Sediment

USGS continuous water-quality monitoring and discrete sampling is an integral component for understanding pre-, during, and post-WID water-quality conditions and the impacts on the surrounding ecosystems.

In October 2020, The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), began long‐term in‐stream monitoring downstream from the headwaters of Soldier Creek, a KDHE identified basin with a high probability of large‐scale implementation (more than 50% of area) of soil health best management practices (BPMs) to quantify potential changes in streamflow...

An understanding of river- and stream-channel geomorphic responses to various human-caused and natural disturbances is important for effective management, conservation, and rehabilitation of rivers and streams to accommodate multiple, often conflicting, needs. Channel changes may have implications for the protection of property and structures, water supply, navigation, and habitat. The channel...

Johnson County, a suburban part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, is one of the most populated counties in Kansas with 544,000 people in 2010, a 21 percent increase in population since 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Located in northeastern Kansas, about one-half of the county is urban. Urban, industrial, and agricultural land uses affect the quality of streams and lakes in the...

The USGS Kansas Water Science Center, in cooperation with the Kansas Water Office, maintains a sediment monitoring network on the Neosho and Cottonwood Rivers both up- and downstream from John Redmond Reservoir. The purpose of this network is to assess the sediment loads and trapping efficiency of John Redmond Reservoir, and provide data to state agencies to determine the effect of streambank...

Cheney Reservoir is located on the North Fork Ninnescah River in south-central Kansas, 20 miles west of Wichita. Cheney Reservoir is the primary drinking water supply for the city and a popular recreational resource for the region. After cyanobacterial blooms in 1990 and 1991, which caused servere taste-and-odor events, the USGS Kansas Water Science Center partnered with the City of Wichita and...

In Kansas and nationally, sediment is a concern for both physical and chemical reasons. Physically, problems caused by excessive sediment may include degraded water quality, degraded aquatic habitat, increased water-treatment costs, decreased channel capacity, clogged water intakes, and loss of water-storage capacity in reservoirs. Chemically, sediment serves as a carrier for various contaminants...

An understanding of the quantity and quality of sediment deposited in a reservoir is necessary for effective reservoir and basin management. Sedimentation affects the useful life of a reservoir for such important purposes as flood control, water supply, and recreation. Sediment quality is an important environmental concern because sediment may act as a sink for various water-quality constituents...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Johnson County Stormwater Management Program has studied sediment transport in Johnson County streams and lakes to better understand how changes from agricultural to urban land use alter sediment in streams and lakes, characterize how these uses may affect lake storage and biological integrity of streams, and evaluate the effectiveness of...