Compilation of atrazine and selected herbicide data from previous surface-water-quality investigations within the Big Blue River basin, Nebraska, 1983-92

Atrazine has been detected in the surface water of the Big Blue River Basin during every month of the year. Recent data (1983-92) documenting the occurrence of atrazine and related herbicides in the surface water of the basin are compiled in this report. In samples analyzed during these studies, atrazine was the herbicide detected most frequently within the basin. Of the 385 samples analyzed, 369 contained atrazine in detectable concentrations with detection levels varying from 0 to 0.1 micrograms per liter. The concentrations of atrazine within the samples varied from 0.5 to 166 micrograms per liter, with a median concentration of 2.7 micrograms per liter. Other herbicides frequently detected in the Big Blue River Basin were alachlor, cyanazine, metolachlor, and simazine, and two metabolites of atrazine, desethylatrazine and deisopropylatrazine. In the 226 samples which alachlor was detected, the concentrations of the herbicide ranged from 0.05 to 56 micrograms per liter, and the median concen- tration was 1.1 micrograms per liter. Cyanazine was detected in 210 of 365 samples collected with con- centrations that ranged from 0.05 to 8.6 micrograms per liter with a median concentration of 0.4 microgram per liter. The maximum concentrations of metolachlor and simazine were 26 and 35 micrograms per liter, respectively. The median concentrations of these herbicides were 1.0 and 0.1 micrograms per liter, respectively. The maximum concentration of desethylatrazine, was 3.7 micrograms per liter, with a median concentration of 1.0 microgram per liter. Deisopropylatrazine, was detected in 152 samples with maximum and median concentrations of 2.6 and 0.6 micrograms per liter, respectively.