Results of a study (summer of 1980) of pesticides, nutrients, and other water-quality characteristics of the water and bottom material of Patton Lake indicate that the lake is nutrient enriched and that several pesticides are present in the bottom material. The high pH (9.0 to 9.3) and large dissolved-oxygen concentrations (8.7 to 10.8 milligrams per liter) on August 29 indicate significant primary production. Organic-nitrogen concentrations ranged from 1.1 to 3.0 milligrams per liter (as nitrogen). Ammonia-nitrogen concentrations ranged from 0.03 to 0.05 milligram per liter (as nitrogen). Orthophosphate concentrations ranged from 0.01 to 0.14 milligram per liter (as phosphorus). Total phosphorus ranged from 0.01 to 0.20 milligram per liter. In bottom-material samples, concentrations of organic-plus-ammonia nitrogen ranged from 5,400 to 10,000 milligrams per kilogram; total phosphorus concentrations ranged from 830 to 1,400 milligrams per kilogram; and inorganic-plus-organic carbon concentrations ranged from 70 to 106 grams per kilogram. Concentrations of DDT in bottom material did not exceed 43 micrograms per kilogram. Concentrations of DDD and of DDE exceeded 150 micrograms per kilogram in most bottom-material samples. Aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, and lindane also were detected in bottom material. Toxaphene, a principal contaminant present in fish from the lake, was not detected in any bottom-material samples.
