EPA EMPACT RiverNet Earth Day Update (April 22, 2003)

Dear RiverNet Colleagues,

I know most of you are already involved with your own Earth Day activities today, but I wanted to invite you (and inform you) to a "RiverNet" press conference at Nesbitt Riverfront park with Congressman Kanjorski and his staff, along with Alex Rogers, the American Heritage River Navigator. This will be to showcase our past year's work, and currrent river conditions, regarding our EPA research grant on "real-time" water quality monitors linked to Web-based GIS.

Brian Oram, John Pagoda, Marleen Troy, several of our Wilkes' GSE students and I will be there from 10 AM to 2 PM as part of planned community Earth Day education and outreach activities. The Congressman's press release will take place today at either the boat launch in Nesbitt Park or under the Market street bridge (if raining) at 11:30 AM.

Attached are three documents for your reference. The longer technical one summarizes project objectives and activities; the shorter one is an invitation to the press; a third document provides some reference guidelines for water quality. Sorry for the last minute notification, but these events are usually finalized under a tight schedule. Some of our preliminary data are provided below also.

You might also check our RiverNet Web sites.  At present, examples of the data (from a given sampling date in October 2002) may be viewed via Web GIS at http://wilkes1.wilkes.edu/~gisriver/ or www.pagis.org.  The relevant link is “Web-Based Rivernet GIS (DEMO)” which shows watershed locations of diversion chambers from combined sewer overflows (CSOs), acid mining outfalls, and mining waste piles (culm banks). 

Thank you for your support.  Enjoy your Earth Day activities and hope you can join us.

 Dale

Overview of selected RiverNet Data for the Wilkes-Barre sampling site

We have data on ammonia, nitrate, chloride, turbidity, phosphate, and fecal coliforms (NOTE: phosphate and fecal coliforms are NOT from the monitors but grab samples analyzed later at the lab with different techniques):

Late-fall (Nov-Dec) 2001 (averages, where ppm = parts per million):

ammonia = .18 ppm; nitrate = 5.4 ppm; chloride = 56 ppm, turbidity = 14 turbidity units; phosphate = 56 parts per billion; fecal coliforms = 533 colonies per 100 milli-Liters

Mid-fall (October) 2002 (averages, where ppm = parts per million):

ammonia = .05 ppm; nitrate = 3.2 ppm; chloride = 51 ppm, turbidity = 9 turbidity units; phosphate = 38 parts per billion; fecal coliforms = 28 colonies per 100 milli-Liters

pH for 2001 vs. 2002 was comparable around 7.6 and 7.9 --- both are in the neutral range --- indicating the river is able to buffer AMD; oxygen levels were OK for fish tolerance in both years (i.e., greater than 7 ppm)

In fall 2001, nutrients were higher (ammonia, nitrate, and phosphate) and fecal coliforms were much higher, indicating conditions of pollutant loading and runoff); in late fall 2002 --- all of these values were lower. It is too early to conclude that the river is improving, since year to year variation may be high and has not yet been adequately characterized. Reference values for "clean" water are: nitrates less than 0.1 ppm; phosphate less 100 ppb; fecal coliforms less than 20 colonies per 100 milli-Liters; therefore, nitrates and coliforms indicate pollution conditions even when these values are comparably lower in late fall of 2002.

Late Winter (Feb-March) 2002 vs. Late Winter (Feb-March) 2003:

Oxygen levels were almost identical at 14.5 ppm (more than sufficient for fish survival)

pH levels almost identical around 7.6 (again in the neutral range and OK for fish survival)

Nitrate levels were higher in spring 2003 (although there was evidence of instrument "drift" since re-calibration was prevented by winter ice flows); values on both dates exceeded 6 ppm, indicating "pollution" conditions.

And finally, chloride levels were higher in winter 2003 (117 ppm vs. 53 ppm) while turbidity and temperature was lower in winter 2003 (6.4 turbidity units vs. 12.4 turbidity units; 0.1 degrees Celsius vs. 3.9 degrees Celsius); these results reflect the more severe weather conditions in winter 2003 (Feb-March) in light of colder temperatures (same sampling dates), higher chloride most likely from road salt, and lower turbidity (i.e, more clear water due to snowmelt runoff; and not rainfall on bare streets or fields).

©2001 PAGIS