Cumberland Piedmont Network Water Quality Report; Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

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 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. Initial CUPN water quality sampling includes a two-year period of intense activity. In the case of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park (CUGA), sampling occurred on fixed monthly dates (second Tuesdays) for 24 consecutive months – October 2006 through September 2008.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. Additional parameters of park interest, Escherichia coli, Acid Neutralizing Capacity, and turbidity were included at CUGA.

Cumberland Piedmont Network Water Quality Report; Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

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