Geology topics

David K. Fishel

Publications and source records attributed to David K. Fishel.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS1995

Hydrology and the effects of selected agricultural best-management practices in the Bald Eagle Creek watershed, York County, Pennsylvania, prior to and during nutrient management: Water-quality study for the Chesapeake Bay Program

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, conducted a study as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake Bay Program to determine the effects of nutrient management of surface-water quality by reducing animal units in a 0.43-square-mile agricultural watershed in York County. The study was conducted primarily from October 1985 through September 1990 prior to and during the implementation of nutrient-management practices designed to reduce nutrient and sediment discharges. Intermittent sampling continued until August 1991. The Bald Eagle Creek Basin is underlain by schist and quartzite. About 87 percent of the watershed is cropland and pasture. Nearly 33 percent of the cropland was planted in corn prior to nutrient management, whereas 22 percent of the cropland was planted in corn during the nutrient-management phase. The animal population was reduced by 49 percent during nutrient management. Average annual applications of nitrogen and phosphorus from manure to cropland were reduced by 3,940 pounds (39 percent) and 910 pounds (46 percent), respectively, during nutrient management. A total of 94,560 pounds of nitrogen (538 pounds per acre) and 26,400 pounds of phosphorus (150 pounds per acre) were applied to the cropland as commercial fertilizer and manure during the 5-year study. Core samples from the top 4 feet of soil were collected prior to and during nutrient management and analyzed from concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus. The average amount of nitrate nitrogen in the soil ranged from 36 to 135 pounds per acre, and soluble phosphorus ranged from 0.39 to 2.5 pounds per acre, prior to nutrient management. During nutrient management, nitrate nitrogen in the soil ranged from 21 to 291 pounds per acre and soluble phosphorus ranged from 0.73 to 1.7 pounds per acre. Precipitation was about 18 percent below normal and streamflow was about 35 percent below normal prior to nutrient management, whereas precipitation was 4 percent above normal and streamflow was 3 percent below normal during the first 2 years of nutrient management. Eighty-four percent of the 20.44 inches of streamflow was base flow prior to nutrient management and 54 percent of the 31.14 inches of streamflow was base flow during the first 2 years of the nutrient-management phase. About 31 percent of the measured precipitation during the first 4 years of the study was discharged as surface water; the remaining 69 percent was removed as evapotranspiration or remained in ground-water storage. Median concentrations of total nitrogen and dissolved nitrate plus nitrite in base flow increased from 4.9 and 4.1 milligrams per liter as nitrogen, respectively, prior to nutrient management to 5.8 and 5.0 milligrams per liter, respectively, during nutrient management. Median concentrations of ammonia nitrogen and organic nitrogen did not change significantly in base flow. Median concentrations of total and dissolved phosphorus in base flow did not change significantly and were 0.05 and 0.03 milligrams per liter as phosphorus, respectively, prior to the management phase, and 0.05 and 0.04 milligrams per liter, respectively, during the management phase.

Pennsylvania↗

USGS1986

Results of a preimpoundment water-quality study of Swatara Creek, Pennsylvania

The water quality of Swatara Creek prior to impoundment by the proposed Swatara Creek Reservoir in south-central Pennsylvania was studied from July 1981 through October 1982. The report, done in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (PaDER), Bureau of State Parks, presents information on existing water-quality conditions. A discussion of possible water-quality conditions in and downstream from the planned impoundment is also included. Precipitation measured near the study area at Lebanon, Pennsylvania from October 1981 through September 1982 was 8 percent below normal. Streamflow for the same period at Swatara Creek at Harper Tavern just downstream from the study area was 15 percent below the average annual flow. Swatara Creek above Highway 895 has been degraded by acid mine drainage. The main inflow to the planned impoundment has 2.1 times the discharge of Lower Little Swatara Creek--a forested and agricultural basin that is also tributary to the proposed impoundment. During the 1982 water year, 17,400 tons of suspended sediment were transported from the study area. About 46 percent of the annual load was transported during 3 days of high flow. Inflows to the planned impoundment from both Lower Little Swatara Creek and Swatara Creek above Highway 895 were poorly buffered. Measured concentrations of alkalinity and acidity were usually less than 10 mg/L (milligrams per liter) and 5 mg/L as CaCO3, respectively. The inflows contain high concentrations of nutrients and metals that would probably stratify in a reservoir. Maximum concentrations of dissolved nitrate and total phosphorus were 2.6 mg/L and 0.31 mg/L, respectively. At Lower Little Swatara Creek; these concentrations are well above those needed for growth of algae. Maximum observed concentrations for total recoverable iron, aluminum, and manganese at Swatara Creek above Highway 895 at Pine Grove were 100,000 ug/L (micrograms per liter), 66,000 ug/L, and 2,300 ug/L, respectively. Large increases in metal concentrations along with simultaneous decreases in pH and increases in acidity confirm that mine drainage continues to degrade the water quality of Swatara Creek and may have a large impact on water quality of the planned impoundment. Iron, lead, copper, and zinc concentrations periodically exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) criteria for freshwater aquatic life. Concentrations of manganese and lead also exceeded the U.S. EPA criteria for domestic water supplies and human health, respectively. The water quality of the Swatara Creek Reservoir will depend on characteristics such as (1) the detention time of water in the lake, (2) the timing and extent of thermal and chemical stratification, (3) sedimentation, and (4) the chemical loading and concentrations in the lake. Each of these characteristics may depend in part, on streamflow. The impoundment will act as a sediment trap and thus reduce the concentrations of total phosphorus, iron, aluminum, lead, copper, and zinc immediately downstream from the impoundment. Large storm discharges and releases from the hypolimnion of the reservoir to attain the winter-pool level may contain low oxygen concentrations and elevated concentrations of iron, aluminum, lead, copper, and zinc. Unless conservation releases from the multi-level release gates are carefully controlled, low dissolved-oxygen levels and high metal concentrations may degrade the downstream water quality and be detrimental to the aquatic community.

Pennsylvania↗

USGS1986

Occurrence of nitrate and herbicides in ground water in the upper Conestoga River basin, Pennsylvania : water-quality study of the Conestoga River headwaters, Pennsylvania

Nitrate-nitrogen and herbicide ground-water data is being collected by the u.s. Geological Survey as part of the nationwide Rural Clean Water Program designed to determine the effects of agricultural-management practices on water quality. Data collected from September 1982 to October 1983 · in the 188-square mile intensively farmed upper Conestoga River basin indicates high nitrate and detectable herbicide concentrations in ground water are closely associated with agricultural practices and carbonate geology. Maximum nitrate-nitrogen concentrations from 42 wells and one spring ranged from 37 to 40 milligrams per liter in the agricultural areas, and 12 to 19 milligrams per liter in the nonagricultural areas. Median concentrations of nitrate generally were three times higher in wells that penetrated carbonate rock than in wells that penetrated noncarbonate rocks. More than 40 percent of the wells in the carbonate and agricultural areas had dissolved-nitrate concentrations that exceeded 10 milligrams per liter as nitrogen, the criterion established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as excessive for drinking water. Atrazine, simazine, alachlor, and metolachlor were found almost exclusively in the agricultural and carbonate areas. Water-quality data collected before and after installation of terraces, manure storage, and nutrient and herbicide management practices is valuable in determining the effectiveness of these agricultural practices, and will provide useful information to protect agricultural land, local water supplies, the Conestoga and Susquehanna Rivers and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay.

Pennsylvania↗

USGS1980

Effects of storm runoff on water quality in the Mill Creek drainage basin, Willingboro, New Jersey

The effect of storm runoff on the quality of water in the the Mill Creek drainage basin in west-central New Jersey is described in this report. The study area (23.7 square kilometers) consists of agricultural and undeveloped land and the residential community of Willingboro. From October 1975 to September 1976, stream discharge and 86 water-quality constituents were measured during five base flows and five storms at nine sites within the basin. Only 38 of the measured consitituents were detected in significant amounts. Insignificant amounts of pesticides, except 2,4-D and silvex, and the metals cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, mercury, selenium, and carbonate were measured even during heavy runoff. All other constituents showed an increase in concentration with increasing streamflow and the corresponding loads usually correlated with streamflow. Runoff from the nonresidential part of the study area in the upstream part of the drainage basin had a more significant impact on the stream quality than did the runoff from the residential area. The nonresidential area contributed more nutrients, common inorganics, sediment, and organic carbon than the residential area. The residential area contributed more calcium, nitrite, lead, iron, BOD, 2,4-D, and silvex. With the exception of suspended iron, fecal coliform bacteria, suspended lead, and suspended phosphorus, all recorded concentrations under all streamflow conditions met the recommended limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for domestic water supplies or streams not discharging directly into a lake or reservoir. Very short-term exceptions were recorded during peak storm runoff. Iron concentrations exceeded recommended limits of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Occasional releases of suspended iron from the water-treatment plant in the lower part of the drainage basin contributed to this high concentration. However, Mill Creek and its tributaries will still have naturally occurring high suspended iron concentrations even after the water-treatment plant eliminates its sludge-holding pond. Fecal coliform bacteria affected the quality of water in the Mill Creek basin more than any other constituent measured. It exceeded recommended limits by as much as two orders of magnitude and was found in equal amounts throughout the streams in the basin. The source of the bacteria could not be identified. Runoff from the Willingboro residential area produced mean suspended lead concentrations up to three times greater than the 50 micrograms per liter criteria set for domestic water supplies. Mean concentrations of suspended phosphorus throughout the basin were 2.5 times greater than the recommended limit of 0.1 milligrams per liter. Sediment concentrations and loads increased with increasing streamflow. However, the amounts are not considered unusual for a developed area. The only sediment deposition occurred at the downstream end of the study area, which is slightly affected by tide. A significant part of the deposited material was composed of sludge material from the water-treatment plant in the lower end of the study area.

New Jersey↗