Postimpoundment survey of water-quality characteristics of Raystown Lake, Huntingdon and Bedford Counties, Pennsylvania
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Abstract
Water-quality data, collected from May 1974 to September 1976 at thirteen sites within Raystown Lake and in the inflow and outflow channels, define the water-quality characteristics of the lake water and the effects of impoundment on the quality of the lake outflow. Depth-profile measurements show Raystown Lake to be dimictic. Thermal stratification is well developed during the summer. Generally high concentrations of dissolved oxygen throughout the hypolimnion during thermal stratification, low phytoplankton concentrations, and small diel fluctuations of dissolved oxygen, pH, and specific conductance indicate that the lake is low in nutrients, or oligotrophic. Algal assays of surface samples indicate that orthophosphate was a growth-limiting nutrient. The diatoms (Chrysophyta) were the dominant phytoplankton group found through-out the study period. The lake waters contained very low populations of zooplankton. Fecal coliform and fecal streptococcus densities measured throughout the lake indicated no potentially dangerous areas of water-contact recreation. The most apparent effect that the impoundment had on water quality was the removal of nutrients, particularly orthophosphate, through phytoplankton uptake and sediment deposition.
Study Area
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | Postimpoundment survey of water-quality characteristics of Raystown Lake, Huntingdon and Bedford Counties, Pennsylvania |
| Series title | Water-Resources Investigations Report |
| Series number | 78-42 |
| DOI | 10.3133/wri7842 |
| Year Published | 1978 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey |
| Contributing office(s) | Pennsylvania Water Science Center |
| Description | v, 53 p. |
| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| Other Geospatial | Raystown Lake |
| Online Only (Y/N) | N |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |