Center for Earth and Environmental Science
Indiana University ~ Purdue University, Indianapolis

About CEES

About Veolia Water Indianapolis, LLC

Water Quality and Nutrient Cycling in Three Central Indiana Watersheds and Their Reservoirs: Eagle Creek/Eagle Creek Reservoir, Fall Creek/Geist Reservoir and Cicero Creek/Morse Reservoir

The Water Quality and Nutrient Cycling Project follows the Eagle Creek Pilot Program and expands that research and extends research into the Eagle Creek watershed and two additional reservoirs and their watersheds. It will be implemented in December of 2002 and consists of five components. Components 1 and 2 will be implemented immediately with the goal of providing preliminary information for the Veolia nutrient input study. Component 3 provides baseline data that will be utilized in the nutrient study and to design long-term monitoring programs. Component 4 augments the GIS coverages for each of the three watersheds and is fundamental to the overall program design. These GIS coverages will form the basic framework for data integration and watershed management analysis and provides initial information for watershed planning. Component 5 will focus research on the details of sediment/water interactions as related to nutrient cycling. It is designed to determine the speciation of phosphorus in reservoir sediments to evaluate the availability of nutrients and the likelihood that nutrient cycling from within the reservoir sediments may act as a trigger for algal blooms.

Additional studies will focus on a) delineating reservoir history and infilling dynamics and b) establishing a long-term water quality monitoring program. Details of these, and other planned components will be presented in future proposals. These additional studies are necessary for an overall understanding of watershed and reservoir dynamics and their interaction and ultimately management of the watersheds and reservoirs.

Project Components:

1)      Surficial Sediment Characterization
To determine the distribution of sediments within the basins and their geochemical parameters, in particular the nutrient and metal contents, 50 surface sediment grab samples will be collected from both Geist and Morse Reservoirs.  Eagle Creek Reservoir surficial sediments have already been analyzed (Sample Map) as part of the Pilot Program. Samples will be analyzed for grain size and composition, organic matter content, and nutrient and metal content.  Results will be compiled into distribution maps for the measured parameters.

2)      Watershed Sediment Contribution/ Suspended Sediment Characterization
Suspended sediment will be collected from tributaries of Eagle Creek (Sample Map), Fall Creek (Sample Map) and Cicero Creek (Sample Map) Watersheds in an effort to delineate the watershed contribution of sediment and sediment-associated components. Sample collection will occur seasonally following a regional rainfall event and during a non-event period. This will allow for the characterization of both base flow and storm flow (runoff) loadings from the watershed. At this time, we anticipate that water and suspended sediment will be collected from 7 upper watershed locations within the Eagle Creek Watershed, 9 upper watershed locations within the Fall Creek Watershed, and 6 upper watershed locations within the Cicero Creek Watershed.  Upper watershed sampling locations will be selected so as to effectively characterize inputs from the subwatersheds. USGS stream gauging stations will be incorporated into the sampling plan to aid in normalizing subwatershed contributions to discharge.

At each sampling station, physical water parameters will be measured and where possible will include pH, Temperature, Dissolved Oxygen, Specific Conductivity, and Total Dissolved Solids. For each upper watershed sampling site, stream flow will also be gauged so that discharge can be determined and used to normalize measured parameters to flow volume.

Two water samples will be collected at each station. An unfiltered sample will be delivered to Veolia Water Indianapolis laboratories for chemical analysis. A portion of the sample will be filtered though 0.45 μm glass fiber filters to effectively separate suspended sediments from dissolved components in the water. The second sample will be filtered by CEES. Filter media and collected sediment will be analyzed by CEES.

Analysis of water will include: Total Phosphorus, Cations (Na, Ca, Mg, K, NH₃), Anions (Cl^-, SO₄, NO₂, NO₃, OrthoPO₄), TKN, DOC, Alkalinity, chlorophyll a, e.coli, total coliform, turbidity, total suspended solids and TOC, DIC, Carbon and Oxygen Isotopic Ratios.

Veolia Water Indianapolis laboratories will perform all chemical analyses. An outside laboratory will perform TKN and chlorophyll a analyses. CEES will analyze stable isotopes and Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC).

Sediment analysis will include bulk geochemistry with a focus on nutrients and metals, organic matter content, grains size and composition.

[22 stations x 2 sampling periods/season x 4 seasons = 176 samples]

3)      Reservoir Water Chemistry and Water Quality Characterization
Water sampling will be conducted in Geist and Morse Reservoirs to document water chemistry and overall water quality.  Sampling locations will span the basin, inlets, and outflow points.  A select set of basin stations will include samples taken along depth profiles. These depth profiles are designed to provide a snapshot of the physical and chemical conditions within the reservoir on a basin-wide scale. The information will be used to plan long-term monitoring water quality programs and is an important first step in understanding reservoir dynamics and delineating research questions.

CEES will collect water samples and coordinate sample collection with VWI to maximize utility of analyses and timing of sample collection to conform with laboratory analysis constraints.  At each sampling station, physical water parameters will be measured will include pH, Temperature, Dissolved Oxygen, Secchi Depth, Specific Conductivity, and Total Dissolved Solids. Water depth will also be recorded.

Veolia Water Indianapolis (VWI) laboratories will conduct all water quality analyses that are not field measured.  Analysis of water will include: Total Phosphorus, Cations (Na, Ca, Mg, K, NH₃), Anions (Cl^-, SO₄, NO₂, NO₃, OrthoPO₄), TKN, TOC/DOC, Alkalinity, chlorophyll a, e.coli, total coliform, turbidity, total suspended solids, DIC, Carbon and Oxygen Isotopic Ratios.

Veolia Water Indianapolis laboratories will perform all chemical analyses. An outside laboratory will perform TKN and chlorophyll a analyses. CEES will analyze stable isotopes and Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC).

Geist Reservoir: 5 basin stations x 3 depths, 8 inlet stations, 1 outflow station = 14 stations/24 samples
Morse Reservoir: 5 basin stations x 3 depths, 4 inlet stations, 1 outflow station = 10 stations/20 samples

 4)      GIS Coverages and Spatial Analysis
GIS, aerial photography, satellite imagery and other data resources will be combined to determine land use and spatial relationships between the reservoirs and their watersheds.  Among other relationships, analysts will explore the relationship between land use, hydrology, and nutrient loading.  The GIS will be the framework within which program information is organized, viewed and analyzed.  CEES has generated several data layers for coverages of Eagle Creek, Fall Creek, and Cicero Creek Watersheds. These layers form the basis of the framework. Additional data layers need to be compiled and created. Examples of additional data include: soils, land use, land cover, and zoning layers; digital elevation models for calculating slopes; environmentally sensitive areas, including wetlands and natural areas; census data; the distribution of sewer vs. septic systems; locations of NPDES permitted point discharges and water quality monitoring sites; floodway information; drainage tiles; and other data.

 The Center for Urban Policy and the Environment in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs will partner with CEES to conduct analyses, develop a plan for data acquisition, and build additional layers for the coverages.  Researchers at the Center have developed the Land Use in Central Indiana (LUCI) model, a computerized tool for evaluating the effects of policy choices on the conversion of vacant land to residential use.   LUCI can be used to forecast development in the reservoir watersheds and subwatersheds.

Center staff will assist CEES with the following tasks in this initial phase:
A.     Use GIS to assess current land use in each of the three watersheds and their subwatersheds;
B.     Use LUCI to identify areas in each watershed likely to undergo development through 2040;
C.     Write a draft report that reviews the implications of the findings for watershed management; and
D.     Prepare a plan that outlines data required to investigate the relationship between land use, nutrient loading, and reservoir management, including data to be compiled in the GIS and equipment needs and costs.

This first phase will rely solely on data that already have been acquired and will use only equipment already available.  Task A will involve using current land use coverages and will identify the amount of land in each watershed in different land uses such as commercial, industrial, and residential.  Task B will involve use of the LUCI model to forecast land likely to be developed in the future.  Analysts will rank subwatersheds according to likelihood of development.

Task C will involve writing a draft report that describes the implications of land use trends for reservoir management.  Among other items, analysts will use average or generalized nutrient loading rates associated with different land uses to establish indicators of nutrient loads from different subwatersheds.  The draft report will describe the limitations of these generalized measures and discuss options for acquisition of better data and alternatives for modeling loading rates.

Task D will involve preparation of a draft plan for data acquisition. This plan will identify types of information, short and long term uses of the data in planning and managerial activities, sources of data, costs of data, and priority for data acquisition.

5)      Biogeochemical Cycling of Phosphorous from Sediments
Short cores approximately half a meter in length will be collected from Eagle Creek Reservoir.  Stratigraphy of each core will be described and analyzed for nutrient concentrations, grain size and composition, organic matter content, and metal concentrations.  5 short sediment cores will be taken with approximately 20 samples collected from each core. A representative core will be analyzed for ¹³⁷Cs activity to determine sediment accumulation rates. Core subsamples will be examined for nutrient contents (P, N) and detailed extractions for P to determine bioreactivity and chemical speciation. This information will help researchers assess the potentially dominant role of nutrient cycling from within the reservoir sediments as a trigger for algal blooms.

Center for Earth and Environmental Science
 School of Science
 Indiana University~Purdue University, Indianapolis
 723 West Michigan Street, SL118
 Indianapolis, IN 46202
 www.cees.iupui.edu
 cees@iupui.edu