Sediment-Water Column Dissolved Oxygen Interactions in an Urbanized Stream

摘要

Water sustainability is currently at the front end of water research. The preservation and maintenance ofour surface waters contributes directly to the goal of water sustainability. Roughly 40% of America’swadeable streams are in poor condition due to a variety of reasons including; loss of riparian habitat,channelization, excessive sedimentation/incision, nutrient induced eutrophication, organic pollution,hydraulic manipulations, anthropogenic toxins, non-native specie invasion and degradation of the upstreamwatershed (EPA, 2007). Utah’s Jordan River is currently being subjected to a Total Maximum Daily Load(TMDL) study as a result of the river’s inability to provide the required water quality needed to support itsdesignated beneficial use classifications. The relatively short 57-mile river has been divided into eighthydraulic Reaches for analysis and various Reaches of the Jordan River are unable to provide forwarm/cold water aquatic life, irrigation, and secondary contact purposes. One of the parameters of concernin the lower Reaches of the Jordan River near the Great Salt Lake is ambient dissolved oxygen (DO)concentrations. Ambient dissolved oxygen concentrations directly affect the aquatic environment that theaquatic community is capable of surviving in. In addition, low DO events and anoxic conditions alteraquatic biogeochemistry and nutrient/toxicant transformations in Jordan River. As DO deficits increase, sodo the stresses imposed on the aquatic community. As part of this study, nutrient fluxes, primaryproduction, and hyporheic exchanges were investigated to begin characterizing the interactions driving theelevated “black box” SOD measurements observed in both the Upper and Lower Jordan River.