Knowledge Core Collection:https://hdl.handle.net/11681/273702024-03-28T17:40:41Z2024-03-28T17:40:41ZWater Quality Special Study Report : Summary of Water Quality Conditions Monitored at the Williston Area Protective Works and Levee Project during the 3-year Period April 2012 through March 2015United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Omaha Districthttps://hdl.handle.net/11681/483112024-03-27T16:08:39Z2015-07-01T00:00:00ZTitle: Water Quality Special Study Report : Summary of Water Quality Conditions Monitored at the Williston Area Protective Works and Levee Project during the 3-year Period April 2012 through March 2015
Authors: United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Omaha District
Abstract: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Williston Area Protective Works and Levee Project (WAPWLP) was completed in 1961 and constructed as part of the Garrison Project in North Dakota that created Lake Sakakawea. The purpose of the constructed levee was to provide protection to the low-lying areas of Williston, North Dakota and the Burlington Northern Railway against the backwater of Lake Sakakawea during higher reservoir pool levels. As part of the WAPWLP a drainage structure and pumping plant were constructed to facilitate water conveyance from the interior drainage blocked by the constructed levee. The drainage structure is no longer operable as it was filled with concrete in approximately 1982, but the pumping plant remains in place and continues to operate. A large, low area on the south side of Williston between the levee and railroad embankment was incorporated into the interior drainage system as a ponding area. The ponding area between the levee and railroad embankment is identified as the Sand Creek Holding Area and is also referred to as the Williston Marsh. The Williston Marsh captures water from the internal drainage landward of the levee, and water levels in the Marsh are managed by discharging water from the Marsh to the Missouri River/Lake Sakakawea via the Corps Pumping Plant. The Corps secondarily manages the Williston Marsh and surrounding land as a wildlife area. Wastewater collected and delivered to Williston’s Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) needs to be treated to an appropriate level, as required by the Federal Clean Water Act, before it can be discharged to waters of the United States. The WWTF is located between the Corps levee and the Burlington railroad embankment, and is adjacent to the Williston Marsh. In the recent past, the WWTF operated as a “controlled discharge” system. As such, the WWTF was allowed to discharge biannually from its finishing ponds to the Williston Marsh, once in the spring and once in the fall, pursuant to its North Dakota Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NDPDES) discharge permit. As a biannual discharge, retention times in the WWTF’s finishing ponds provided adequate treatment of the influent wastewater; NDPDES permit limits were met and water quality conditions in the Williston Marsh were not adversely impacted. Due to the recent oil boom in western North Dakota significant population and industrial growth has occurred in and around the City of Williston. This growth has resulted in a significant increase in the amount of domestic and industrial wastewater that is being generated and in need of treatment by the WWTF. To protect the WWTF from being overwhelmed by the increased volume of influent wastewater, emergency discharges of effluent from the WWTF’s finishing ponds to the Williston Marsh were initiated in 2011. The frequency and duration of the emergency effluent discharges from the WWTF’s finishing ponds to the Marsh have steadily increased since 2011. The City of Williston is currently expanding its WWTF to address its long-term wastewater treatment needs. A new NDPDES discharge permit was issued to the City of Williston in 2013 to regulate discharges from the WWTF. The effective date of the permit is 1-April-2013 and it expires on 31-March-2018. The permit authorizes the City of Williston to discharge from the WWTF’s finishing ponds to the Sand Creek Holding Area (i.e. Williston Marsh), and from a temporary treatment system to the Missouri River/Lake Sakakawea, provided all the conditions of the permit are met. Water quality monitoring was conducted by the Omaha District (District) over the 3-year period April 2012 through March 2015 to assess water quality conditions in the Williston Marsh and the Missouri River given the increased WWTF effluent discharges that were occurring. The following four objectives guided the District’s water quality monitoring: 1) Document ambient water quality conditions present in the Williston Marsh. 2) Assess concentrations and loadings for selected parameters at inflows/discharges to the Williston Marsh and the Missouri River. 3) Determine if appropriate water quality standards are being met in the Williston Marsh. 4) Determine if appropriate water quality standards are being met in the Missouri River immediately downstream of the Corps’ Pumping Plant and WWTF’s temporary treatment system discharges. Locations monitored included: sites within the Williston Marsh, inflow sites to the Williston Marsh, discharge sites to the Missouri River, and sites along a secondary channel of the Missouri River. Water quality parameters monitored included: field measurements and laboratory analyses of physiochemical and biological constituents.
Description: Technical Report2015-07-01T00:00:00ZWater Quality Special Study Report : Assessment of the Water Quality Conditions at Ed Zorinsky Reservoir and the Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) Population Emerged After the Drawdown of the Reservoir and Management Implications for the District’s Papillion and Salt Creek ReservoirsUnited States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Omaha Districthttps://hdl.handle.net/11681/483102024-03-27T16:00:49Z2012-04-01T00:00:00ZTitle: Water Quality Special Study Report : Assessment of the Water Quality Conditions at Ed Zorinsky Reservoir and the Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) Population Emerged After the Drawdown of the Reservoir and Management Implications for the District’s Papillion and Salt Creek Reservoirs
Authors: United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Omaha District
Abstract: The District has monitored ambient water quality conditions at Zorinsky Lake since the reservoir was initially filled in the early 1990’s, and currently monitors water quality at Zorinsky Lake as part of an Interagency/Support Agreement with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ). When the Papillion Creek Tributary projects were authorized water quality management was identified as a concern within the Papillion Creek basin. At that time, studies by the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration (FWPCA) indicated that a need existed for water quality storage within the basin. The FWPCA identified the need for 3 cfs water quality flow in the Big Papillion Creek, Little Papillion Creek, and West Branch Papillion Creek. To meet this need, a water quality component was identified in the multipurpose pool for three of the Papillion Creek Tributary projects (i.e., Ed Zorinsky, Glenn Cunningham, and Wehrspann). Each of these three reservoirs was equipped with a mid-level and low-level outlet to facilitate releases for water quality management. Originally, Zorinsky Lake was to have a multipurpose pool of 4,700 ac-ft with a water quality component of 620 ac-ft. The 1984 survey of Ed Zorinsky Reservoir established the “as-built” multipurpose storage of the reservoir at 3,037 ac-ft. To date, releases for downstream water quality management have not been necessary because seepage, releases, and/or tributary inflows have provided adequate flow for water quality purposes. Since authorized water quality storage has not been required for downstream water quality management, it is available for reservoir water quality management. Zorinsky Lake is dimictic and the near-bottom area of the reservoir becomes anoxic during the summer and winter. Releases could be made from the reservoir through the low-level outlet to discharge poor quality water during these times and replace it with better quality inflow water. Such releases could also promote mixing within the reservoir and possibly improve dissolved oxygen conditions in lower depths when the reservoir is thermally stratified and reduce internal phosphorus loading.
Description: Technical Report2012-04-01T00:00:00ZWater Quality Special Report : Existing Physicochemical Condition and Elutriate Testing of Missouri River Alluvial Sediments from Fort Randall Dam to Ponca, Nebraska as an Indicator of the Potential Water Quality Impacts Posed by Dredging These Sediments to Construct Emergent Sandbar HabitatUnited States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Omaha Districthttps://hdl.handle.net/11681/482982024-03-27T16:00:58Z2010-09-01T00:00:00ZTitle: Water Quality Special Report : Existing Physicochemical Condition and Elutriate Testing of Missouri River Alluvial Sediments from Fort Randall Dam to Ponca, Nebraska as an Indicator of the Potential Water Quality Impacts Posed by Dredging These Sediments to Construct Emergent Sandbar Habitat
Authors: United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Omaha District
Abstract: In 2000, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued a Biological Opinion with recommendations for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) operations of the Missouri River Mainstem System for protection and enhancement of threatened and endangered species (USFWS, 2000). In 2003, the USFWS issued an amendment that supplemented the recommendations of the 2000 Biological Opinion (USFWS, 2003). The amended Biological Opinion (BiOp) was the result of continuing consultation between the Corps and USFWS under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The BiOp found that the Corps' operations on the Missouri River were not likely to jeopardize the endangered interior least tern (Sterna antillarum) and threatened piping plover (Charadrius melodus) populations if the Reasonable and Prudent Alternative (RPA) set forth in the BiOp was implemented. Element IVB of the RPA includes recommendations for the mechanical creation and maintenance of Emergent Sandbar Habitat (ESH) as nesting habitat for these two species in terms of habitat acres per river mile. The BiOp separates the Missouri River from Fort Randall Dam downstream to Ponca, Nebraska into three separate segments: 1) Segment 8 – Fort Randall Dam to Niobrara River; 2) Segment 9 – Niobrara River to Gavins Point Dam; and 3) Segment 10 – Gavins Point Dam to Ponca, NE (Figure 1). All three segments are identified as “High Priority” reaches for the interior least tern and piping plover. ESH goals of 10 acres per river mile by the year 2005 and 20 acres per river mile by the year 2015 have been established for Segment 8. ESH goals of 40 acres per river mile by the year 2005 and 80 acres per river mile by the year 2015 have been established for Segments 9 and 10. Existing ESH acreages within these segments are currently below these goals. In accordance with the BiOp, the Corps is conducting ongoing efforts to create and/or reclaim a sufficient amount of ESH to stabilize, and eventually recover, interior least tern and piping plover populations along the Missouri River. The creation of ESH was necessitated by the unforeseen loss of the habitat due to channelization and flood control efforts along the Missouri River, and the resulting decline of tern and plover numbers. The specific purpose for the Corps' actions is to implement the portion of RPA Element IVB of the BiOp that relates to artificially or mechanically created ESH. The importance of constructed ESH in the lower Missouri River to the least tern and piping plover populations was witnessed with the recent return of normal navigation flows to the Missouri River downstream of Gavins Point Dam. ESH projects constructed downstream of Gavins Point Dam produced 80 percent of the interior least terns and piping plovers that fledged on the lower Missouri River with over 100 successful nests documented. In 1997, the last time high water and flows occurred prior to recent drought conditions, only one successful nest was documented in the reach.
Description: Technical Report2010-09-01T00:00:00ZWater Quality Sampling Report : Results of Water Quality Monitoring During Dredging to Construct Shallow-Water Habitat on the Missouri River at the Little Sioux Bend Project SiteUnited States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Omaha Districthttps://hdl.handle.net/11681/482972024-03-27T16:02:39Z2015-12-01T00:00:00ZTitle: Water Quality Sampling Report : Results of Water Quality Monitoring During Dredging to Construct Shallow-Water Habitat on the Missouri River at the Little Sioux Bend Project Site
Authors: United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Omaha District
Abstract: The Little Sioux Bend shallow-water habitat project (LSBSWHP) is one of several projects the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has constructed to enhance shallow-water habitat (SWH) along the lower Missouri River downstream of Gavins Point Dam. The LSBSWHP area is located in Harrison County, Iowa and Burt County, Nebraska along the Little Sioux Bend of the Missouri River between RM666 and RM669. The project area is on the Nebraska side of Missouri River and is centered on the old river channel that is the legal boundary between the States of Iowa and Nebraska. The LSBSWHP included the excavation of 464,063 cubic yards (354,802 cubic meters) of soil/sediment to create a 7,300 foot (2,225 meter) long flow-through chute that connected to the main channel of the Missouri River on the upstream and downstream ends. In constructing the chute, the top 18 inches (0.46 meters) of sediment/soil were removed and deposited in the designated spoil area and all the remaining material, an estimated 373,450 cubic yards, was excavated using a hydraulic dredge with the excavated material being discharged to the adjacent Missouri River. Dredging at the LSBSWHP commenced on 22-July-2015 and was completed on 11-September-2015 with 679 hours of active dredging being logged. Based on the dredging equipment used, the estimated average amount of material excavated was 550 cubic yards (420 cubic meters) per hour with the slurry estimated to be 11.1 percent solids. The average slurry discharge rate was 37.1 cubic feet (1.05 cubic meters) per second. Water quality monitoring was conducted at the LSBSWHP site during the construction of the chute. The objective of the monitoring was to assess the impact of the dredging discharge on water quality conditions in the Missouri River. Water quality was monitored at 15 sites at the LSBSWHP during periods of active dredging. Water quality monitoring sites were located on the dredging slurry discharge pipeline and the Missouri River upstream and downstream of the dredging slurry discharge. Water quality sampling at the LSBSWHP occurred on four dates during active dredging: 6-August-2015, 12-August-2015, 21-August-2015, and 1-September-2015. The sampled dredging slurry contained extremely high and variable levels of suspended sediment with sampled levels ranging from 5,970 to 235,000 mg/L. The variability of the sampled suspended sediment in the dredging slurry is attributed to the inconsistent nature of hydraulic dredging. The sampled levels of total suspended sediment solids in the Missouri River immediately downstream of the dredging discharge were significantly lower than the levels sampled in the dredging slurry. This indicated that the suspended material in the dredging slurry discharge likely settled out quickly and was incorporated into the bedload of the Missouri River and/or was deposited on the riverbed. In concert with the high levels of suspended sediment, the dredging slurry contained high and variable levels of sediment-bound constituents (i.e. total phosphorus and total metals). The estimated sediment discharged to the Missouri River from dredging ranged from a high of 373,450 cubic yards (dredging discharge characterization) to a low of 173,754 cubic yards (average of sampled dredging slurry conditions). The under estimation of the delivered sediment load based on the dredging slurry sampling is likely the result of under-sampling of the inconsistent and highly variable dredging slurry conditions. Total phosphorus levels sampled in the dredging slurry were less variable than the sampled total suspended sediment levels, and ranged from 3.38 to 27.90 mg/L. The total phosphorus flux rate of the dredging discharge was estimated from dredging slurry sampling to be from 0.0112 kg/sec (average sampled condition) to 0.0293 kg/sec (maximum sampled condition). This was from 6.6 to 17.3 percent of the average total phosphorus flux rate for the Missouri River at the LSBSWHP site during the time of dredging discharge. The estimated total phosphorus load delivered to the Missouri River from dredging, based on the sampling of the dredging slurry, ranged from a low of 27.3 metric tons (averaged sampled conditions) to a high of 71.6 metric tons (maximum sampled conditions). This compares to the 149.2 metric tons that was estimated from pre-construction sediment sampling and elutriate testing. It is noted that the sampling of sediment-bound total phosphorus in the dredging slurry is subject to the same under-sampling concern noted for the sampling of suspended sediment. Currently, the total phosphorus load to the Gulf of Mexico is estimated to be 154,300 metric tons per year, with the contribution of the Missouri River to this total load estimated to be between 16.8% (25,922 metric tons) and 20% (30,860 metric tons) (NRC, 2011). Levels of several metals, measured as total, sampled in the dredging slurry were quite high and exceeded total recoverable-based criteria identified in the State of Iowa’s water quality standards. Measured levels of total aluminum, copper, and zinc exceeded acute aquatic life criteria. Measured levels of total aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, selenium, and zinc exceeded chronic aquatic life criteria. Measured levels of total arsenic, copper, mercury, and thallium exceed human health criteria based on fish consumption. The sampled levels of total metals in the Missouri River immediately downstream of the dredging discharge were significantly lower than the sampled levels in the dredging slurry. The sampled low levels of total metals in the Missouri River immediately downstream of the dredging slurry discharge that were below applicable water quality standards criteria indicate that the applicable 404(b)(1) Guidelines water quality requirements for the dredging implemented at the LSBSWHP were met (i.e. no water quality standards’ violations and no significant degradation). The water quality sampling results at the LSBSWHP during dredging were compared to the pre-construction elutriate testing results conducted on sediment/soil samples collected at the project site. Overall, the elutriate testing of the sediment/soil samples collected at the LSBSWHP site prior to construction provided a reasonably good prediction of the water quality conditions that were sampled during dredging at the LSBSWHP site.
Description: Technical Report2015-12-01T00:00:00Z