Water quality of the lower Columbia River Basin: Analysis of current and historical water-quality data through 1994

Abstract

One of the great challenges faced by the Nation's water-resource scientists is providing reliable water-quality information to guide the management and protection of our water resources. That challenge is being addressed by Federal, Tribal, State, interstate, and local water-resources agencies, by academic institutions, and by private industry. Many of these organizations are collecting water-quality data for a host of purposes, including compliance with permits and water-supply standards, development of remediation plans for specific contamination problems, decision of operational procedures for industrial, wastewater, or water-supply facilities, and refinement of research to advance our understanding of water-quality processes. In fact, during the past two decades, tens of billions of dollars have been spent on water-quality data collection programs. Unfortunately, the utility of these data for present and future regional and national assessments is limited by such factors as the areal extent of the sampling network, the frequency of sample collection, the variety of collection and analytical procedures, and the types of water-quality characteristics determined. The Lower Columbia River Bi-State Water Quality Program, with involvement from private industry, sports and commercial fishing, public ports, environmental groups, municipal, State, Northwest Power Planning Council, and Federal interests, has provided guidance to: 1. Provide a regionally consistent description of water-quality conditions; 2. Define seasonal and long-term trends (or lack of trends) in water quality; and 3. Identify, describe, and explain, as possible, the major factors that affect observed water-quality conditions and trends.

Calcium concentrations in the lower Columbia River, USA, are generally sufficient to support invasive bivalve spread

“…The concentration of Ca 2+ [Ca 2+ ] varies widely in the world's rivers, with an approximate range of 1-200 mg L À1 (ppm). In the Columbia River (CR), USA, early measurements of [Ca 2+ ] spanned 4.0-21.0 mg L À1 (Fuhrer, Tanner, Morace, McKenzie, & Skach, 1996).…”