Water quality monitoring for Fort Laramie National Historic Site: 2021 data report
Rosse AT. 2023. Water quality monitoring for Fort Laramie National Historic Site: 2021 data report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/FOLA/NRDS—2023/1388. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2296695
The Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) began monitoring water quality in the Laramie River at Fort Laramie National Historic Site (FOLA) in 2015 (Ashton and Rockwood 2020), with the assistance of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). This report summarizes the data collected during the 2021 ice-free season (April 5th through November 15th) for streamflow, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, and pH. 2021 was a dry year. Discharge on the Laramie River peaked at only 233 cubic feet per second (cfs) in May of 2021, less than the 2018 peak of 329 cfs in April and much less than the 4570 cubic feet per second peak in late May of 2015. 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). Again, as in 2015 and 2018, water temperatures were consistently above the Wyoming state water quality standard for cold water fisheries from May through September. In 2021, 23.33% percent of samples were above the state standard of 20oC, July temperatures violated in 65.4% percent of samples.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Rosse, Anine
- Date of Issue
- 2023-01
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/2296695
- Units
- FOLA , NGPN , NRSS
- Keywords
- monitor, monitoring report, water, water quality
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Water | Hydrology | Surface Water Dynamics