Environmental Monitoring Commons^™

Analysis Of The Water-Quality Standards Proposed By The Nevada Division Of Environmental Protection, City Of Las Vegas, Nevada

Publications (WR)

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (DEP) has proposed water-quality standards, applicable to Las Vegas Bay and Lake Mead, for (1) chlorophyll, (2) un-ionized ammonia, and (3) pH.

We have concluded that the proposed standards are unlikely to protect or improve water quality in Lake Mead. The proposed chlorophyll standard:

May harm the fishery. Lakes with more chlorophyll have greater fish production.

Will not improve clarity. Chlorophyll concentrations above 30 ug/1 have little effect on clarity.

Will not protect against scums or dominance by blue-green algae. Lake Mead shows no consistent relationship between chlorophyll and scums or blue-green dominance.

Will …

Calculated Current Velocity Data, U.S. Bureau Of Reclamation

Publications (WR)

Data collected at various stations around the Lake Mead vicinity. Air temperature, lake elevation, weather, and wind velocity is recorded, as well as the depth, magnitude, resolved angle, and bearing of the water currents.

Lake Mead Cover Enhancement Project, Jennifer Stevens Haley, Suzanne Leavitt, Larry Paulson, Donald H. Baepler

Publications (WR)

Ninety-three wildlife agencies were surveyed for information on their attempts to improve fish habitat. In addition, an annotated bibliography including over 100 summaries was completed on: 1. largemouth bass cover requirements and preferences, 2. use and effectiveness of artificial cover, 3. aquatic plant introduction and species requirements for germination and establishment, 4. terrestrial plant introduction and species requirements for germination and establishment, and 5. nutrient exchange between sediment, aquatic plants, and water. A reconnaissance of existing terrestrial and aquatic vegetation was completed in June 1986 including the production of a video tape of the Nevada shoreline of Lake Mead. Cover …

Physical Data, Anon.

Publications (WR)

Data collected at various stations around the Lake Mead vicinity. Air temperature, lake elevation, weather, and wind velocity is recorded, as well as the depth, temperature, oxygen, conductivity, and pH. Standard.

Las Vegas Wash And Lake Mead Proposed Water Quality Standards: Revisions And Rationale, State Of Nevada: Division Of Environmental Protection

Publications (WR)

Rationale of review and for proposed changes to the Nevada Pollution Control Regulations (NAC 445.1354, 445.1355, 445.1356, 455.1367, 445.1352, 445.1353, 445.1350, 445.1351) before the State Environmental Commission on June 23 and 24, 1987.

Comparison Of Littoral And Limnetic Zooplankton Communities Of Lake Mead, Patrick Joseph Sollberger

Publications (WR)

Microfaunal communities were studied in littoral (inshore) and limnetic (offshore) areas of the lower basin in Lake Mead to compare species composition and abundance between the two zones. Planktonic forms (zooplankton) dominated inshore and offshore habitats and the occurrence of littoral species was low. Therefore, high similarity in zooplankton species composition was found among all sampling stations. This was perhaps due to two main factors: (i) the physical and chemical environment among the stations were very similar and (ii) the lack of aquatic vegetation in the littoral zone reduced the occurrence of littoral species.

Although species composition did not vary …

Maine Acid Rain Study : Reports, Maine Department Of Environmental Protection

Maine Collection

Maine Acid Rain Study : Reports

Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Augusta, Maine (February, 1987).

Contents: Acid Rain Precursor Inventory and Evaluation / Modeled Sulfur Deposition in Maine / High Elevation Lake Monitoring in Maine

An Inventory And Condition Survey Of Rangelands In The Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia, A L. Payne, G F. Spencer, P J. Curry

Technical Bulletins

The inventory and condition survey of rangelands in the Carnarvon Basin, undertaken by the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) between 1980 and 1982, describes and maps the natural resources of the region’s pastoral leasehold land. This survey report provides a baseline record of the existence and condition of the natural area’s resources, to assist with the planning and implementation of land management practices. The report identified and described the condition of soils, landforms, vegetation, habitat, ecosystems, and declared plants and animals. It also assessed the impact of pastoralism and made land management recommendations. The area surveyed covers …

Fisheries Report No 74 - Marine Resources Map Of Western Australia- Part 2 - The Influence Of Oil On Marine Resources And Associated Activities With An Emphasis On Those Found In Western Australia, H. E. Jones

Fisheries Research Reports

Part 1 of the text accompanying the marine resources maps dealt with the resources and the morphological, hydrological and meteorological characteristics of the Western Australian coastal environment. This subsidiary part is concerned with the effects of oil on marine resources and associated commercial and recreational activities.

Accounts of oil on the seas due to natural seepages appeared in Europe in the sixteenth century on the return of Spanish and Portuguese ships from voyages to the Americas. One of the earliest reports of oil pollution from a man-made source was in 1754 when leakages from wooden petroleum barges were prevalent in …

A Proposal To Fertilize The Overton Arm And Gregg Basin Areas Of Lake Mead, Larry J. Paulson

Publications (WR)

Several limnological studies have been conducted in Lake Mead during the past decade. The recent studies clearly show that most of Lake Mead is deficient in nutrients, especially phosphorus, and very low in productivity. The reservoir-wide average total phosphorus concentration for 1981 - 1982 was only 9 mg/m³. This is below levels found In most oligotrophic lakes and reservoirs. Algal biomass, as measured by chlorophyll-a, averaged only 1.5 mg/m³. That also places Lake Mead in the oligotrophic range. Transparency, as measured by a Secchi disc, averaged 9-5 m in Lake Mead during 1981-1982. That far exceeds …

Seasonal And Spatial Heterogeneity In The Limnetic Zooplankton Community Of Lake Mead, Gene Robert Wilde

Publications (WR)

Zooplankton samples collected from throughout Lake Mead, in 1981-1982, demonstrate the presence of a statistically significant seasonal and spatial heterogeneity in zooplankton densities. Seasonally, the major zooplankton groups were most abundant in the spring and fall, coincident with maxima in chlorophyll-a concentrations. Successions among the various rotifers, cladocerans and copepods present in the reservoir were influenced by food availability, diapause, predation by planktivorous fish and, possibly, water temperatures. Spatial heterogeneity in zooplankton densities was unrelated to water temperature, pH, conductivity and dissolved oxygen concentrations, but was related to the abundance of phytoplankton (chlorophyll-a concentrations) and fish. Statistical analyses indicate that …

The Role Of Nannoplankton In The Phytoplankton Dynamics Of Four Colorado River Reservoirs (Lakes Powell, Mead, Mohave, And Havasu), Jeffrey John Janik

Publications (WR)

Phytoplankton species composition and community size structure were studied in four warm-monomictic Colorado River reservoirs; lakes Powell, Mead, Mohave, and Havasu from March 1981 to February 1982. Sampling was done at approximately monthly intervals from several stations in each reservoir. The Utermohl technique was used to enumerate phytoplankton. The phytoplankton assemblage was divided into the following six size classes using microscopic techniques; netplankton (>64 um), and nannoplankton (>5, 5-11, 12-21, 22-44, and 45-64 um).

Total phytoplankton biomass and community size structure were different among these four reservoirs with considerable spatial and temporal variation present. Average reservoir-wide areal weighted …

Las Vegas Wash Multispectral Scanner Survey, T. H. Mace, M. V. Olsen, Environmental Protection Agency

Publications (WR)

At the request of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Boulder City, Nevada, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory at Las Vegas collected multispectral scanner imagery of Las Vegas Wash on October 1, 1982. A combined maximum likelihood classification and editing procedure was used to classify the multispectral scanner imagery into 12 categories of land cover. The classification identified four categories of marsh vegetation, one category of riparian, two categories of mixed scrub, and two desert categories. Turbid water and cultivated land formed an "other" category. Area tabulations were formed by georeferencing the classification to the Universal Transverse …

Las Vegas Wash Advanced Water Quality Study: Final Report, Richard A. Roline, James J. Sartoris, U.S. Bureau Of Reclamation

Publications (WR)

The purpose of the Las Vegas Wash Advanced Water Quality Study is to determine the existence, extent, and mechanisms of nutrient and toxin stripping in Las Vegas Wash under present conditions and under future conditions, both with and without construction of the proposed salinity control unit as described by the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR, 1982b). This study was performed for the Lower Colorado Region Division of Planning by personnel of the Environmental Sciences Section of the Division of Research and Laboratory Services, E&R Center, Denver, Colorado. Work on the study began in February 1983. The general approach adopted for this …

Government Response To Drought In The United States: With Particular Reference To The Great Plains, Donald A. Wilhite

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Drought relief has become an expected response of the federal government to periods of widespread drought in the United States. A wide range of emergency, short-term and long-term drought programs were formulated to deal with the extreme drought of the 1930's. By 1977 there were 40 separate programs administered by 16 different federal agencies. This paper traces the development of federal drought relief bureaucracy, including drought designation criteria and procedures.

Two obvious deficiencies of past drought relief efforts in the United States are noted. First, drought relief organizations and programs have been hastily assembled during periods of crisis. This has …

Water Quality Trends In The Las Vegas Wash Wetlands, F. A. Morris, L. J. Paulson

Publications (WR)

The Las Vegas Wash is a wetlands ecosystem that acts to buffer the effects of wastewater discharges on the receiving waters of Lake Mead. The wash is the terminus for the 4,144 km2 Las Vegas Valley drainage basin, emptying into Las Vegas Bay of Lake Mead (Colorado River). It is in the northern Mojave desert, which receives an average of only 10 cm of rainfall annually. The Las Vegas Wash is technically an artificial wetland supported almost entirely by the perennial flows from sewage treatment plants. These flows contribute an average of 3-7 t of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and …

The Effects Of Limited Food Availability On The Striped Bass Fishery In Lake Mead, John R. Baker, Larry J. Paulson

Publications (WR)

The original range of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) was along the Atlantic Coast. They were introduced into the lower Sacramento River in 1879 and are now also found along the Pacific Coast. A landlocked striped bass fishery was established in Santee-Cooper Reservoir, South Carolina, in 1954, and they have since been introduced into numerous other reservoirs, including Lake Havasu, Lake Mead and Lake Powell on the Colorado River. Striped bass were introduced into Lake Mead in 1969 in response to declines in the largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) fishery that occurred during the 1960s and in order to further utilize the …

The Effects Of Impoundments On Salinity In The Colorado River, Larry J. Paulson, John R. Baker

Publications (WR)

The increase in salinity of our western rivers has been identified as one of the most serious water quality problems in the nation. This is of special concern in the Colorado River where salinity has increased from pristine levels estimated at 380 mg/1 to present-day levels of 825 mg/1 at Imperial Dam. Flow depletions, associated with decreased runoff and increased evaporation and diversions, coupled with high salt loading from natural and man-created sources are considered the primary causes for rising salinity in the river. The urban and agricultural development projected to occur in the basin through this century could deplete …

Use Of Hydroelectric Dams To Control Evaporation And Salinity In The Colorado River System, Larry J. Paulson

Publications (WR)

The main stem reservoirs on the Colorado River comprise one of the largest and most heavily used freshwater bodies in the nation. These reservoirs (Lake Powell, Lake Mead, Lake Mohave and Lake Havasu) can store up to 53,590,400 acre-feet of water at their maximum capacities. Nonetheless, local water shortages still exist in some areas of the Colorado River Basin. There is also concern that salt concentrations are approaching levels that could severely affect municipal and agricultural uses. Water shortages will become even more acute as demands for water increase with continued urban and agricultural development in the basin. Water conservation …

Historical Patterns Of Phytoplankton Productivity In Lake Mead, Richard T. Prentki, Larry J. Paulson

Publications (WR)

Lake Mead was impounded in 1935 by the construction of Hoover Dam. The Colorado River was unregulated prior to then and therefore was subjected to extreme variations in flows and suspended sediment loads. Hoover Dam stabilized flows and reduced suspended sediment loads downstream, but Lake Mead still received silt-laden inflows from the upper Colorado River Basin. The Colorado River contributed 97% of the suspended sediment inputs to Lake Mead, and up to 140 x 1O⁶ metric tons (t) entered the reservoir in years of high runoff. Most of the sediments were deposited in the river channel and formed an …

The Influence Of Lake Powell On The Suspended Sediment-Phosphorus Dynamics Of The Colorado River Inflow To Lake Mead, T. D. Evans, Larry J. Paulson

Publications (WR)

The Colorado River has been successively modified by the construction of several reservoirs, beginning in 1935 with the formation of Lake Mead by Hoover Dam. These reservoirs are located in a chain, and each one has an influence on the nutrient dynamics and productivity of the river and downstream reservoir. Lake Mead derives 98% of its annual inflow from the Colorado River. Historically, the Colorado River inflow was unregulated into Lake Mead. Regulation occurred in 1963, when Lake Powell was impounded by the construction of Glen Canyon Dam, approximately 450 km upstream. The formation of Lake Powell drastically altered the …

Effects Of Wastewater Discharges On Periphyton Growth In Lake Mead, Nevada-Arizona, Marsha Korb Morris

Publications (WR)

A study of the effects of secondary-treated wastewater on periphyton growth in Lake Mead, Nevada-Arizona was conducted from September 1979 to December 1980. Periphyton ash-free dry weight, chlorophyll-a, dominant species composition, and alkaline phosphatase activity were measured on fiberglass substrates. Substrates were incubated for two to four weeks in littoral and limnetic habitats. Physical and chemical variables and phytoplankton chlorophyll-a were measured concurrently.

Transparency increased with increasing distance from the discharge. Secchi depth ranged from 0.75 m at the discharge confluence (station 2) in August, to greater than 20 m at the most distant stations (stations 9 and 10) in …

An Ecological Analysis Of Relic Diatoms In Sediments Of Las Vegas Bay, Lake Mead, David Ross Hetzel

Publications (WR)

Relic diatoms in sediments of the inner Las Vegas Bay, near the Las Vegas Wash sewage inflow, were examined in order to assess historic trophic conditions in this area of Lake Mead. Diatom sedimentation rates and ratios of Araphidineae/Centrales (A/C) diatom groups were determined from sediment cores collected in the old wash channel 1.5 km from the sewage inflow (station 2), in a small cove 1.5 km further downstream (station 3) and in an adjacent embayment off Gypsum Wash (station 4). Diatom sedimentation rates generally increased from the bottom to the top of each core, but pronounced minima existed at …

Development, Verification And Use Of Methods To Model Chemical And Thermal Processes For Lakes Mead And Powell, John Eric Edinger, Edward M. Buchak, Joseph S. Norton, Bureau Of Reclamation

Publications (WR)

Analysis and development of carbonate-bicarbonate chemical subroutine.

Report No 49 - Geographically Restricted Plants Of Southern Western Australia, Barbara L. Rye

Fisheries Research Reports

This publication lists 527 angiosperm species native to southern western Australia whose known geographical ranges are less than 100 kilometres long. A further 128 angiosperms are listed with geographical ranges between 100 and 160 kilometres. No fern or gymnosperm species in the region are known to be geographically restricted.

Apart from the presently unnamed species, a large majority of the rare plants of southern Western Australia are believed to be listed, including 86 of the species that have been gazetted as rare flora.

Less than 40% of the listed species are known to occur on conservation reserves and less than …

The Voluntary Water Quality Monitoring Program : 1982 Project Report, Barbara Welch, Judy Potvin, Mary Ellen Dennis

Maine Collection

The Voluntary Water Quality Monitoring Program : 1982 Project Report

by Barbara Welch, Judy Potvin & Mary Ellen Dennis

Division of Environmental Evaluation and Lake Studies, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Augusta, Maine 1982.

Contents: Understanding Maine's Lakes and Ponds / Acknowledgement / Temperature / Dissolved Oxygen / Other Measures of Lake Water Quality / Nutrients / Algae and Chlorophyll a / Transparency / Morphometry / Sampling / Protection / Classification / Answers to Most Frequently Asked Questions / Glossary of Terms / Appendix A : Maximum, Minimum, and Mean Values / Appendix B : Phosphate Content of Common Cleansers …

Diagenesis Of Organic Matter In Las Vegas Bay And Bonelli Bay, Lake Mead, James W. Murray, Carolyn J. Jones, Kathy Kuivila, Jeff Sawlan

Publications (WR)

The interstitial water chemistry of the sediments of Las Vegas Bay and Bonelli Bay in Lake Mead has been studied as part of a comprehensive water quality study of those locations. Pore water and solid phase analyses were completed from four stations in Las Vegas Bay and two stations in Bonelli Bay. At both locations the pore water compositions and organic matter diagenesis in the sediments are dominated by sulfate reduction. This major role of sulfate reduction is unusual for lake sediments and reflects the fact that SO₄ is the major anion in the lake water. In addition, gypsum …

Chemical And Biological Structure Of Lake Mead Sediments, Richard T. Prentki, Larry J. Paulson, John R. Baker

Publications (WR)

Lake Mead has undergone a serious decline since Glen Canyon Dam was constructed 450 km upstream in 1963.

State fisheries management agencies are concerned that the decline was caused by water level fluctuations and more severe drawdowns during the bass spawning season, when the operation of Hoover Dam was altered during the post-Lake Powell period.

The construction of Glen Canyon Dam and formation of Lake Powell in 1963 drastically altered the natural discharge and temperature cycles and decreased suspended sediment and nutrient loading in the Colorado River inflow to Lake Mead. Recent studies indicate that these changes in nutrient loading …

Maine's Whitewater Rapids And Their Relevance To The Critical Areas Program, Janet Mcmahon

Maine Collection

Maine's Whitewater Rapids and Their Relevance to the Critical Areas Program

by Janet McMahon

Planning Report No. 74, Critical Areas Program, 184 State St., Augusta, Maine,

April, 1981 (additions made in October, 1981). Reprinted July, 1983.

Contents: Introduction / Natural History of Whitewater Rapids / Methods / Criteria / Results / Conclusions / General Evaluation of Whitewater Rapids for Inclusion on the Register of Critical Areas / Bibliography / Action Plan

Report No 41 - A Survey Method For Identifying Roadside Flora Suitable For Conservation In Western Australia, John K. Scott

Fisheries Research Reports

A survey method for identifying flora suitable for conservation alongside roads in south-western Australia was derived from an examination of characteristics of road verges. Two roads, from Midland to Toodyay and from Armadale to Bunbury, were examined. Width of verge, weed cover, soil disturbance, vegetation structure, presence of public utilities, evidence of fire and the type of adjoining land were measured at one mile (1.6 km) intervals on both sides of the road. Also recorded were aesthetic qualities such as stands of beautiful trees and sites of special interest, e.g. the presence of rare plants.

Three variables, percentage weed cover, …