HR: 0830h
AN: H51C-1086    [PDF]
TI: Modeling linkages between groundwater, surface water and perhiphyton-driven oxygen dynamics in the lower Truckee River, Nevada
AU: * McKay, W A
EM: alan@dri.edu
AF: Desert Research Institute, Division of Hydrological Sciences, Reno, NV 89506 United States
AU: Warwick, J J
EM: warwick@dri.edu
AF: Desert Research Institute, Division of Hydrological Sciences, Reno, NV 89506 United States
AU: Kish, S
EM: skish@uf.edu
AF: University of Florida, Dept of Environmental Engineering Sciences, Gainesville, FL 32611 United States
AU: Fritsen, C F
EM: cfritsen@dri.edu
AF: Desert Research Institute, Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Reno, NV 89506 United States
AB: Long-term water quality monitoring in the lower Truckee River, Nevada (U.S.) reveals increases in several constituents [e.g., total dissolved solids (TDS) and nitrogen (N)] not easily explained by simple solute and hydrologic budgets of surface inputs (i.e., suburban runoff; agricultural surface return flow; etc). Regional and sub-regional hydrologic investigations focusing on groundwater indicate that much of the solute increase is attributable to subsurface non-point source (NPS) returns driven by a complex combination of agricultural activities (e.g., flood irrigation of field crops) juxtaposed upon naturally occurring regional groundwater flow. A two-year monitoring program focusing on periphyton within the same river reach further reveals local maxima in biomass corresponding to gaining river reaches. A long-term dynamic surface water quality model provides the unifying element for these data, and helps support earlier theses suggesting a link between NPS groundwater returns, nutrient enrichment and periphyton-driven oxygen dynamics in the lower river.
DE: 1800 HYDROLOGY
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting