Water Quality Analysis of The Lower Colorado River Paula Kulis CE 394K.1

Where is the Colorado River?

Water Quality Monitoring Points: 17 Data Points on Main River Fecal Coliform Data

Temporal Variations: Seasonal Annual Average FC Data: Site 12475

Movie Time! Average Monthly Variation Along River Major Observation to make while watching: –More peaks in the Spring and Fall Z:\GISWR\GISproj\fcmonthly.avi

Temporal Variations: Annual fcreg.avi

Spatial Variations Hypothesis: FC Concentration Decreases with Distance from Austin

Conclusions Seasons affect FC counts Certain Years are worse than others Pollution doesn’t “travel” down the river, but river is polluted collectively FC Counts decrease with distance from Austin –May be other sources further down the river

Future Work: Austin Collaboration with Shipeng Fu to compare river water quality data with groundwater data –Interpolate values Compare Flow Data with Fecal Coliform

Elevation Data to Determine Which GW Points Drain Where

Thank You! Data Sources: Lower Colorado River Authority –Water Quality Data –Discharge Data Texas Water Development Board –Municipal Boundaries and Jurisdictions USGS –River Reach –Watershed Thank You: Dr. Maidment Richard Winkelbauer, LCRA