Assessment of Interstate Streams in the Susquehanna River Basin. Monitoring Report No. 15, July 1, 2000, to June 20, 2001

摘要

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) used a water quality index (WQI) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys (USEPAs) Rapid Bioassessment Protocol III (RBP III) to assess the chemical water quality, biological conditions, and physical habitat of 51 sample sites in the Interstate Streams Water Quality Network from July 1, 1999, to June 30, 2000. Only 39 out of 2,662 parameter observations exceeded water quality standards. Assessment results indicate that approximately 26 percent of the sites supported nonimpaired biological communities. Water quality impacts in the New York-Pennsylvania border streams were mostly from metals, while Pennsylvania- Maryland border sites suffered from high nutrient levels. A Seasonal Kendall Test was performed to determine trends and their magnitudes for 1986- 2000. Overall, an increasing trend was found in total chloride, while decreasing trends were found for total ammonia, total phosphorus, total sulfate, total iron, total manganese, and WQI. A Pearson Product Moment Correla tion was performed on WQI, RBP III score, and physical habitat score. A significant (p