The issue: Agriculture and irrigation are major forces in Central Washington. Intensive land and water management practices may lead to water quality issues. In the Central Columbia Plateau and Yakima River Basin (CCYK), water quality issues include high nutrient loading resulting in eutrophication, elevated concentrations of water-soluble pesticides, and elevated concentrations of organochlorine compounds such as DDT in both bed sediment and fish.
How the USGS will help: This project studies the mechanisms and impacts of management practices on groundwater, surface water, and stream ecosystems in CCYK. Data collection and analysis will help scientists and managers truly understand how natural and anthropogenic chemicals move through the hydrologic system. This information should dramatically help local, regional, state, and federal land managers produce fair and sound decisions regarding water and land management within the CCYK study area.
National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA), Central Columbia Plateau-Yakima River Basin
Problem – In 1991, Congress established the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project to address where, when, why, and how the Nation's water quality has changed, or is likely to change in the future, in response to human activities and natural factors.
Central Washington contains some of the most productive agricultural land in the United States. The USGS learns about the effects of agricultural practices on water quality by studying the CCPK region.
Major issues to be addressed include:
- Understanding the effects of pesticides and other contaminants on aquatic biota.
- Predicting how reductions in inputs of pesticides and nutrients to surface waters affect their concentrations at downstream locations.
- Determining the pathways by which nutrients and pesticides are entering surface waters via the ground-water system.
- Understanding how the implementation of agricultural management practices affects water quality.
Objectives - The long-term goals of the Central Columbia Plateau-Yakima River Basin NAWQA study are to provide a nationally consistent description of current water-quality conditions in the Study Unit, define long-term trends (or lack of trends) in water quality, and identify, describe, and explain, insofar as possible, the major factors that affect observed water-quality conditions and trends.
Relevance and Benefits - An important part of the USGS mission is to provide scientific information to manage the water resources of the Nation. The USGS established the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program to:
- Describe the status and trends in the quality of a large, representative part of the Nation's surface-water and ground-water resources using nationally consistent methods and approaches.
- Provide an improved understanding of the primary natural and human factors affecting these conditions.
- Provide information that supports the development and evaluation of management, regulatory, and monitoring decisions by other federal, state and local agencies.
Three major program elements contribute to accomplishing the goals of the NAWQA Program:
- Investigations of major river basins and aquifer systems, referred to as study units.
- Regional and national syntheses of key findings from study-unit investigations and existing information related to important water-quality topics such as pesticides, nutrients, volatile organic compounds, trace elements, and ecology.
- Coordination at local, State, regional, and national levels with environmental and natural resource managers and other users of water-quality information.
The data and information provided by the NAWQA Project in this State are vital to the NAWQA Program nationwide.
Approach - To adequately address water-quality issues at the national scale, an integrated program of water-resources investigations that is consistent at all scales is required. In contrast with many previous water-quality studies, we will analyze loads as well as concentrations of chemical constituents to help assess the impact of the chemicals resulting from natural processes or man-made effects. We will consider seasonal variations both from the standpoint of climate and agricultural practices. In order to determine the mechanisms causing water-quality degradation, we will search for areas with nearly homogeneous land-use and hydrologic conditions where the incoming and outflowing water quality can be compared.
National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA)
Yakima Nitrates
Phosphorus SPARROW Model for the Yakima River
Yakima River Basin
Yakima River Water-Quality Studies
Yakima River Temperature Model
Yakima Watershed and River Systems Management Program
Below are publications associated with this project.
Estimation of total nitrogen and total phosphorus in streams of the Middle Columbia River Basin (Oregon, Washington, and Idaho) using SPARROW models, with emphasis on the Yakima River Basin, Washington
Response of algal metrics to nutrients and physical factors and identification of nutrient thresholds in agricultural streams
Nutrient and Suspended-Sediment Transport and Trends in the Columbia River and Puget Sound Basins, 1993-2003
Water Quality in the Yakima River Basin, Washington, 1999-2000
Occurrence and distribution of dissolved trace elements in the surface waters of the Yakima River basin, Washington
Concentrations and loads of suspended sediment and nutrients in surface water of the Yakima River basin, Washington, 1999-2000 [electronic resource] : with an analysis of trends in concentrations
Predicting the probability of detecting organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in stream systems on the basis of land use in the Pacific Northwest, USA
Summary of nitrate concentrations in ground water of Adams, Franklin, and Grant Counties, Washington, fall 1998 -- A baseline for future trend analysis
Concentrations of selected trace elements in fish tissue and streambed sediment in the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille and Spokane River basins, Washington, Idaho, and Montana, 1998
The relative merits of monitoring and domestic wells for ground water quality investigations
Pesticides and volatile organic compounds in surface and ground water of the Palouse subunit, central Columbia Plateau, Washington and Idaho, 1993-95
Shallow ground-water quality beneath row crops and orchards in the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project area, Washington
Relation between irrigation method, sediment yields, and losses of pesticides and nitrogen
Groundwater Quality: Decadal Change
Almost one-half of the U.S. population rely on groundwater for their water supply, and demand for groundwater for public supply, irrigation, and agriculture continues to increase. This mapper shows how concentrations of pesticides, nutrients, metals, and organic contaminants in groundwater are changing during decadal periods across the Nation.
- Overview
The issue: Agriculture and irrigation are major forces in Central Washington. Intensive land and water management practices may lead to water quality issues. In the Central Columbia Plateau and Yakima River Basin (CCYK), water quality issues include high nutrient loading resulting in eutrophication, elevated concentrations of water-soluble pesticides, and elevated concentrations of organochlorine compounds such as DDT in both bed sediment and fish.
How the USGS will help: This project studies the mechanisms and impacts of management practices on groundwater, surface water, and stream ecosystems in CCYK. Data collection and analysis will help scientists and managers truly understand how natural and anthropogenic chemicals move through the hydrologic system. This information should dramatically help local, regional, state, and federal land managers produce fair and sound decisions regarding water and land management within the CCYK study area.
National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA), Central Columbia Plateau-Yakima River Basin
Problem – In 1991, Congress established the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project to address where, when, why, and how the Nation's water quality has changed, or is likely to change in the future, in response to human activities and natural factors.
Central Washington contains some of the most productive agricultural land in the United States. The USGS learns about the effects of agricultural practices on water quality by studying the CCPK region.
Major issues to be addressed include:
An agriculture field in California taken during field work for the Trends Lancover Change project. - Understanding the effects of pesticides and other contaminants on aquatic biota.
- Predicting how reductions in inputs of pesticides and nutrients to surface waters affect their concentrations at downstream locations.
- Determining the pathways by which nutrients and pesticides are entering surface waters via the ground-water system.
- Understanding how the implementation of agricultural management practices affects water quality.
Objectives - The long-term goals of the Central Columbia Plateau-Yakima River Basin NAWQA study are to provide a nationally consistent description of current water-quality conditions in the Study Unit, define long-term trends (or lack of trends) in water quality, and identify, describe, and explain, insofar as possible, the major factors that affect observed water-quality conditions and trends.
Relevance and Benefits - An important part of the USGS mission is to provide scientific information to manage the water resources of the Nation. The USGS established the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program to:
- Describe the status and trends in the quality of a large, representative part of the Nation's surface-water and ground-water resources using nationally consistent methods and approaches.
- Provide an improved understanding of the primary natural and human factors affecting these conditions.
- Provide information that supports the development and evaluation of management, regulatory, and monitoring decisions by other federal, state and local agencies.
Three major program elements contribute to accomplishing the goals of the NAWQA Program:
- Investigations of major river basins and aquifer systems, referred to as study units.
- Regional and national syntheses of key findings from study-unit investigations and existing information related to important water-quality topics such as pesticides, nutrients, volatile organic compounds, trace elements, and ecology.
- Coordination at local, State, regional, and national levels with environmental and natural resource managers and other users of water-quality information.
The data and information provided by the NAWQA Project in this State are vital to the NAWQA Program nationwide.
Water-quality sonde Approach - To adequately address water-quality issues at the national scale, an integrated program of water-resources investigations that is consistent at all scales is required. In contrast with many previous water-quality studies, we will analyze loads as well as concentrations of chemical constituents to help assess the impact of the chemicals resulting from natural processes or man-made effects. We will consider seasonal variations both from the standpoint of climate and agricultural practices. In order to determine the mechanisms causing water-quality degradation, we will search for areas with nearly homogeneous land-use and hydrologic conditions where the incoming and outflowing water quality can be compared.
- Science
National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA)
Our surface water, groundwater, and aquatic ecosystems are priceless resources, used by people across the Nation for drinking, irrigation, industry, and recreation. The National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project is a leading source of scientific data and knowledge for development of science-based policies and management strategies to improve and protect our water resources.Yakima Nitrates
The Issue: Links between nitrate application to the land surface and measured nitrate concentrations in groundwater or surface water are poorly understood in the Yakima River basin due to the variety of potential nitrate sources. Fertilizer-intensive irrigated agriculture has been prevalent in the basin for decades, and since 1994 the growth of dairy operations has resulted in numerous liquid...Phosphorus SPARROW Model for the Yakima River
The Issue - During the 2004-07 irrigation season, nutrient concentrations in the lower Yakima River were high enough at certain times and locations to support the abundant growth of periphytic algae and macrophytes which resulted in large daily fluctuations in dissolved oxygen concentrations and pH levels that exceeded the Washington State water-quality standards for these parameters. The nutrient...Yakima River Basin
The Yakima River flows 215 miles from the outlet of Keechelus Lake in the central Washington Cascades southeasterly to the Columbia River, draining an area of 6,155 square miles. The Yakima River Basin is one of the most intensively irrigated areas in the United States. Population in the Yakima River Basin was about 238,000 in 1990. Increasing demands for water for municipal, fisheries...Yakima River Water-Quality Studies
From 1986 to 2009, the USGS studied various aspects of watershed health in the Yakima River Basin. The results from these studies have been published and are available online.Yakima River Temperature Model
In the Yakima and Naches Rivers, water temperature is often a limiting factor in the survival of salmon during spawning and rearing. The Bureau of Reclamation uses a computer model to assess the effects of reservoir-management scenarios on temperatures and the success of salmon restoration. To provide the daily maximum and long-term water temperature data needed by the model, the Bureau of...Yakima Watershed and River Systems Management Program
Competition among water-resource users in many basins in the western United States has resulted in a need for near-real-time assessments of water availability and use. The Watershed and River System Management Program (WARSMP) is a collaborative program between the USGS and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) to couple watershed and river-reach models that simulate the physical hydrologic... - Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Estimation of total nitrogen and total phosphorus in streams of the Middle Columbia River Basin (Oregon, Washington, and Idaho) using SPARROW models, with emphasis on the Yakima River Basin, Washington
The watershed model SPARROW (Spatially Related Regressions on Watershed attributes) was used to predict total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) loads and yields for the Middle Columbia River Basin in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The new models build on recently published models for the entire Pacific Northwest, and provide revised load predictions for the arid interior of the region by resAuthorsHenry M. Johnson, Robert W. Black, Daniel R. WiseFilter Total Items: 32Response of algal metrics to nutrients and physical factors and identification of nutrient thresholds in agricultural streams
Many streams within the United States are impaired due to nutrient enrichment, particularly in agricultural settings. The present study examines the response of benthic algal communities in agricultural and minimally disturbed sites from across the western United States to a suite of environmental factors, including nutrients, collected at multiple scales. The first objective was to identify the rAuthorsRobert W. Black, Patrick W. Moran, Jill D. FrankforterNutrient and Suspended-Sediment Transport and Trends in the Columbia River and Puget Sound Basins, 1993-2003
This study focused on three areas that might be of interest to water-quality managers in the Pacific Northwest: (1) annual loads of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and suspended sediment (SS) transported through the Columbia River and Puget Sound Basins, (2) annual yields of TN, TP, and SS relative to differences in landscape and climatic conditions between subbasin catchments (drainageAuthorsDaniel R. Wise, Frank A. Rinella, Joseph F. Rinella, Greg J. Fuhrer, Sandra S. Embrey, Gregory M. Clark, Gregory E. Schwarz, Steven SobieszczykWater Quality in the Yakima River Basin, Washington, 1999-2000
This report contains the major findings of a 1999?2000 assessment of water quality in streams and drains in the Yakima River Basin. It is one of a series of reports by the NAWQA Program that present major findings on water resources in 51 major river basins and aquifer systems across the Nation. In these reports, water quality is assessed at many scales?from large rivers that drain lands hAuthorsGregory J. Fuhrer, Jennifer L. Morace, Henry M. Johnson, Joseph F. Rinella, James C. Ebbert, Sandra S. Embrey, Ian R. Waite, Kurt D. Carpenter, Daniel R. Wise, Curt A. HughesOccurrence and distribution of dissolved trace elements in the surface waters of the Yakima River basin, Washington
The occurrence, distribution, and transport of dissolved (filtered-water) trace elements in the surface waters of the Yakima River Basin were assessed using data collected between 1999 and 2000 as part of the U.S. Geological Survey s National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. Samples were collected at 34 sites throughout the basin in August 1999, using a Lagrangian sampling design. From MaAuthorsCurt A. HughesConcentrations and loads of suspended sediment and nutrients in surface water of the Yakima River basin, Washington, 1999-2000 [electronic resource] : with an analysis of trends in concentrations
Spatial and temporal variations in concentrations and loads of suspended sediment and nutrients in surface water of the Yakima River Basin were assessed using data collected during 1999?2000 as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. Samples were collected at 34 sites located throughout the Basin in August 1999 using a Lagrangian sampling designAuthorsJames C. Ebbert, Sandra S. Embrey, Janet A. KelleyPredicting the probability of detecting organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in stream systems on the basis of land use in the Pacific Northwest, USA
We analyzed streambed sediment and fish tissue (Cottus sp.) at 30 sites in the Puget Sound and Willamette basins in Washington and Oregon, USA, respectively, for organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The study was designed to determine the concentrations of organochlorine pesticides and PCBs in fish tissue and sediment by land use within these basins and to develop an empAuthorsR. W. Black, A.L. Haggland, F.D. VossSummary of nitrate concentrations in ground water of Adams, Franklin, and Grant Counties, Washington, fall 1998 -- A baseline for future trend analysis
No abstract available.AuthorsSarah J. Ryker, Lonna M. FransConcentrations of selected trace elements in fish tissue and streambed sediment in the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille and Spokane River basins, Washington, Idaho, and Montana, 1998
Fish tissue and bed sediment samples were collected from 16 stream sites in the Northern Rockies Intermontane Basins study area in 1998 as part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program. Bed sediment samples were analyzed for 45 trace elements, and fish livers and sportfish fillets were analyzed for 22 elements to characterize the occurrence and distribution of theseAuthorsTerry R. Maret, K. D. SkinnerThe relative merits of monitoring and domestic wells for ground water quality investigations
The results of two studies of the effect of agricultural land use on shallow ground water quality indicate that monitoring wells may be a better choice than domestic wells for studies of pesticide occurrence or transport, or for use as early-warning indicators of potential drinking water contamination. Because domestic wells represent the used resource, and because domestic well water may be affecAuthorsJ. L. Jones, L.M. RobertsPesticides and volatile organic compounds in surface and ground water of the Palouse subunit, central Columbia Plateau, Washington and Idaho, 1993-95
No abstract available.AuthorsR. J. Wagner, L.M. RobertsShallow ground-water quality beneath row crops and orchards in the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project area, Washington
No abstract available.AuthorsJ. L. Jones, L.M. RobertsRelation between irrigation method, sediment yields, and losses of pesticides and nitrogen
Yields of suspended sediment from watersheds in the Quincy and Pasco Basins of Washington State have been reduced by the use of sprinkler irrigation on cropland previously in furrow irrigation. Mean daily yields of suspended sediment from nine watersheds sampled during April and May 1994 ranged from 0.4 kg/ha of irrigated cropland in a watershed with no furrow irrigation to 19 kg/ha in a watershedAuthorsJ. C. Ebbert, M. H. Kim - Web Tools
Groundwater Quality: Decadal Change
Almost one-half of the U.S. population rely on groundwater for their water supply, and demand for groundwater for public supply, irrigation, and agriculture continues to increase. This mapper shows how concentrations of pesticides, nutrients, metals, and organic contaminants in groundwater are changing during decadal periods across the Nation.