rate is very low but considering the various elements of uncertainty involved 

with the method, it is not appropriate to report a precise 

rate. Each sample was from a 0.10-foot segment of a 

core, and the assumed compression may not have been 

proportional throughout the length of the core. If the 

distance from the top of the core to the cesium-137 concentrations associated with 1964 or 1952 had been on 

the order of several feet, then it would have been appropriate to divide the distance by 36 or 48 years to calculate an approximate rate of sediment accumulation. 

The cesium-137 profiles shown in figure 6A may 

simply show the effects of low-level nearly constant 

mixing on a low rate of sediment accumulation. Wetzel 

(1983) reported that even deepwater sediments of many 

lakes are disturbed to the depths from millimeters to 

centimeters by resuspension and redeposition caused 

by wind. Such a process could smooth a cesium-137 

peak associated with 1964 and produce the gradual 

decrease observed in all of the cores. If this occurred, 

then the first deposition of cesium-137 above background levels in 1952 would be at a depth of less than 

0.4 foot for core 1, which was collected in the southwestern part of the lake. The true depth associated with 

1952 would be affected by the depth of mixing and the 

compression of the sediment during the collection of 

the core. The true depths associated with 1952 would 

be at less than 0.7 foot for cores 3, 4, and 5, which were 

collected about 2 miles closer to the mouth than core 1. 

Based on the findings of Day and Butler (1998), deposition during 1952 in the southwestern part of the lake 

should have been at a depth of about 2.43 feet (fig. 6B), 

and the average rate of sediment accumulation from 

1952 through 1998 would have been about 0.05 foot 

per year. An interpretation of the cesium-137 data, 

based on the assumptions that the cores were complete 

and the profiles were affected by mixing, indicates that 

the average rate of sediment accumulation was much 

less than this and closer to the rates of less than 

0.01 foot per year indicated by other studies. 

Marine Seismic Surveys 

The USGS conducted two marine seismic 

surveys of Lake Kampeska. The first was a reconnaissance-level survey performed along six transects 

(fig. 7) during June 1994 with a high-frequency (7 kilohertz), continuous seismic-reflection system. During 

October 2000, the second survey used a swept frequency (2-10 kilohertz), continuous seismic-reflection 

system along more than 30 transects (fig. 8). During 

both surveys a GPS was used to monitor horizontal 

position. An electronic strip-chart fathometer and a 

digital fathometer were used to record water depth. 

During the windier days, the vertical movement of the 

boat may have been on the order of plus or minus 1 foot 

from the lake level at the time. 

During the surveys, the GPS base station 

receiver and antenna were located at a U.S. Coast and 

Geodetic Survey topographic station disk about 2 miles 

southeast of Lake Kampeska. The rover receiver and 

antenna were on the boat with the antenna positioned 

above the seismic transducer. The GPS information 

was processed using differential-correction techniques 

to determine the horizontal position during the surveys. 

During the 1994 survey, the GPS horizontal positions 

were related to the seismic and water-depth records by 

periodically (approximately every minute) marking the 

seismic thermal chart and the fathometer chart and 

recording an associated GPS clock time. During the 

18 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota 
1994-HH' 

0 

0 

Figure 7. Transects of a marine seismic survey during June 1994. 

0.5 1 

0.5 1

KILOMETER 

MILE 

1994-CC' 

1994-DD' 

1994-EE' 

1994-FF' 

1994-GG' 

2000 survey, the GPS coordinates were recorded every 

10 seconds on the receiver and every second as part of 

the digital seismic record. During tests conducted as 

part of the 1994 survey, the GPS horizontal-position 

coordinates had an average error of 3.5 feet. GPS coordinates may have been slightly more accurate during 

the 2000 survey because the quality of the satellite signals had improved, but no additional tests were conducted. 

The transects do not extend to the lake shore 

because the boat had limited maneuverability at low 

speeds, with the heavy and expensive seismic transducer being towed alongside the boat. The six transects 

of the 1994 survey were designed to provide a general 

overview of the lake bottom and subbottom and evaluate the effectiveness of the technique. The names for 

these transects all start with “1994” and the last part of 

the name is a letter code based on the relative position 

of the transect, southwest to northeast. The most 

southwestern of the six transects is 1994-CC′, and the 

most northeastern of the transects is 1994-HH′ 

(fig. 7). The transects of the 2000 survey were 

designed to provide a comprehensive data set 

describing the lake bottom and subbottom. The names 

for the transects all start with “2000” and end with a 

transect code (fig. 8). The transect codes are based on 

the number of the transect from 1 through 28 and 

sometimes a letter A or B. Some transects were not 

completed during the first attempt because of high 

wind, rain, or equipment malfunctions. If more than 

one attempt was needed for a transect, an “A” is used 

to designate the path of the first attempt and a “B” is 

used to designate the path of the second attempt. 

Information Collected for this Study 19 
2000-27 

0 

0 0.5 1 

0.5 1 

KILOMETER 

MILE 

2000-2B 

2000-7 

2000-9 

2000-13B 

2000-17B 

2000-21 

2000-24 

EXPLANATION 

TRANSECTS FROM 2000 SURVEY 

Included in this report (see table 2) 

Not included in this report 

Figure 8. Transects of a marine seismic survey during October 2000. 

Continuous seismic-reflection systems transmit 

and receive high-energy acoustic signals through the 

water column and the subsurface. When the signal 

encounters layers of different acoustical properties 

(primarily dependent on material density), part of the 

signal is reflected back to the receiver at the water surface and part penetrates farther into the sediment. The 

strength of the reflection primarily is dependent on the 

contrast in density between two adjoining layers. In 

general, the more dense the lower layer, the more the 

signal will tend to be reflected and the less the signal 

will tend to travel into the lower layer. The average 

velocity of sound in pure water and saturated sediments—approximately 5,000 cubic feet per second 

(Gorin and Haeni, 1988)—was used in determining the 

thickness of the sediment based on the seismic record. 

During the surveys of Lake Kampeska, the greatest 

interest was in the reflection at the bottom of the sediment and what is assumed to be the original lake 

bottom (subbottom). In general, higher frequencies 

provide better resolution but poorer penetration of the 

sediment, and lower frequencies provide poorer resolution but better penetration of the sediment. Pre-survey 

testing conducted on Lake Kampeska during 1994 and 

2000 was used to choose the best frequency options, 

but neither survey was very successful in defining the 

subbottom of the lake. 

The depth of penetration by the marine seismic 

signal is affected by the type of sediment encountered. 

The fine-grained sediment in Lake Kampeska is not 

easily penetrated by the signal. The ineffectiveness of 

the seismic system in some areas probably was due to 

20 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota 
the presence of gas from the decomposition of organic 

material in the sediments. Accumulated gas can act as a 

strong reflector of the acoustic signal and result in 

multiple signals that obscure deeper reflectors in the 

seismic record (Sando, 1996). The areas where the 

seismic system was ineffective may be associated with 

greater accumulation of organic material and gas production. The swept-frequency system has the advantage of using a multi-frequency signal to increase the 

possibility of penetrating the sediment of interest, and it 

has been used in other studies around the United States 

to define subbottom structure at depths of tens to hundreds of feet (Eric A. White, U.S. Geological Survey, 

written commun., 2000). The 1994 and 2000 surveys of 

Lake Kampeska had limited success defining the subbottom, with what appears to be a maximum penetration depth of less than 20 feet. It is unknown if the 

subbottom was not detected in some areas because the 

signal penetration depth was severely limited or 

because thicker sediment inhibited the return of the 

seismic signal. 

1994 Water Depth and Sediment Thickness 

A standard electronic strip-chart water-depth 

fathometer was used to determine water depth. Accuracy of the water-depth record was determined by comparison to a second concurrently operated digital waterdepth fathometer and also by comparison to water 

depth indicated in the seismic record. Comparison of 

the strip-chart fathometer record with the concurrently 

operated digital fathometer generally indicated agreement within 0.3 foot. The individual transects are 

described in a later section, but, in general, they present 

water-depth data and the same basic lake-bottom shape 

as the other data sets from the other studies. 

A strong, undulating reflector was apparent in 

some of the seismic record, especially in the southwestern part of the lake, and was interpreted to be the 

subbottom. The subbottom is most completely defined 

along transects 1994-CC′ and 1994-DD′ (fig. 7). 

2000 Water Depth and Sediment Thickness 

During the 2000 marine seismic survey, the 

digital fathometer usually recorded the water depth 

every 2 to 3 seconds during which time the boat might 

have traveled about 4 to 6 feet on the surface of the 

lake. The lake bottom was digitized in the seismic 

record. Using time as a common variable, the two data 

sets were merged, and the depths recorded by the digital fathometer were assigned to locations digitized 

from the seismic record. Some editing was done to 

reduce the variability associated with vertical movement of the boat during windy days and to interpolate 

where there were gaps in the merged data set. 

Because the 2000 water-depth data were considered to be the most accurate data available from 

1990-2000, these data provided the primary data used 

to generate a modern water-depth map of the lake. 

This map is described and presented in the Supplemental Information section at the end of this report. 

Reflectors identified below the lake bottom 

were digitized in the seismic record, and these distances were subtracted from the lake-bottom data set 

described above. Like the 1994 survey, the method 

was the most effective in the southwestern part of the 

lake and along the near-shore areas. 

Comparison of Information from Various 

Sources and Times 

The water-depth and sediment-thickness information from the previously described studies was put 

into a GIS. Calculations were performed to determine 

the associated elevations, and this elevation information was used to create cross sections across Lake 

Kampeska showing the water depth and sediment 

thickness. These cross sections provide the opportunity to make comparisons of data collected from 

various times and to look for trends related to the 

deposition of sediment in the lake over the time span 

of the studies. The location of selected transects used 

for comparison along with the locations of sediment 

cores and 1951 lake-bottom-elevation contours are 

shown in figure 9. 

Cross sections along selected transects (table 2, 

fig. 9) are presented in figures 10-17. The selected 

transects are organized first by group (tail, body, and 

mouth) and then by subgroup. Although care was 

taken to select transects that were close to each other 

for each subgroup, the transects from the different 

studies are not coincident so they cannot be compared 

directly to each other. However, each of the selected 

transects does cross the lake-bottom-elevation contours based on the water-depth map shown in Barari 

(1971), and these elevations are shown on each of 

the cross sections and provide a common basis for 

comparison. 

Comparison of Information from Various Sources and Times 21 
Mouth-1 

in Barari, 1971 

1,710.2

1,707.2

1,705.2

1,702.7

1,702.7

1,702.7

1,702.7

1,702.7

1,702.7

1,710.2

0 

0 0.5 1 

0.5 1 

KILOMETER 

MILE 

Tail-1 

Tail-2 

Cores 

1 and 2 

Cores 

3, 4, and 5 

Tail-3 

Body-1 

Body-2 

Body-3 

Body-4 

EXPLANATION 

TRANSECT GROUP (see table 2) 

LAKE-BOTTOM-ELEVATION CONTOUR--

Contour interval is based on information 

2000 USGS marine seismic survey 

1994 USGS marine seismic survey 

1990-91 Izaak Walton League study 

TRANSECT 1990-LINE 10 

SEDIMENT CORES ANALYZED 

FOR CESIUM-137 

Figure 9. Selected transects used for comparisons between studies. Sediment core locations and 1951 lakebottom-elevation contours also are shown. 

22 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota 
Table 2. Selected transects used for comparisons of cross sections across Lake Kampeska 

Group Subgroup Name Transects during 2000 Transects during 1994 Transects during 1990-91 

Tail 1 Tail-1 2000-2B 

Tail 2 Tail-2 2000-7 

Tail 3 Tail-3 2000-9 

Body 1 Body-1 2000-13B 

Body 2 Body-2 2000-17B 

Body 3 Body-3 2000-21 

Body 4 Body-4 2000-24 

Mouth 1 Mouth-1 2000-27 

The subgroups of selected transects are numbered, starting in the southwest part of the lake. Most 

subgroups consist of a transect from the 2000 marine 

seismic survey, a transect from the 1994 marine 

seismic survey, and a transect from the 1990-91 Izaak 

Walton League survey. Subgroups tail-2 and mouth-1 

do not include a transect from the 1994 marine seismic 

survey. The cross sections for each subgroup are presented in figures 10-17, each with the cross section 

from the 2000 marine seismic survey on top, the cross 

section from the 1990-91 Izaak Walton study on the 

bottom, and the cross section from the 1994 marine 

seismic survey, if one is included, in the middle. The 

order from top to bottom is based on the amount of 

elapsed time between the data collection for the three 

studies and the water-depth data collected in 1951 

(Barari, 1971). The greatest opportunity to observe any 

increase in sediment accumulation and lake-bottom 

elevation since 1951 should be in comparison to the 

high-resolution lake bottom defined by the 2000 

marine seismic survey. 

For each cross section, the horizontal location is 

reported asthe distance to the northwest or southeast of 

transect 1990-line 10 (fig. 9). The transects do not 

follow common paths, do not have common endpoints, 

and do not have common lengths, but they do all cross 

1990-line 10. Using 1990-line 10 as a common reference line makes it easier to compare transect to transect 

within the subgroup and from group to group than if 

distances had been reported relative to the northwest 

end of the transect or from some other reference line. 

The cross sections in figures 10-17 all have the 

same horizontal and vertical scale, which is the same 

horizontal and vertical scale used for the 1990-line 10 

1994-CC′ 1990-6000W 

None 1990-2400W 

1994-DD′ 1990-300W 

1994-EE′ 1990-3300E 

1994-FF′ 1990-6900E 

1994-GG′ 1990-11100E 

1994-HH′ 1990-14100E 

None 1990-15600E 

graph (fig. 3). The horizontal scale was limited by the 

space needed for the 1990-line 10 graph. The vertical 

scale ranges from 1,720 feet, a little more than the 

normal lake level of 1,717.8 feet, to 1,680 feet, an estimate of the bottom elevation of the Big Sioux aquifer 

based on drill-hole data from around the lake (Putnam 

and Thompson, 1996, p. 6). 

Tail 

Three subgroups of selected transects are used to 

examine the tail part of the lake (fig. 9). The transects 

of tail-1 cross the wide part of the tail, and the transects 

of tail-2 and tail-3 cross the narrow part of the tail. 

The transects of tail-1 (2000-2B, 1994-CC′, 

1990-6000W) are not very close to each other and they 

cross the part of the lake with the most variable lakebottom elevation (fig. 10), which makes comparisons 

of the transects difficult. It appears that the three 

transects match the 1951 data fairly well, although 

some of the relatively abrupt changes in lake-bottom 

elevation seen in the high-density data of the transects 

are associated with smoothed, less abrupt changes in 

the 1951 lake-bottom elevation. 

This group of transects shown in figure 10 

covered the area of the lake where the seismic surveys 

and the Izaak Walton League study were best able to 

penetrate the sediment and define the subbottom. These 

graphs provide relatively complete examples of a pattern that is seen less clearly in transects from the rest of 

the lake. They show a relatively steep-sided lake with a 

relatively flat, featureless lake bottom, but they also 

reveal that the flat areas are sediment-filled troughs 

with a relatively irregular subbottom. 

Comparison of Information from Various Sources and Times 23 
Transect 2000-2B 1,720 

1,710 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

1,700 

1,690 

1,680 

Transect 1994-CC' 1,720 

ELEVATION, IN FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,680 

Transect 1990-6000W 1,720 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,6809,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Sediment deeper than maximum measurable depth 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

Northwest Southeast 

DISTANCE FROM TRANSECT 1990-LINE 10, IN FEET 

Lake Kampeska 

Tail-1 

Figure 10. Cross sections for tail-1 transects across Lake Kampeska.


24 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota

Transect 2000-7 1,720 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,680 

Transect 1990-2400W 1,720 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,680 

9,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 

Northwest Southeast 

DISTANCE FROM TRANSECT 1990-LINE 10, IN FEET 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Sediment deeper than maximum measurable depth 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

Lake Kampeska 

Tail-2 

Figure 11. Cross sections for tail-2 transects across Lake Kampeska. 

Comparison of Information from Various Sources and Times 25 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

Sediment cores 1 and 2 
Transect 2000-9 1,720 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,680 

Transect 1994-DD' 1,720 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,680 

Transect 1990-300W 1,720 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,6809,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Sediment deeper than maximum measurable depth 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

Northwest Southeast 

DISTANCE FROM TRANSECT 1990-LINE 10, IN FEET 

Lake Kampeska 

Tail-3 

Figure 12. Cross sections for tail-3 transects across Lake Kampeska.


26 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota


Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

ELEVATION, IN FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL 
The transects of tail-2 (2000-7, 1990-2400W) 

and tail-3 (2000-9, 1994-DD′, 1990-300W) are fairly 

close to the other transects within the respective subgroup, especially on the southeast side of 1990-line 10 

(fig. 9). The transects of tail-2 and tail-3 match the 1951 

lake-bottom elevations fairly well (figs. 11 and 12) 

although there are no elevation contours along the central parts of the transects for comparison. Both subgroups show the relatively abrupt change from no 

sediment to thick sediment at the transition from side to 

flat-bottom interior, tail-2 along the northwestern side 

of the lake and tail-3 along the southeastern side of the 

lake. Sediment cores 1 and 2 were collected about 

20 feet southwest from transect 2000-7, and the gravity 

corer penetrated 9.7 feet of sediment at that site. At 

1,200 feet southeast of 1990-line 10, transect 1990-

2400W (fig. 11) shows a relatively abrupt decrease in 

lake-bottom and subbottom elevation. This is an accurate depiction of the values in the field notes; however, 

the existence of such a trough feature is unlikely 

because the nearby portion of transect 2000-7 does not 

show any evidence of such a feature, and the soft sediment seen in the cores probably would not retain such a 

shape for any extended period of time. This apparent 

lake-bottom trough and subsurface peak may be the 

result of a measurement, communication, or transcription error. 

Body 

Four subgroups of selected transects are used to 

examine the body part of the lake (fig. 9). They show 

the similar general form of a relatively steep-sided lake 

with a relatively flat, featureless lake bottom 

(figs. 13-16) as seen in the tail. Sediment cores 3, 4, and 

5 were collected about 100 feet northeast of transect 

2000-17B of subgroup body-2 (fig. 14). The analysis of 

the cesium-137 profiles for those cores indicates that 

the total sediment accumulation in the collection area 

from 1952 to 2000 probably is less than 1 foot. The lake 

bottoms defined by the 1990-91, 1994, and 2000 

studies match the 1951 lake-bottom elevations with the 

2.5-foot contour interval fairly well. The limited comparisons in the interior of the lake indicate that water 

depths may have decreased by about 1 foot since 1951, 

but considering the many factors affecting the accuracy 

of the data sets, the conclusion that this difference was 

caused by sediment accumulation can not be made with 

confidence. 

The cross sections for all four subgroups 

(figs. 13-16) also show the relatively abrupt change 

from no sediment to thick sediment at the transition 

from side to flat-bottom interior. Some scattered subbottom features were detected along the middle parts 

of the transects, but the sediment thicknesses of 

10 feet or more in much of the interior of the lake limited the effectiveness of the seismic surveys and prevented the probes used during the Izaak Walton 

League study from reaching the subbottom. 

Transect 2000-24 (fig. 16) generally is a little 

farther to the northeast than the other two transects of 

body-4 (fig. 9). The small increase in lake-bottom 

elevation at about 1,300 feet northwest of 1990-line 

10 appears to be associated with deposits of coarser 

grained sediment, such as sand and gravel, from the 

Big Sioux River. 

Mouth 

The transects of mouth-1 (2000-27, 1990-

15600W) cross the northeast end of the lake (fig. 9) 

near the surface-water connection to the Big Sioux 

River. They cover an area where the lake bottom has 

more variability than much of the rest of the lake; this 

makes comparisons between the two surveys more 

difficult. Transect 2000-27 shows the steep sides of 

the lake, but rather than the flat interior seen in much 

of the rest of the lake, in this area, the lake-bottom elevation increases to a peak at about 1,600 feet northwest of transect 1990-line 10 (fig. 17). This lakebottom high is in an area where the bottom material 

has been identified as “gravel” (fig. 5) by Blackwell 

(2001) and “sand” (fig. 4) by the Izaak Walton League 

study. These coarser grained sediments are assumed to 

have been brought into the lake by the Big Sioux 

River, and the nearly 4-foot increase in lake-bottom 

elevation between 1951 and 2000 may have been 

deposited during several high-velocity events (floods) 

rather than gradually over time. This may be the only 

area of the lake where significant deposition has 

occurred during this interval. 

Along transect 1990-15600W, the sediment was 

several feet thick in the area near 1990-line 10, but to 

the northwest and southeast, sediment thickness was 

zero. Between 1991 and 2000, events such as the 

record flood of 1997 (Teller and Burr, 1998) may have 

brought in enough sand in the area so that the seismic 

signal was reflected, and this may explain why the 

sediment was not observed along the transect 2000-27 

cross section. 

Comparison of Information from Various Sources and Times 27 
Transect 2000-13B 1,720 

1,710 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

1,700 

1,690 

1,680 

Transect 1994-EE' 1,720 

ELEVATION, IN FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,680 

1,720 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,680 

Transect 1990-3300E 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Sediment deeper than maximum measurable depth 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

9,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 

Northwest Southeast 

DISTANCE FROM TRANSECT 1990-LINE 10, IN FEET 

Body-1 

Lake Kampeska 

Figure 13. Cross sections for body-1 transects across Lake Kampeska. 

28 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota 
Transect 2000-17B 1,720 

1,710 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

Sediment cores 3, 4, and 5 

1,700 

1,690 

1,680 

Transect 1994-FF' 1,720 

ELEVATION, IN FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Lake bottom in 1951 

(Barari, 1971) 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,680 

Transect 1990-6900E 1,720 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,6809,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Sediment deeper than maximum measurable depth 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

Northwest Southeast 

DISTANCE FROM TRANSECT 1990-LINE 10, IN FEET 

Lake Kampeska 

Body-2 

Figure 14. Cross sections for body-2 transects across Lake Kampeska. 

Comparison of Information from Various Sources and Times 29 
Transect 2000-21 1,720 

1,710 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

1,700 

1,690 

1,680 

Transect 1994-GG' 1,720 

ELEVATION, IN FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,680 

Transect 1990-11100E 1,720 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,6809,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 

Northwest Southeast 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Sediment deeper than 

maximum measurable 

depth 

Lake bottom in 1951 

(Barari, 1971) 

DISTANCE FROM TRANSECT 1990-LINE 10, IN FEET 

Lake Kampeska 

Body-3 

Figure 15. Cross sections for body-3 transects across Lake Kampeska. 

30 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota 
Transect 2000-24 1,720 

1,710 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

1,700 

1,690 

1,680 

Transect 1994-HH' 1,720 

ELEVATION, IN FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,680 

Transect 1990-14100E 1,720 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,6809,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 

Northwest Southeast 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Sediment deeper than maximum measurable depth 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

DISTANCE FROM TRANSECT 1990-LINE 10, IN FEET 

Lake Kampeska Body-4 

Figure 16. Cross sections for body-4 transects across Lake Kampeska. 

Comparison of Information from Various Sources and Times 31 
Transect 2000-27 1,720 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,680 

Transect 1990-15600E 1,720 

1,710 

1,700 

1,690 

1,6809,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Subbottom 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 

Northwest Southeast 

DISTANCE FROM TRANSECT 1990-LINE 10, IN FEET 

Lake Kampeska Mouth-1 

Figure 17. Cross sections for mouth-1 transects across Lake Kampeska. 

32 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota 

Lake surface 

Lake bottom 

Lake bottom in 1951 (Barari, 1971) 
SUMMARY 

The sediment in Lake Kampeska has been a concern for many years because of the value of the lake as 

a water source and recreational area. Several studies 

have been conducted to learn more about the sediment, 

including its rate of accumulation and distribution. Previous studies have provided information regarding 

water depth, sediment thickness, lake-bottom material, 

and the lake boundary. 

The sediment cores for this study were collected 

in the deep-water areas in the southwestern and central 

parts of the lake. At each site, the maximum 

cesium-137 concentrations were from the samples 

nearest the top of the cores, and background levels of 

cesium-137 associated with pre-1952 deposition (prior 

to worldwide nuclear testing) were encountered at 

about 0.7 foot or less from the top of the cores. The lack 

of a distinct peak associated with 1964 when the 

amount of cesium-137 released into the atmosphere 

decreased as aboveground nuclear testing decreased 

may have been caused by resuspension and redeposition of the sediment. The true sediment depth associated with 1952 would be affected by the depth of 

mixing and the compression of the sediment during the 

collection of the cores. Based on analysis of 

cesium-137 concentrations and changes in lake-bottom 

elevation over time, the sediment accumulation rate is 

on the order of 0.01 foot per year or less. 

During the nearly 50-year interval between the 

data collection for a water-depth map during 1951 and 

the collection of water depth for this study in 2000, any 

additional deposition appears to be less than the margin 

of error in the water-depth measurements except possibly in the area of the lake near the connection to the 

Big Sioux River. Farther into the lake, direct physical 

measurements and marine seismic surveys indicate that 

the flat bottom is associated with a relatively irregular 

subbottom. During 1990-91, measurements made on a 

300-by-300-foot grid as part of a probing survey found 

that much of the lake had more than 10 feet of sediment. Marine seismic surveys conducted in 1994 and 

2000 confirmed the results of the 1990-91 survey and 

provided additional evidence that sediment thickness in 

the flat-bottom interior part of the lake may be quite 

variable and the subbottom has much more relief than 

the modern lake bottom. 

SELECTED REFERENCES 

Barari, Assad, 1971, Hydrology of Lake Kampeska: South 

Dakota Geological Survey Report of Investigations 

103, 84 p. 

Blackwell, B.G., 2001, A comparison of adult and sub-adult 

walleye movements and distribution in lakes having 

simple and complex morphometry: Brookings, South 

Dakota State University, Ph.D. dissertation, 219 p. 

Bryce, S.A., Omernik, J.M., Pater, D.E., Ulmer, Michael, 

Schaar, Jerome, Freeout, Jerry, Johnson, Rex, Kuck, 

Pat, and Azevedo, S.H., 1998, Ecoregions of North 

Dakota and South Dakota: Dynamac Corporation, 

1 sheet. 

Burr, M.J., Teller, R.W., and Neitzert, K.M., 1998, Water 

resources data, South Dakota, water year 1997: U.S. 

Geological Survey Water-Data Report SD-97-1, 

361 p. 

———1999, Water resources data, South Dakota, water 

year 1998: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Data 

Report SD-98-1, 503 p. 

Christensen, V.G., 1999, Deposition of selenium and other 

constituents in reservoir bottom sediment of the 

Solomon River Basin, north-central Kansas: U.S. 

Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations 

Report 99-4230, 46 p. 

Christensen, V.G., and Juracek, K.E., 2001, Variability of 

metals in reservoir sediment from two adjacent basins 

in the central Great Plains: Environmental Geology, 

v. 40, no. 4/5, p. 470-481. 

Day, E.E., and Butler, M.G., 1998, Paleolimnologic analysis of Lake Kampeska, South Dakota: McNair Scholars Research Journal, v. 2, p. 74-79. 

Gorin, S.R., and Haeni, F.P., 1988, Use of surface-geophysical methods to assess riverbed scour at bridge piers: 

U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 88-4212, 33 p. 

Gries, J.P., 1996, Roadside geology of South Dakota: 

Missoula, Mont., Mountain Press Publishing Company, 358 p. 

Hansen, D.S., 1990, Water resources of Codington and 

Grant Counties, South Dakota: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 89-4147, 

47 p. 

Holmes, C.W., 1998, Short-lived isotopic chronometers—A means of measuring decadal sedimentary 

dynamics: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 

FS-073-98, 2 p. 

Kalkhoff, S. J., and Van Metre, P.C., 1997, Organochlorine 

compounds in a sediment core from Coralville Reservoir, Iowa: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 

FS-129-97, 4 p. 

Lent, R.M., and Alexander, C.R., 1997, Mercury accumulation in Devils Lake, North Dakota—Effects of environmental variation in closed-basin lakes on mercury 

chronologies: Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, v. 98, 

p. 275-296. 

Selected References 33 
Madison, K.R., 1994, Diagnostic/feasibility study of Lake 

Kampeska, Codington County, South Dakota: South 

Dakota Department of Environment and Natural 

Resources [variously paged]. 

Naftz, D.L, Stephens, D.W., Callender, Edward, and Van 

Metre, P.C., 2000, Reconstructing historical changes 

in the environmental health of watersheds by using 

sediment cores from lakes and reservoirs in Salt Lake 

Valley, Utah: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 

FS-164-00, 6 p. 

Pope, L.M., 1998, Watershed trend analysis and waterquality assessment using bottom-sediment cores from 

Cheney Reservoir, south-central Kansas: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 

98-4227, 24 p. 

Putnam, L.D., and Thompson, R.C., 1996, Appraisal of the 

water resources of the Big Sioux aquifer, Codington and 

Grant Counties, South Dakota: U.S. Geological Survey 

Water-Resources Investigations Report 96-4275, 34 p. 

Rothrock, E.P., 1933, Water supplies and geology of Lake 

Kampeska: South Dakota Geological Survey Report of 

Investigations 17, 17 p. 

Sando, S.K., 1996, Thickness and volume of sediment in Pelican Lake, South Dakota, June 1994: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 

96-4247, 16 p. 

South Dakota Department of Water and Natural Resources, 

1985, Lake Kampeska/Pelican Lake water quality study 

area report [various paged]. 

Steece, F.V., 1957, Geology of the Watertown quadrangle: 

South Dakota Geological Survey Geologic Map. 

———1958a, Geology of the Watertown quadrangle: South 

Dakota Geological Survey geologic quadrangle, map 

and text. 

———1958b, Geology and shallow ground-water resources 

of the Watertown-Estelline area: South Dakota 

Geological Survey Report of Investigations 85, 36 p. 

Steuven, Eugene, and Stewart, W.C., 1996, 1995 South 

Dakota lakes assessment final report: South Dakota 

Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 

760 p. 

Teller, R.W., and Burr, M.J., 1998, Floods in north-central 

and eastern South Dakota, spring 1997: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS-021-98, 4 p. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2000, Upper Big Sioux 

River, River Basin Study, Final report: Huron, South 

Dakota, May 2000, 58 p. 

Watertown Public Opinion, 1969, “Is Lake Kampeska 

Dying?”: Office of Watertown Public Opinion, South 

Dakota, May 26, 1969, 16 p. 

Weaver, J.C., 1994, Sediment characteristics and sedimentation rates in Lake Michie, Durham County, North 

Carolina: U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources 

Investigations Report 94-4123, 34 p. 

Wetzel, R.G., 1983, Limnology (2d ed.): New York City, 

Saunders College Publishing, 767 p. 

34 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota 
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

This study was not conducted for the purpose of 

creating an updated water-depth map for Lake 

Kampeska, but it was assumed that such a map would 

be created as part of the lake-wide analysis. The proposal for the study was based on the assumption that the 

lead-210 analysis of the sediment core had provided a 

minimum estimate of the sediment-accumulation rate, 

and that about 2.5 feet or more of sediment had been 

deposited throughout much of the lake during 1951-

2000. The plan was to create a 3-dimensional surface of 

the lake bottom for the individual water-depth data sets 

of 1951, 1990-91, and 2000. These surfaces could have 

been compared using the GIS, and maps of changes in 

lake-bottom elevation, sediment thickness, and other 

variables, could have been generated. In fact, before the 

October 2000 field work was started, this approach was 

used to get an idea of what techniques worked the best 

for representing the hand-drawn lines of equal water 

depth from 1951 and the dense point data from 1990-91 

as 3-dimensional surfaces, and to get an idea of the differences that these data sets and methods could be used 

to demonstrate. These early tests indicated that there 

was very little overall difference between the two data 

sets. Localized differences were associated, in part, 

with the density of the basic information, the choice of 

cell size, and other factors associated with the representation of the lake bottom, rather than in any changes in 

the lake bottom itself between 1951 and 1990-91. 

There was some possibility that the large flood in 1997 

had deposited considerable amounts of sediment in the 

lake, and that changes between 1990-91 and 2000 

could be mapped using this method. 

Comparisons of water-depth information along 

transects across the lake indicated that there was very 

little evidence for any significant deposition except 

near the connection with the Big Sioux River. The 

cesium-137 results indicated that, at least at two sites in 

the deeper part of the lake, sediment accumulation was 

less than 1 foot during the nearly 50-year interval, and 

that this rate of change was much too small to be 

mapped using these methods and this time interval. 

Data collected during 1990-2000 were used to 

create a modern water-depth map of the lake relative to 

1,717.8 feet calculated (fig. 18). The 2000 water-depth 

data were considered to be the most accurate, and a 

thinned-down version of the data along the transects 

was used to provide the primary data for the new lines 

of equal water depth. Information collected by the 

Kampeska Chapter of the Izaak Walton League was 

used for those areas with limited data from the 2000 

survey. The boundary of the lake (water depth = 0) is 

from Blackwell (2001). 

36 Sediment Accumulation and Distribution in Lake Kampeska, Watertown, South Dakota 
0 

0 

LINE OF EQUAL WATER DEPTH—Depth relative 

to normal lake level (1,717.8 feet above sea 

0 (lake boundary from Blackwell, 2001) 

14 feet 

Figure 18. Water depth in Lake Kampeska based on 1990-2000 data. 

0.5 1 

0.5 1

KILOMETER 

MILE 

EXPLANATION 

level) 

6 feet 

8 feet 

10 feet 

12 feet 

Supplemental Information 37