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Cook Inletkeeper
Salmon Stream
Monitoring Program
Discharge - Turbidity
BACKGROUND
Alaska’s standard
for turbidity is difficult to use as it requires an
understanding of natural conditions which is generally lacking
in the State. The baseline data collected by Cook Inletkeeper
should be valuable in determining what the natural conditions
are for these streams; however, these may be the parameters that
change most rapidly as land-use activities increase and that may
have the greatest affect on lower Kenai Peninsula communities
and economies. Monitoring turbidity in these rivers and
educating citizens about activities that contribute to muddy
waters is critical.
INLETKEEPER STRATEGIES
To describe background levels
of turbidity across the hydrologic gradient,
stage gauges (In-Situ Level TROLL 500
level sensors) have been established on Deep Creek and Ninilchik
River. A discharge - stage relationship will be created
by collecting discharge data when streams are wadeable at each
gauge station to create a continuous discharge dataset for these
rivers. Weekly turbidity samples are being collected and
compared with the discharge dataset to develop a relationship
between turbidity and stream discharge; only with this complete
discharge dataset can turbidity exceedances be determined.
FUTURE WORK
The relationship between water
quality and water quantity is likely to change in the coming
years as global climate change alters Kenai Peninsula watersheds
by affecting flooding frequencies, stream temperature,
precipitation levels, surface and ground water volumes, soil
nutrient dynamics, and other hydrologic characteristics. In
addition, climate change may impact geographic distribution of
wetlands. The forest recovery from the Spruce Bark Beetle
infestation on the lower Kenai Peninsula may also result in
significant changes in hydrologic patterns. Stage gauges will
continue to be an important long-term tool to understand how
in-stream flows are changing and how turbidity is changing in
relation to discharge patterns.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS
(links open in new window)
For more information about the
In-Situ Level TROLL 500 level
sensors, see:
http://www.in-situ.com/In-Situ/Products/LevelTROLL/LevelTROLL500.html
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