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Research about White River

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24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS1993

Effects of advanced treatment of municipal wastewater on the White River near Indianapolis, Indiana: Trends in water quality, 1978-86

The City of Indianapolis has constructed state-of-the-art advanced municipal wastewater-treatment systems to enlarge and upgrade the existing secondary-treatment processes at its Belmont and Southport treatment plants. These new advanced-wastewater-treatment plants became operational in 1983. A nonparametric statistical procedure--a modified form of the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney rank-sum test--was used to test for trends in time-series water-quality data from four sites on the White River and from the Belmont and Southport wastewater-treatment plants. Time-series data representative of pre-advanced- (1978-1980) and post-advanced- (1983--86) wastewater-treatment conditions were tested for trends, and the results indicate substantial changes in water quality of treated effluent and of the White River downstream from Indianapolis after implementation of advanced wastewater treatment. Water quality from 1981 through 1982 was highly variable due to plant construction. Therefore, this time period was excluded from the analysis. Water quality at sample sites located upstream from the wastewater-treatment plants was relatively constant during the period of study (1978-86). Analysis of data from the two plants and downstream from the plants indicates statistically significant decreasing trends in effluent concentrations of total ammonia, 5-day biochemical-oxygen demand, fecal-coliform bacteria, total phosphate, and total solids at all sites where sufficient data were available for testing. Because of in-plant nitrification, increases in nitrate concentration were statistically significant in the two plants and in the White River. The decrease in ammonia concentrations and 5-day biochemical-oxygen demand in the White River resulted in a statistically significant increasing trend in dissolved-oxygen concentration in the river because of reduced oxygen demand for nitrification and biochemical oxidation processes. Following implementation of advanced wastewater treatment, the number of river-quality samples that failed to meet the water-quality standards for ammonia and dissolved oxygen that apply to the White River decreased substantially.

Indiana↗
USGS1992

A postulated new source for the White River Ash, Alaska: A section in Geologic studies in Alaska by the US. Geological Survey, 1990

The White River Ash (Lerbekmo and others, 1968), product of two of the most voluminous pyroclastic eruptions in North America in the past 2,000 yr, blankets much of the Yukon Terrtory, Canada, and a small part of adjoining eastern Alaska. Lerbekmo and Campbell (1969) narrowed the source of the ash to an area northeast of the Mt. Bona-Mt. Churchill massif in the St. Elias Mountains of southern Alaska. Based on indirect evidence, Lerbekmo and Campbell (1969) further suggested that the vent was beneath the Klutlan Glacier, adjacent to a mound of coarse pumice, 16 km northeast of Mt. Bona. Recently discovered pumice and ash deposits and a possible vent structure near the summit of Mt. Churchill suggest an alternate source area. The White River Ash is a bilobate plinian fallout deposit covering more than 340,000 km 2 and containing an estimated 25-50 km 3 of tephra (Bostock, 1952; Berger, 1960; fig. 1). Radiocarbon ages indicate that the northern lobe was deposited about 1,887 yr B.P. and the eastern, and larger, lobe about 1,250 yr B.P. (Lerbekmo and others, 1975). The axes of the two lobes converge near Mt. Bona (16,420 ft (5,005 m)) and Mt. Churchill [15,638 ft (4,766 m)], which together form a prominent massif in the St. Elias Mountains. The Klutlan Glacier, a large valley glacier that flows eastward into Canada, has its principal source on the eastern flank of the massif.

Alaska↗
USGS1984

Simulated effects of proposed reservoir-development alternatives on streamflow quantity in the White River, Colorado and Utah

Numerous reservoirs have been proposed for the White River basin in Colorado and Utah, primarily to provide water for oil-shale development. A multireservoir-flow model was used to simulate the effects of streamflow withdrawal at four of the proposed reservoirs using historical streamflow data from the 1932-81 water years. The proposed reservoirs considered in the study were Avery, Powell Park, Taylor Draw, and White River Reservoirs; construction of Taylor Draw Dam was completed during the study. Annual streamflow depletions from the White River ranging from about 93,000 to 226,000 acre-feet were simulated for the 50 year period. Simulated streamflow throughout the year generally became smaller and more constant as streamflow throughout the year generally became smaller and more constant as streamflow depletion increased. Minimum streamflow requirements would not have been met for a maximum of 13 years and water-use requirements associated with the proposed reservoirs would not have been met for a maximum of 3 years. The current water-use pattern, which depletes about 40,000 acre-feet per year and is dominated by irrigation of hay meadows and pastureland, was maintained in the simulation. Relations between reservoir active capacity and yield applicable to the White River also were developed. These relations show that reservoir storage of about 400,000 acre-feet is the maximum practicable for the White River.

Colorado, Utah↗
USGS1979

Sediment deposition in the White River Reservoir, northwestern Wisconsin

The history of deposition in the White River Reservoir was reconstructed from a study of sediment in the reservoir. Suspended-sediment concentrations, particle size, and streamflow characteristics were measured at gaging stations upstream and downstream from the reservoir from November 1975 through September 1977- Characteristics of the sediments were determined from borings and samples taken while the reservoir was drained in September 1976. The sediment surface and the prereservoir topography were mapped. Sediment thickness ranged from less than 1 foot near the shore to more than 20 feet in the old stream channel. The original reservoir capacity and volume of deposited sediment were calculated to be 815 acre-feet and 487 acre-feet, respectively. Sediment size ranged from clay and silt in the pool area to large cobbles and boulders at the upstream end of the reservoir. Analyses of all samples averaged 43 percent sand, 40 percent silt, and 17 percent clay, and particle size typically increased upstream. Cobbles, boulders, and gravel deposits were not sampled. The average density of the deposited sediments was about 80 pounds per cubic foot for the entire reservoir. The reservoir was able to trap about 80 percent of the sediment entering from upstream early in its history. This trap efficiency has declined as the reservoir filled with sediment. Today (1976) it traps only sand and silt-sized sediment, or only about 20 percent of the sediment entering from upstream. Data collected during this study indicate that essentially all of the clay-sized sediment (<0.062 mm) passes through the reservoir. The gross rate of deposition was 7.0 acre-feet per year over the reservoir history, 1907-76. Rates during 1907-63 and 1963-76 were 7.4 and 5.7 acre-feet per year, respectively, determined by the Cesium-137 method. Based on scant data, the average annual sediment yield of the total 279 square mile drainage area above the gaging station at the powerplant was about 50 tons per square mile. Analysis of the drainage-basin characteristics indicates that most of this sediment was derived from less than 10 percent of the total drainage area and from steep unvegetated streambanks.

Wisconsin↗
USGS1978

Sediment transport by the White River into Mud Mountain Reservoir: Washington, June 1974-June 1976

This reconnaissance evaluation of the sediment transport by the White River into the Mud Mountain Reservoir, in Washington, during the period June 1974-June 1976 showed that the river transported 430,000 tons of suspended sediment into the reservoir during the first year of the study and 1,400,000 tons in the second year. Daily mean suspended-sediment concentrations generally were less than 500 milligrams per liter; the highest daily mean concentration was 6,200 milligrams per liter on December 1, 1975. A good relation exists between daily suspended-sediment discharge and daily mean water discharge except during periods of runoff from glacial melt. Data from samples obtained by the use of the Helley-Smith bedload sampler indicate that the bedload measured using the sampler is about 4 percent of the suspended-sediment discharge. Potential deposition in the reservoir was estimated at 750 acre-feet during the 2 years of study. (Kosco-USGS)

Washington↗