Central Columbia Plateau - Yakima River Basin Active
Central Columbia Plateau - Yakima River Basin
What’s in the water? And is water quality getting better or worse?
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)
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
Soil Erosion in the Palouse River Basin: Indications of Improvement
Relation between irrigation method, sediment yields, and losses of pesticides and nitrogen
Nutrients, benthic algae, and stream quality during low streamflow in the Palouse River basin, Washington and Idaho
Irrigation and Surface-Water Quality in the Quincy and Pasco Basins, Washington
The relationship between land use and organochlorine compounds in streambed sediment and fish in the Central Columbia Plateau, Washington and Idaho, USA
Pesticides in Public Supply Wells of Washington State
Are agricultural pesticides in surface waters of the central Columbia plateau?
Agricultural pesticides found in ground water of the Quincy and Pasco basins
The relationships among three habitat scales and stream benthic invertebrate community structure
Pesticides in Public Supply Wells of the Central Columbia Plateau
Pesticides Found in Ground Water below Orchards in the Quincy and Pasco Basins
Organochlorine Pesticides and PCBs in Aquatic Ecosystems of the Central Columbia Plateau
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:
- 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.
- 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. - 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: 32Soil Erosion in the Palouse River Basin: Indications of Improvement
No abstract available.AuthorsJ. C. Ebbert, R. Dennis RoeRelation 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. KimNutrients, benthic algae, and stream quality during low streamflow in the Palouse River basin, Washington and Idaho
No abstract available.AuthorsK.E. Greene, M.D. Munn, J. C. EbbertIrrigation and Surface-Water Quality in the Quincy and Pasco Basins, Washington
No abstract available.AuthorsMoon H. Kim, James C. EbbertThe relationship between land use and organochlorine compounds in streambed sediment and fish in the Central Columbia Plateau, Washington and Idaho, USA
We analyzeds streambed sediment and fish in the Central Columbia Plateau in eastern Washington and Idaho for or ganochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (ÎŁPCB). Our objective was to assess the effects of land use on the occurrence and distribution of these compounds; land uses in the study area included forest, dryland and irrigated farming, and urban. We detected 16 organochlorine coAuthorsM.D. Munn, S.J. GruberPesticides in Public Supply Wells of Washington State
No abstract available.AuthorsSarah J. Ryker, Alex K. WilliamsonAre agricultural pesticides in surface waters of the central Columbia plateau?
No abstract available.AuthorsR. J. Wagner, J. C. Ebbert, L.M. RobertsAgricultural pesticides found in ground water of the Quincy and Pasco basins
No abstract available.AuthorsLonna M. Roberts, Joseph L. JonesThe relationships among three habitat scales and stream benthic invertebrate community structure
1. The relationships between three habitat scales and lotic invertebrate species composition were investigated for the 15 540 km2 Yakima River basin in south-central Washington, U.S.A. 2. The three spatial scales were sample (the sampled riffle), reach (a length of ten–twenty stream widths) and segment (a length of stream of nearly uniform slope and valley form having no change in stream order). 3AuthorsJ.L. Carter, S.V. Fend, S.S. KennellyPesticides in Public Supply Wells of the Central Columbia Plateau
No abstract available.AuthorsSarah J. Ryker, Alex K. WilliamsonPesticides Found in Ground Water below Orchards in the Quincy and Pasco Basins
No abstract available.AuthorsLonna M. Roberts, Joseph L. JonesOrganochlorine Pesticides and PCBs in Aquatic Ecosystems of the Central Columbia Plateau
No abstract available.AuthorsS.J. Gruber, M.D. Munn - 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.