Central Columbia Plateau - Yakima River Basin
Central Columbia Plateau - Yakima River Basin
What’s in the water? And is water quality getting better or worse?
The issue: Agriculture and irrigation are major forces in Central Washington. Intensive land and water management practices may lead to water quality issues. In the Central Columbia Plateau and Yakima River Basin (CCYK), water quality issues include high nutrient loading resulting in eutrophication, elevated concentrations of water-soluble pesticides, and elevated concentrations of organochlorine compounds such as DDT in both bed sediment and fish.
How the USGS will help: This project studies the mechanisms and impacts of management practices on groundwater, surface water, and stream ecosystems in CCYK. Data collection and analysis will help scientists and managers truly understand how natural and anthropogenic chemicals move through the hydrologic system. This information should dramatically help local, regional, state, and federal land managers produce fair and sound decisions regarding water and land management within the CCYK study area.
National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA), Central Columbia Plateau-Yakima River Basin
Problem – In 1991, Congress established the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project to address where, when, why, and how the Nation's water quality has changed, or is likely to change in the future, in response to human activities and natural factors.
Central Washington contains some of the most productive agricultural land in the United States. The USGS learns about the effects of agricultural practices on water quality by studying the CCPK region.
Major issues to be addressed include:
- Understanding the effects of pesticides and other contaminants on aquatic biota.
- Predicting how reductions in inputs of pesticides and nutrients to surface waters affect their concentrations at downstream locations.
- Determining the pathways by which nutrients and pesticides are entering surface waters via the ground-water system.
- Understanding how the implementation of agricultural management practices affects water quality.
Objectives - The long-term goals of the Central Columbia Plateau-Yakima River Basin NAWQA study are to provide a nationally consistent description of current water-quality conditions in the Study Unit, define long-term trends (or lack of trends) in water quality, and identify, describe, and explain, insofar as possible, the major factors that affect observed water-quality conditions and trends.
Relevance and Benefits - An important part of the USGS mission is to provide scientific information to manage the water resources of the Nation. The USGS established the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program to:
- Describe the status and trends in the quality of a large, representative part of the Nation's surface-water and ground-water resources using nationally consistent methods and approaches.
- Provide an improved understanding of the primary natural and human factors affecting these conditions.
- Provide information that supports the development and evaluation of management, regulatory, and monitoring decisions by other federal, state and local agencies.
Three major program elements contribute to accomplishing the goals of the NAWQA Program:
- Investigations of major river basins and aquifer systems, referred to as study units.
- Regional and national syntheses of key findings from study-unit investigations and existing information related to important water-quality topics such as pesticides, nutrients, volatile organic compounds, trace elements, and ecology.
- Coordination at local, State, regional, and national levels with environmental and natural resource managers and other users of water-quality information.
The data and information provided by the NAWQA Project in this State are vital to the NAWQA Program nationwide.
Approach - To adequately address water-quality issues at the national scale, an integrated program of water-resources investigations that is consistent at all scales is required. In contrast with many previous water-quality studies, we will analyze loads as well as concentrations of chemical constituents to help assess the impact of the chemicals resulting from natural processes or man-made effects. We will consider seasonal variations both from the standpoint of climate and agricultural practices. In order to determine the mechanisms causing water-quality degradation, we will search for areas with nearly homogeneous land-use and hydrologic conditions where the incoming and outflowing water quality can be compared.
National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA)
Yakima Nitrates
Phosphorus SPARROW Model for the Yakima River
Yakima River Basin
Yakima River Water-Quality Studies
Yakima River Temperature Model
Yakima Watershed and River Systems Management Program
Below are publications associated with this project.
Estimation of total nitrogen and total phosphorus in streams of the Middle Columbia River Basin (Oregon, Washington, and Idaho) using SPARROW models, with emphasis on the Yakima River Basin, Washington
Response of algal metrics to nutrients and physical factors and identification of nutrient thresholds in agricultural streams
Nutrient and Suspended-Sediment Transport and Trends in the Columbia River and Puget Sound Basins, 1993-2003
Water Quality in the Yakima River Basin, Washington, 1999-2000
Occurrence and distribution of dissolved trace elements in the surface waters of the Yakima River basin, Washington
Concentrations and loads of suspended sediment and nutrients in surface water of the Yakima River basin, Washington, 1999-2000 [electronic resource] : with an analysis of trends in concentrations
Predicting the probability of detecting organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in stream systems on the basis of land use in the Pacific Northwest, USA
Summary of nitrate concentrations in ground water of Adams, Franklin, and Grant Counties, Washington, fall 1998 -- A baseline for future trend analysis
Concentrations of selected trace elements in fish tissue and streambed sediment in the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille and Spokane River basins, Washington, Idaho, and Montana, 1998
The relative merits of monitoring and domestic wells for ground water quality investigations
Pesticides and volatile organic compounds in surface and ground water of the Palouse subunit, central Columbia Plateau, Washington and Idaho, 1993-95
Shallow ground-water quality beneath row crops and orchards in the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project area, Washington
Relation between irrigation method, sediment yields, and losses of pesticides and nitrogen
Groundwater Quality: Decadal Change
Almost one-half of the U.S. population rely on groundwater for their water supply, and demand for groundwater for public supply, irrigation, and agriculture continues to increase. This mapper shows how concentrations of pesticides, nutrients, metals, and organic contaminants in groundwater are changing during decadal periods across the Nation.
The issue: Agriculture and irrigation are major forces in Central Washington. Intensive land and water management practices may lead to water quality issues. In the Central Columbia Plateau and Yakima River Basin (CCYK), water quality issues include high nutrient loading resulting in eutrophication, elevated concentrations of water-soluble pesticides, and elevated concentrations of organochlorine compounds such as DDT in both bed sediment and fish.
How the USGS will help: This project studies the mechanisms and impacts of management practices on groundwater, surface water, and stream ecosystems in CCYK. Data collection and analysis will help scientists and managers truly understand how natural and anthropogenic chemicals move through the hydrologic system. This information should dramatically help local, regional, state, and federal land managers produce fair and sound decisions regarding water and land management within the CCYK study area.
National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA), Central Columbia Plateau-Yakima River Basin
Problem – In 1991, Congress established the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project to address where, when, why, and how the Nation's water quality has changed, or is likely to change in the future, in response to human activities and natural factors.
Central Washington contains some of the most productive agricultural land in the United States. The USGS learns about the effects of agricultural practices on water quality by studying the CCPK region.
Major issues to be addressed include:
- Understanding the effects of pesticides and other contaminants on aquatic biota.
- Predicting how reductions in inputs of pesticides and nutrients to surface waters affect their concentrations at downstream locations.
- Determining the pathways by which nutrients and pesticides are entering surface waters via the ground-water system.
- Understanding how the implementation of agricultural management practices affects water quality.
Objectives - The long-term goals of the Central Columbia Plateau-Yakima River Basin NAWQA study are to provide a nationally consistent description of current water-quality conditions in the Study Unit, define long-term trends (or lack of trends) in water quality, and identify, describe, and explain, insofar as possible, the major factors that affect observed water-quality conditions and trends.
Relevance and Benefits - An important part of the USGS mission is to provide scientific information to manage the water resources of the Nation. The USGS established the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program to:
- Describe the status and trends in the quality of a large, representative part of the Nation's surface-water and ground-water resources using nationally consistent methods and approaches.
- Provide an improved understanding of the primary natural and human factors affecting these conditions.
- Provide information that supports the development and evaluation of management, regulatory, and monitoring decisions by other federal, state and local agencies.
Three major program elements contribute to accomplishing the goals of the NAWQA Program:
- Investigations of major river basins and aquifer systems, referred to as study units.
- Regional and national syntheses of key findings from study-unit investigations and existing information related to important water-quality topics such as pesticides, nutrients, volatile organic compounds, trace elements, and ecology.
- Coordination at local, State, regional, and national levels with environmental and natural resource managers and other users of water-quality information.
The data and information provided by the NAWQA Project in this State are vital to the NAWQA Program nationwide.
Approach - To adequately address water-quality issues at the national scale, an integrated program of water-resources investigations that is consistent at all scales is required. In contrast with many previous water-quality studies, we will analyze loads as well as concentrations of chemical constituents to help assess the impact of the chemicals resulting from natural processes or man-made effects. We will consider seasonal variations both from the standpoint of climate and agricultural practices. In order to determine the mechanisms causing water-quality degradation, we will search for areas with nearly homogeneous land-use and hydrologic conditions where the incoming and outflowing water quality can be compared.
National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA)
Yakima Nitrates
Phosphorus SPARROW Model for the Yakima River
Yakima River Basin
Yakima River Water-Quality Studies
Yakima River Temperature Model
Yakima Watershed and River Systems Management Program
Below are publications associated with this project.
Estimation of total nitrogen and total phosphorus in streams of the Middle Columbia River Basin (Oregon, Washington, and Idaho) using SPARROW models, with emphasis on the Yakima River Basin, Washington
Response of algal metrics to nutrients and physical factors and identification of nutrient thresholds in agricultural streams
Nutrient and Suspended-Sediment Transport and Trends in the Columbia River and Puget Sound Basins, 1993-2003
Water Quality in the Yakima River Basin, Washington, 1999-2000
Occurrence and distribution of dissolved trace elements in the surface waters of the Yakima River basin, Washington
Concentrations and loads of suspended sediment and nutrients in surface water of the Yakima River basin, Washington, 1999-2000 [electronic resource] : with an analysis of trends in concentrations
Predicting the probability of detecting organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in stream systems on the basis of land use in the Pacific Northwest, USA
Summary of nitrate concentrations in ground water of Adams, Franklin, and Grant Counties, Washington, fall 1998 -- A baseline for future trend analysis
Concentrations of selected trace elements in fish tissue and streambed sediment in the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille and Spokane River basins, Washington, Idaho, and Montana, 1998
The relative merits of monitoring and domestic wells for ground water quality investigations
Pesticides and volatile organic compounds in surface and ground water of the Palouse subunit, central Columbia Plateau, Washington and Idaho, 1993-95
Shallow ground-water quality beneath row crops and orchards in the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project area, Washington
Relation between irrigation method, sediment yields, and losses of pesticides and nitrogen
Groundwater Quality: Decadal Change
Almost one-half of the U.S. population rely on groundwater for their water supply, and demand for groundwater for public supply, irrigation, and agriculture continues to increase. This mapper shows how concentrations of pesticides, nutrients, metals, and organic contaminants in groundwater are changing during decadal periods across the Nation.