Water quality monitoring for Theodore Roosevelt National Park: 2016 data report
Rockwood SL and Ashton IW. 2020. Water quality monitoring for Theodore Roosevelt National Park: 2016 data report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/THRO/NRDS—2020/1265. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
The Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) began monitoring water quality in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (THRO) in 2013, with the assistance of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). This report summarizes the data collected during the 2016 ice-free season (March 9 through November 2) for streamflow, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, and pH. This was the second season of continuous monitoring. Compared to the first sampling period in 2013, 2016 was much drier and discharge on the Little Missouri River peaked at only 1440 cubic feet per second in late September. The highest flow in 2013 was over 8000 cubic feet per second. There was considerable seasonal variation in all water quality measures. A summary of our results can be found in Descriptive Statistics Summary tables for the ice-free season (Table 3) and for each month (Table 4). Notably, there were days when dissolved oxygen concentrations were below state standards and water temperatures and pH were above North Dakota standards. Water temperatures exceedances were the most common and temperatures above 29.4°C occurred 366 times or in 1.7 % of all records. NGPN’s collaboration with USGS supported real-time and archived access to this data through the USGS National Water Information System Website, where it remains available to the public.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Rockwood, Stephanie; Ashton, Isabel
- Date of Issue
- 2020-02
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- NGPN , NRSS , THRO
- Keywords
- monitoring report, water quality monitor