 |
Surface Water Hydrology
Contact:
Dr. Robin (Buz) Kloot
Associate Director
-
Phone:
803-978-7522
-
Fax:
803-978-7528
-
Email
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lake
Wateree
Since the summer of 2008, the Wateree
Homeowner’s Association (WHOA) and the Lake
Wateree Association (LWA), commonly known as
WaterWatch, has been collaborating with
University of South Carolina (USC) faculty
and graduate students from across campus
(including the School of Public Health, the
Department of Biological Sciences and the
Earth Sciences and Resources Institute in
the School of the Environment) in monitoring
lake water quality and assessing the health
of Lake Wateree.
Between July and December 2008, the group of
WaterWatch volunteers and USC personnel
conducted six sample runs on twenty separate
sites on Lake Wateree to measure water
quality parameters that included dissolves
oxygen, turbidity (cloudiness) and pH
(acidity) of the lake’s waters. This effort
required teamwork where WaterWatch
volunteers served as pilots and supplied
boats to reach all monitoring sites while
USC provide technical and scientific
support.
The data collected were compared to historic
data from previous WHOA efforts between 1999
and 2003. The results of the sampling
exercise showed that on average, water
quality in the lake’s headwaters (i.e., the
arms of the lakes where streams enter)
appear to be improving while on average, no
significant changes were evident in the rest
(the embayments and main channel) of the
lake. Historic South Carolina Department of
Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC)
data between 2002 and 2007 indicated a
reduction of phosphorus (too much phosphorus
can cause algal blooms and a subsequent drop
in dissolved oxygen, known as
eutrophication) entering the lake, but as
yet, no corresponding increase in dissolved
oxygen or decrease in summer algae
(chlorophyll-a) concentrations are
evident. While there is some encouraging
evidence that the lake’s water quality has
improved, SCDHEC still considers Lake
Wateree eutrophic – all the more reason for
WaterWatch and USC to maintain an active
monitoring effort on the lake.
While regular monthly lake monitoring
continues in 2009, USC Graduate student,
Sara Powell, intends to tackle a number of
new questions that resulted from the
previous research in her 2009 Master’s
thesis entitled “Lake Wateree - getting out
of the lake and into the watershed”. In
addition to Sara’s work, the collaborative
effort has uncovered a number of new avenues
of inquiry which WaterWatch hope to turn
into fruitful projects for volunteers and
students in the future. |
|
