Data Collected in Support of the Longshore Water-Current Velocity and the Potential for Transport of Contaminants pilot study in Lake Erie from Walnut Creek to Presque Isle State Park Beaches, Erie, Pennsylvania

This data release supports the following publication: Hittle, Elizabeth, 2017, Longshore Water-Current Velocity and the Potential for Transport of Contaminants: A Pilot Study in Lake Erie from Walnut Creek to Presque Isle State Park Beaches, Erie, Pennsylvania, June and August 2015: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 20161206 126 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161206

Data were collected in Lake Erie between Walnut Creek and Presque Isle State Park (PSIP) Beach 1 in June and August 2015 to support a pilot study looking at water-current velocity and the potential for contaminant transport within that area. Water-current velocity transects were collected on June 24, 25, August 18 and 19 with a Teledyne Rio Grande 1200 kHz acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP). The data were processed within the Velocity Mapping Toolbox (Parsons and others., 2013) and visualized within ArcMap. Water quality was measured on select transects by sampling water temperature, specific conductance, and turbidity from collection points at approximately 10 verticals along the transect on June 24 and June 25. Measurements were collected with a YSI EXO water quality meter.

Near-shore water quality was measured by collecting grab samples from shore on June 24, August 11, and August 19. Temperature was measured on site, and from the grab samples, turbidity and Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria concentration was measured. Water-quality grab samples were collected about a meter from shore and coincide with the 25 longshore water-current velocity transects as closely as conditions would allow. Samples were collected by Erie County Department of Health (ECDH) employees and Regional Science Consortium (RSC) interns. The nearshore water-quality samples were collected using grab-sample techniques described in Myers and others (2007). To maintain sterile conditions, grab samples were collected in at least 1 meter of water at approximately 0.3 meters below the water surface, being careful not to stir up bottom sediments. Water samples for bacteria analysis were collected in pre-sterilized 500-mL polypropylene bottles, allowing about 2 inches of head space for proper mixing, and were kept on ice prior to processing. Bacteria samples were analyzed for Escherichia coli (E. coli) using modified mTEC membrane-filtration techniques (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2002) and were processed by RSC staff in the RSC laboratory within 6 hours of sample collection. On June 24 and August 11 an additional sample was collected near-shore for suspended sediment analysis. Samples were collected in pre-tared 1000-mL polypropylene bottles by tilting the bottle at about a 45 degree angle away from the sampler and quickly moving it from just under the surface (where the bottle was uncapped) to just above the streambed and back in a smooth vertical motion to get as close to a depth-integrated, single-vertical grab sample as possible (Edwards and Glysson, 1999). There is no need to chill bottles for sediment analysis. Sediment samples were prepared for shipping and sent to the USGS sediment laboratory at the USGS Kentucky Water Science Center where they were analyzed for total suspended sediment concentration, sand/fine break (percent of sediment less than 4 mm), and fine components including percent fines less than 2 mm, 1mm, 0.5 mm, 0.25 mm, 0.125 mm, and <0.0625mm.

Edwards, T.K., and Glysson, G.D., 1999, Field methods for measurement of fluvial sediment: Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations of the U.S. Geological Survey, book 3, chap. C2, 89 p

Myers, D.N., Stoeckel, D.M., Bushon, R.N., Francy, D.S., and Brady, A.M.G., 2007, Fecal indicator bacteria: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations, book 9, chap. A7, section 7.1 (version 2.0), available from http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/twri9A/.

Parsons, D.R., Jackson, P.R., Czuba, J.A., Oberg, K.A., Mueller, D.S., Rhoads, B., Best, J.L., Johnson, K.K., Engel, F., and Riley, J. (2013) Velocity Mapping Toolbox (VMT): a processing and visualization suite for moving-vessel ADCP measurements, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. doi: 10.1002/esp.3367.

US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). 2009, Method 1603: Escherichia coli (E. coli) in Water by Membrane Filtration Using Modified membrane-Thermotolerant Escherichia coli Agar (Modified mTEC), EPA-821-R-09-007, December 2009