York County Sediment and Nutrient Monitoring
Since 2019, the USGS Pennsylvania Water Science Center has been cooperating with York County, Pennsylvania to implement in-stream monitoring to produce surrogate regression equations to compute, in real time, the concentration and load of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and suspended sediment for 6 major watersheds in York County, Pennsylvania.
This partnership provides the York County Planning Commission with data and information to inform County objectives and progress for meeting targets in the York County Watershed Implementation Plan for the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load goals.
To meet York County and USGS objectives, we have implemented instream monitoring of stream stage, streamflow, water temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and nitrate + nitrite concentration, since 2019, at six USGS stations. Over this time, routine and storm-flow targeted water-chemistry samples have been collected to cover a range of seasonal, hydrologic, and physiochemical conditions that each site experiences. Samples are analyzed by USGS and state laboratories for total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and suspended sediment concentration. By pairing laboratory values with instream monitor values, over a range of conditions, the USGS is able to define a mathematical surrogate relation between instream monitor values that are collected every 15 minutes, and laboratory concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment (USGS – What is a surrogate?). Once equations are established at each site for nutrients and sediment, then every 15-minutes a concentration of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and suspended sediment can be computed from the live data being collected from the instream monitor. The approved and provisional data from these monitors and the surrogate equations are available on the USGS Water Data for the Nation for the six study sites.
Site Name and USGS Site Number for the six York County sites where surrogate regressions are being developed:
- Fishing Creek at Goldsboro, PA (01573660)
- West Conewago Creek near Manchester, PA (01574000)
- Codorus Creek near Saginaw, PA (01575598)
- Kreutz Creek at Strickler, PA (01576007)
- Fishing Creek at Craley, PA (01576045)
- Muddy Creek at Castle Fin, PA (01577500)
Expected Products:
As surrogate equations and nutrient and sediment data are published, USGS will continue monitoring all six study sites. Current plans are to develop a real-time dashboard that will summarize all data in easy-to-understand plots for each site. A geonarrative (or “story map”) will be explain the project methods, data, and findings.
Lastly, we plan to produce a detailed scientific report that describes all sediment and nutrient concentrations, loads, and trends at the six sites, and conduct a comparison of the results of surrogate equation calculation of concentrations and loads with other currently-used methods of modeling concentrations and loads at the watershed or county level.
Pennsylvania and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Pennsylvania Super Gages
Since 2019, the USGS Pennsylvania Water Science Center has been cooperating with York County, Pennsylvania to implement in-stream monitoring to produce surrogate regression equations to compute, in real time, the concentration and load of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and suspended sediment for 6 major watersheds in York County, Pennsylvania.
This partnership provides the York County Planning Commission with data and information to inform County objectives and progress for meeting targets in the York County Watershed Implementation Plan for the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load goals.
To meet York County and USGS objectives, we have implemented instream monitoring of stream stage, streamflow, water temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and nitrate + nitrite concentration, since 2019, at six USGS stations. Over this time, routine and storm-flow targeted water-chemistry samples have been collected to cover a range of seasonal, hydrologic, and physiochemical conditions that each site experiences. Samples are analyzed by USGS and state laboratories for total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and suspended sediment concentration. By pairing laboratory values with instream monitor values, over a range of conditions, the USGS is able to define a mathematical surrogate relation between instream monitor values that are collected every 15 minutes, and laboratory concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment (USGS – What is a surrogate?). Once equations are established at each site for nutrients and sediment, then every 15-minutes a concentration of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and suspended sediment can be computed from the live data being collected from the instream monitor. The approved and provisional data from these monitors and the surrogate equations are available on the USGS Water Data for the Nation for the six study sites.
Site Name and USGS Site Number for the six York County sites where surrogate regressions are being developed:
- Fishing Creek at Goldsboro, PA (01573660)
- West Conewago Creek near Manchester, PA (01574000)
- Codorus Creek near Saginaw, PA (01575598)
- Kreutz Creek at Strickler, PA (01576007)
- Fishing Creek at Craley, PA (01576045)
- Muddy Creek at Castle Fin, PA (01577500)
Expected Products:
As surrogate equations and nutrient and sediment data are published, USGS will continue monitoring all six study sites. Current plans are to develop a real-time dashboard that will summarize all data in easy-to-understand plots for each site. A geonarrative (or “story map”) will be explain the project methods, data, and findings.
Lastly, we plan to produce a detailed scientific report that describes all sediment and nutrient concentrations, loads, and trends at the six sites, and conduct a comparison of the results of surrogate equation calculation of concentrations and loads with other currently-used methods of modeling concentrations and loads at the watershed or county level.