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Project Title: National Water Quality Assessment of the Upper Mississippi River Basin
Project Number: DH00 - MN 141
Project Chief: Lee, Kathy
Project Start Date: October 1993
Project End Date: Ongoing
Project Website

Objectives: Describe status and trends in the quality of water in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. Provide scientific understanding of the primary natural and human factors affecting the quality of these resources.

Progress for FY11: Fiscal Year 2011 was the sixth year of Cycle II activity in the study unit. Work included a combination of sampling, data analyses, and report preparation. Data aggregations were completed. Water sampling was conducted at a long-term trends site (Little Cobb River near Beauford, MN) for analyses of nutrients, pesticides, chloride, sulfate, and suspended sediment, and nutrient isotopes. Stream gaging and discharge computation continued at all three trend sites (Little Cobb River near Beauford, Mississippi River at Hastings and Shingle Creek at Minneapolis). Two major floods, at the close of the 2010 Water Year and spring 2011, occurred in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. The UMIS site most affected was the Little Cobb River near Beauford which experienced the 2 greatest peaks or record. Water was collected from network of approximately 20 wells for analyses of major ions, nutrients, volatile organic chemicals, and pesticides and water levels were measured in over 80 wells in the UMIS networks. The focus of the Nutrient Enrichment Effects Topic (NEET) effort was on report preparation. Two papers are in progress: 1) NEET Circular and 2) and SIR with a focus on temporal trends in nutrient concentrations and biological responses.

Statement of work for FY12: Fiscal Year 2012 will be the seventh high-intensity year of Cycle II activity in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMIS) study unit. We will maintain stream-flow gaging at Shingle Creek, Little Cobb River, and the Mississippi River at Hastings. Samples will be collected at Shingle Creek 21 times during FY2012 and will be analyzed for suspended sediment, nutrients (SH2711), pesticides (SH2033), glyphosphate (LCGY), chloride (LC1571) and sulfate (LC1572). Ecological sampling will occur at Shingle Creek and will include invertebrate RTH and invertebrate QMH sample collection, fish, algae (RTH and chlorophyll/biomass) collection, and habitat characterization during our index period of August 15 through September 30.Synoptic water-level measurements will be completed for all wells in the 3 UMIS networks: umisluscr1, umislusrc1, and umissus3 networks and no water quality sampling is scheduled.