Water Chemistry and water characteristics
Overview
In attempting to understand the impacts of the MVP on mountain streams, water quality was of concern as increased nutrient loading could occur from such construction. Changes to water chemistry have implications on stream ecology and stream health, therefore water quality was monitored and measured.
Methodology
Various metrics pertaining to water quality were measured using a YSI probe and water samples. The YSI was re-calibrated a day prior to usage. To take readings the probe was placed in deeper sections of the reaches to ensure the sensors were submerged in order to record water temperature, turbidity, conductivity, pH, and dissolved oxygen. These metrics were monitored once a week for four weeks during baseflow conditions. The water samples were obtained by doing grab samples with clean bottles in conjunction with the YSI sampling. These samples were kept refrigerated until they were filtered using a Geo pump with a 0.45 micron filter, to send both filtered and unfiltered 50mL samples to the lab for testing. The lab tests were run for Total Phosphorus, Total Nitrogen, Ammonia, and Nitrates.
Results
There were no major differences among the sites for water quality data, nor were there recognizable changes overtime. DO was greater downstream, but that could be due to the travel time from upstream resulting in greater oxygen, and conductivity showed minor variation between upstream and downstream with no concerning levels. Turbidity and temperature were inconclusive and pH was slightly higher downstream but still within a normal range. Water chemistry data did not contain any major variations and were consistently low for all measured nutrients as well.
conclusions
With minor variations in water quality measurements and the absence of concerning levels for any of the water quality parameters evaluated among the sites, the results are not suggestive of pipeline impacts. However, this does not mean that there will be or aren't impacts, therefore further monitoring should be undertaken to track any changes in water characteristics and chemistry.