ABSTRACT:

Lakes worldwide are impaired by external nutrient loading due to human activities, specifically agricultural runoff. Excess nutrients can change nutrient dynamics in lakes and contribute to declining water quality. This study utilizes two publicly available datasets, NHDPlus V2 and StreamCat, to investigate and compare the rates of inorganic nitrogen wet deposition, biological nitrogen fixation, and nitrogen fertilizer application within the surrounding watershed of three lakes. To accomplish this, a relational database was created to relate StreamCat values with NHDPlus V2 watershed hierarchy using a unique StreamID. The data from each dataset was loaded into the relational database after performing a geospatial analysis to identify StreamIDs within the watershed for each lake of interest. SQLite queries were then performed to obtain rates of chosen parameters from the relational database in order to compare the three watersheds. This study demonstrated that generalized methods can be developed to relate NHDPlusV2 and StreamCat, in order to simplify querying of water quality data from StreamCat for the watersheds of selected lakes.

ABSTRACT:

This resource provides the results of exploring the streamflow data of a local water gage to evaluate the severity of 2021 drought conditions on local water resources. More specifically, the site of interest is at Blacksmith Fork AB UP and L Co.’s Dam NR Hyrum, Utah. The site number is 10113500 located within Cache County Utah and Hydrologic Unit 16010203. The site has a drainage area of 263 square miles and a datum of gage that is 5,020.60 feet above NGVD29 (USGS, 2022). The following sections describe the data retrieval and exploration method, and the assessment of the severity of drought conditions in 2021 at the chosen site. The resulting notebook showed that the drought conditions in 2021 at the chosen site were particularly apparent and concerning, especially when compared to the site’s past data. This drought affected the water flow for the entire year of 2021, but the water flow was lowest during the late summer and fall months.