Estimating the susceptibility of surface water in Texas to nonpoint-source contamination by use of logistic regression modeling

Water-Resources Investigations Report 2003-4205
By: , and 

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Abstract

In the State of Texas, surface water (streams, canals, and reservoirs) and ground water are used as sources of public water supply. Surface-water sources of public water supply are susceptible to contamination from point and nonpoint sources. To help protect sources of drinking water and to aid water managers in designing protective yet cost-effective and risk-mitigated monitoring strategies, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Geological Survey developed procedures to assess the susceptibility of public water-supply source waters in Texas to the occurrence of 227 contaminants. One component of the assessments is the determination of susceptibility of surface-water sources to nonpoint-source contamination. To accomplish this, water-quality data at 323 monitoring sites were matched with geographic information system-derived watershed- characteristic data for the watersheds upstream from the sites. Logistic regression models then were developed to estimate the probability that a particular contaminant will exceed a threshold concentration specified by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Logistic regression models were developed for 63 of the 227 contaminants. Of the remaining contaminants, 106 were not modeled because monitoring data were available at less than 10 percent of the monitoring sites; 29 were not modeled because there were less than 15 percent detections of the contaminant in the monitoring data; 27 were not modeled because of the lack of any monitoring data; and 2 were not modeled because threshold values were not specified.

Study Area

Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Estimating the susceptibility of surface water in Texas to nonpoint-source contamination by use of logistic regression modeling
Series title Water-Resources Investigations Report
Series number 2003-4205
DOI 10.3133/wri034205
Year Published 2003
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Minnesota Water Science Center, Texas Water Science Center, Toxic Substances Hydrology Program
Description iv, 24 p.
Country United States
State Texas
Online Only (Y/N) N
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
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