Fixed-station water-quality monitoring at Congaree National Park: Data summary 2010
Rinehart AP, Wright W , Gregory MB. 2013. Fixed-station water-quality monitoring at Congaree National Park: Data summary 2010. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/2013/NRDS—2013/476. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2194575
In 2006 Congaree National Park (CONG), in conjunction with the Southeast Coast Network (SECN) Inventory and Monitoring Program, began collecting water-quality data at Cedar Creek as part the NPS Vital Signs Monitoring Program. The continuous monitoring data station is located approximately one mile south of the visitor center and collects water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, specific conductance, turbidity and water-level data every 30 minutes. This publication summarizes data collected from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010. Information collected by this monitoring program may be used to help park managers make better-informed decisions by understanding trends and variability related to water-quality conditions in park waters. Significant findings for 2010 are as follows: water temperature ranged 1.7–30.9°C (35.1–87.6°F). The lowest monthly average temperature of 6.0°C (42.8°F) occurred in December, and the highest monthly average of 28.2°C (82.7°F) occurred in July. Specific conductance values ranged from 23 to 74 μs/cm. A majority of spikes in specific conductance were associated with rain and/or runoff events. Individual dissolved oxygen concentrations ranged from a low of 4.2 mg/L in July to 12.6 mg/L in December. During 2010, values for pH ranged between 5.45 and 7.74, with approximately 47% of measurements (7821/16588) below the 6.0 standard for freshwater. Turbidity values were generally low in Cedar Creek throughout much of the year with 71% (10,408/14,661 readings) below 10 NTUs.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Rinehart, Aaron; Wright, Wendy; Gregory, M.
- Date of Issue
- 2013-04
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/2194575
- Units
- CONG , NRSS , SECN
- Keywords
- Cedar Creek, Congaree National Park, Dissolved Oxygen, pH, Southeast Coast Network, specific conductance, Turbidity, Water Quality Monitoring, Water Temperature, water-level