Impacts of Small, Surface-Release Dams on Stream Temperature and Dissolved Oxygen in Massachusetts

Zaidel, Peter A.

doi:10.7275/11948958

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Nutrients in U.S. streams have reduced in urban streams, with no change in agricultural streams over a 30-year time period from 1982 to 2012 (Stets et al, 2020); therefore, oxygen demand caused by increasing nutrient loads might not be the cause of reducing dissolved oxygen across watersheds. However, most streams are impounded by dams and other flow controlling infrastructure that reduces dissolved oxygen within the structures, which could impact downstream oxygen levels absent of aeration at the outlet of the structures (Zaidel, 2018). Furthermore, temperature in streams in U.S. has been rising (Kaushal et al, 2010) and increase in stream temperature reduces oxygen solubility.…”

Section: Water Quality and Discharge Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of land use changes on discharge and water quality in rivers and streams: Case study of the continental United States

Gunawardana,

McDonald

2024

J American Water Resour Assoc

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Water quality trends in streams and rivers are impacted by several factors including land use of the watershed; however, it is unclear what influence changes in the land use of a watershed subsequently have on changes in discharge and water quality in streams and rivers. This study seeks to fill this gap by evaluating the relationship between changes in land use and changes in discharge and water quality at United States Geological Survey (USGS) stream gages over the period of 2008–2016. Using land cover data and discharge and water quality data from 60 USGS gages, regression methods were applied to determine the strength of relationship between land use changes and changes in water quality and quantity. Trends in discharge and water quality were mixed, with a majority of watersheds demonstrating a decrease in dissolved oxygen and turbidity, no overall trend for discharge, and increases in specific conductance. A regression analysis revealed that discharge, turbidity, and specific conductance were correlated with changes in individual land use types with an R2 between 0.12 and 0.25. Combining the influences of multiple land uses in multivariate regression improved the predictions for discharge (R2 0.58) and specific conductance (R2 0.47), highlighting the magnitude for which land cover changes influence trends in water quality. Overall, this study demonstrates the impact that large‐scale land use changes have on surface water quality.

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Section: Water Quality and Discharge Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%