Assessment of water quality, nutrients, algal productivity, and management alternatives for low-flow conditions, South Umpqua river basin, Oregon, 1990-92

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Title Assessment of water quality, nutrients, algal productivity, and management alternatives for low-flow conditions, South Umpqua river basin, Oregon, 1990-92
Creator Tanner, Dwight Q.; Anderson, Chauncey W.
Subject Water quality -- Measurement; Water quality management; Organic compounds; Algae; Pollutants; Organic wastes
Spatial Coverage Columbia River; Oregon
Description This report is an evaluation of the effects of nutrient loading on water quality in the South Umpqua River Basin. The study was done by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with Douglas County, Oregon. Five wastewater treatment plants were shown to contribute less than 15 percent of the flow, but more than 90 percent of the nitrogen and phosphorus, in the South Umpqua River during low streamflows in summer. These nutrient inputs were associated with, and largely responsible for, the dense growth of periphytic algae that covered the rocky channel and produced biomass values as large as 340 grams of ash-free dry weight per square meter. The nighttime respiration of periphytic algae caused violations of the Oregon water-quality standard, which requires a dissolved oxygen concentration of at least 90 percent of saturation, at most sites along the South Umpqua River. Photosynthesis by algae during daylight resulted in many exceedances of the Oregon pH standard of 8.5. Net productivity,
Publisher U. S. Geological Survey
Contributors Couglas County, Oregon
Date 1996
Type Text
Format application/pdf
Digitization Specifications pdf file copied from USGS website (http://or.water.usgs.gov/pubs_dir/Abstracts/96-4082.html). Uploaded into CONTENTdm version 3.7.
Identifier http://or.water.usgs.gov/pubs_dir/Abstracts/96-4082.html
Source Tanner, Dwight Q. and Anderson, Chauncey W., 1996, Assessment of water quality, nutrients, algal productivity, and management alternatives for low-flow conditions, South Umpqua river basin, Oregon, 1990-92, Portland Oregon: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 96-4082, 80 p.
Language eng
Rights Management Public Domain, Courtesy of the USGS
Holding Institution University of Utah
ARK ark:/87278/s6z03724
Setname wwdl_er
ID 1145721
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6z03724
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