Water quality in the Northern Colorado Plateau Network, water years 2010–2012
Hackbarth C and Wessinger R. 2013. Water quality in the Northern Colorado Plateau Network, water years 2010–2012. Natural Resource Technical Report. NPS/NCPN/NRTR—2013/831. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
Water quality monitoring in National Park Service units of the NCPN is made possible through partnerships between the National Park Service Inventory & Monitoring Program, individual park units, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the State of Utah’s Division of Water Quality. This report evaluates data from site visits made at 75 different locations on NCPN streams and rivers in or near 11 NCPN park units between October 1, 2009 and September 30, 2012. Evaluation of water quality parameters relative to state water quality standards indicated that 26,051 (96.9%) of the 26,873 total designated beneficial-use evaluations completed for the period covered in this report did not exceed state water quality standards. While some exceedances were reoccurring and may have been caused by human activities in the watersheds, many were due to naturally occurring conditions characteristic of the geographic setting. The most common exceedances or indications of impairment, in order of abundance, were due to elevated nutrients, elevated bacteria (E. coli), elevated trace metals, low dissolved oxygen, elevated temperature, elevated total dissolved solids, and elevated pH. An emerging concern is the number of water temperature exceedances at six national park units. Water temperatures are predicted to increase as the climate changes due to higher air temperatures and lower instream flows.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Hackbarth, Carolyn; Wessinger, Rebecca
- Date of Issue
- 2013-12
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- ARCH , BLCA , BRCA , CANY , CARE , CURE , DINO , GOSP , HOVE , NABR , NCPN , TICA , ZION
- Keywords
- Aquatic Studies, Monitoring, NCPN Water Quality Monitoring, Water Quality