Cumberland Piedmont Network Water Quality Report; Russell Cave National Monument

Meiman, Joe

In early Fiscal-Year 2003, a water quality monitoring effort began in the Cumberland Piedmont Network (CUPN). For all intents and purposes, park managers and program directors can think of this initial sampling effort as a water quality inventory, as for many parks in the CUPN, little was known regarding water quality. Each park, sampled in rotation, underwent a water quality inventory sampling period which also served as a proving-ground for water quality monitoring protocols and logistics. The report that follows is a park-specific document that describes the monitoring sites, parameters tested, results in graphic form, a brief interpretation of the results, and recommendations of parameters to be measured for the long-term. Sampling sites were chosen following site visits by then Mammoth Cave National Park (MACA) hydrogeologist Joe Meiman, and with consultation with park staff. Some sites were chosen to coincide with past inventories and monitoring efforts. In most cases sites were chosen at the downstream end of a watershed to serve as an integrator of the basin, and should yield characteristics and contributions from the entire watershed. The NPS Water Resources Division (WRD) requires each Network water quality program to monitor four core field parameters – water temperature, pH, specific conductance, and dissolved oxygen. Any additional parameters of park interest will be considered through the CUPN Vital Signs selection process. As little was known about water quality in most CUPN parks – exceptions being MACA, Little River Canyon National Preserve (LIRI) and Cumberland Gap National Historical Park (CUGA) – a wide net of water quality parameters was cast during the first two years. Furthermore, as much was known about the water quality of these three parks, they were placed near the end of the park rotation allowing full inventories of parks with little data. In addition to the four core parameters, acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) and fecal coliform tests were performed in the field. Samples were taken and analyzed for a variety of ions and constituents at the WATERS Laboratory (a joint venture between MACA and Western Kentucky University (WKU)). The CUPN Science and Technical Committee (STC) reviewed field and laboratory quality in January 2005 and made their recommendations to the CUPN Board of Directors. Data quality was reviewed based upon the Relative Percent Difference (RPD) between a field sample and it’s duplicate. In general the STC found the RPD values of the core four parameters to be of acceptable quality (less than 10% duplicate pairs lying outside a +/- 10% RPD tolerance level), although the fecal coliform and ANC tests need attention. Specifically, ANC results were of poor quality below 10 mg/l as CaCO3 and fecal coliform results were generally poor throughout its entire range. New protocols for ANC and bacteria were developed and initiated in the spring of 2005. In addition, the STC reviewed RPD values from laboratory analysis. Overall, eleven of the seventeen lab parameters had greater than 10% of duplicate pairs falling outside a +/- 20% RPD tolerance level. Although data generated from the lab are of questionable quality, they are still of use in a basic inventory of water quality for the park. The CUPN STC also reviewed the relevance of data collected during the inventory round. In addition to poor laboratory performance and costs, it was determined that a full two-year inventory of ionic and associated parameters was not needed to further quantify the waters of RUCA. Therefore, the data presented in this report consists of one full year (FY05) of laboratory data and two full years of an expanded set of field parameters (FY05 and FY06).

Cumberland Piedmont Network Water Quality Report; Russell Cave National Monument

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