Trends in Streamflow, Nutrients, and Total Suspended Solids in the Upper White River Basin, Indiana

Fact Sheet 2020-3030
Prepared in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy with generous support from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust
By:  and 

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Abstract

The U.S. Geological Survey, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, analyzed existing water-quality and streamflow data from three locations in the Upper White River Basin, Indiana, to estimate annual mean concentrations and fluxes and to identify and quantify changes in water quality and streamflow over time. Water-quality data used in the analyses were collected between water years 1992 and 2017. Annual mean-daily concentrations and fluxes of total suspended solids, total phosphorus as phosphorus, nitrate plus nitrite as nitrogen, and total Kjeldahl nitrogen as nitrogen were estimated for U.S. Geological Survey streamgage locations in Indiana on the Upper White River at Muncie, near Nora, and near Centerton. In addition, flow-normalized annual mean-daily concentrations and fluxes of total suspended solids, total phosphorus, nitrate plus nitrite, and total Kjeldahl nitrogen were estimated and used to assess changes in these constituents between water years 1997 and 2017. Flow normalization is a process that attempts to remove the effects of year-to-year variation in streamflow on concentrations and fluxes without removing the effects associated with seasonal and long-term (multiyear) trends in streamflow.

Suggested Citation

Koltun, G.F., and Hauswald, C., 2020, Trends in streamflow, nutrients, and total suspended solids in the Upper White River Basin, Indiana: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2020–3030, 6 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20203030.

ISSN: 2327-6932 (online)

Study Area

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Estimated Mean Concentrations and Flux of Sediment and Nutrients
  • Trends in Streamflow
  • Changes in Flow-Normalized Concentration and Flux between Water Years 1997 and 2017
  • References Cited
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Trends in streamflow, nutrients, and total suspended solids in the Upper White River Basin, Indiana
Series title Fact Sheet
Series number 2020-3030
DOI 10.3133/fs20203030
Year Published 2020
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center
Description 6 p.
Country United States
State Indiana
Other Geospatial Upper White River Basin
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
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