Nooksack river basin continuous nitrate monitoring
The issue: Learning more about where and how much nitrates there are in the Nooksack river basin.
How USGS will help: Provide continuous nitrate concentration data at three locations. Provide validation water samples analyzing for nitrate concentration. Compute nitrate load estimates using stream discharge data coupled with newly collected nitrate concentration data.
Problem: The Nooksack River watershed comprises the majority of the Water Resources Inventory Area 1 (WRIA 1) located in Whatcom County in Washington State. From its headwaters in the northwestern Cascade Mountains, the Nooksack River drains approximately 809 square miles, comprising most of western Whatcom County, including agricultural areas and the developed lowlands surrounding the towns of Deming, Everson, Lynden, and Ferndale. The Nooksack River enters the Lummi Indian Reservation at its eastern extent, which contains the majority of the river delta before it discharges into the marine waters of Bellingham Bay. The Nooksack River is also the primary source of freshwater into Portage Bay, which is located approximately 5 miles southwest of the Nooksack River delta.
Nonpoint nutrient pollution is a growing water quality problem in the United States, particularly from mixed urban and agricultural areas. The Nooksack River basin contains some of the most productive farmland in Washington State, as well as a high rural residential population on septic systems, making it an ideal location to study temporal and spatial dynamics of nutrient delivery to surface water. The Portage Bay Partnership, a collaboration between Whatcom County dairy farmers and the Lummi Nation to improve water quality in the basin, was formed in 2017 to primarily address bacterial pollution in surface water.
Objectives:
- Collect 15-minute nitrate data at the three sites, calibrated to monthly discrete water samples analyzed for nutrients for up to 2 years.
- Use existing flow data from USGS gages to estimate loads of nitrates.
Daily Nooksack River Basin Nutrient Loading Estimates from 2018 to 2021
Below are partners associated with this project.
The issue: Learning more about where and how much nitrates there are in the Nooksack river basin.
How USGS will help: Provide continuous nitrate concentration data at three locations. Provide validation water samples analyzing for nitrate concentration. Compute nitrate load estimates using stream discharge data coupled with newly collected nitrate concentration data.
Problem: The Nooksack River watershed comprises the majority of the Water Resources Inventory Area 1 (WRIA 1) located in Whatcom County in Washington State. From its headwaters in the northwestern Cascade Mountains, the Nooksack River drains approximately 809 square miles, comprising most of western Whatcom County, including agricultural areas and the developed lowlands surrounding the towns of Deming, Everson, Lynden, and Ferndale. The Nooksack River enters the Lummi Indian Reservation at its eastern extent, which contains the majority of the river delta before it discharges into the marine waters of Bellingham Bay. The Nooksack River is also the primary source of freshwater into Portage Bay, which is located approximately 5 miles southwest of the Nooksack River delta.
Nonpoint nutrient pollution is a growing water quality problem in the United States, particularly from mixed urban and agricultural areas. The Nooksack River basin contains some of the most productive farmland in Washington State, as well as a high rural residential population on septic systems, making it an ideal location to study temporal and spatial dynamics of nutrient delivery to surface water. The Portage Bay Partnership, a collaboration between Whatcom County dairy farmers and the Lummi Nation to improve water quality in the basin, was formed in 2017 to primarily address bacterial pollution in surface water.
Objectives:
- Collect 15-minute nitrate data at the three sites, calibrated to monthly discrete water samples analyzed for nutrients for up to 2 years.
- Use existing flow data from USGS gages to estimate loads of nitrates.
Daily Nooksack River Basin Nutrient Loading Estimates from 2018 to 2021
Below are partners associated with this project.