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Spatial assessment of water quality in the vicinity of Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge, Upper Devils Lake Basin, North Dakota

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Abstract

Runoff from concentrated animal feeding operations and croplands in the Upper Devils Lake Basin (Towner and Ramsey Counties), North Dakota, has the potential to impact the water quality and wildlife of the Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge. Water samples were collected at eight locations upstream and downstream of the refuge, beginning in June 2007 through March 2011, to identify the spatial distribution of water quality parameters and assess the potential impacts from the upstream land use practices. Geographic Information Systems, statistical analysis, and regulatory standards were used to differentiate between sample locations, and identify potential impacts to water quality for the refuge based on 20 chemical constituents. Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant differences between sample locations based on boron, calcium, Escherichia coli, phosphorus, aluminum, manganese, and nickel. Hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis of these constituents identified four distinct water quality groupings in the study area. Furthermore, this study found a significant positive correlation between the nutrient measures of nitrate-nitrite and total Kjeldahl nitrogen, and the percentage of concentrated animal feeding operation nutrient management areas using the non-parametric Spearman rho method. Significant correlations were also noted between total organic carbon and nearness to concentrated animal feeding operations. Finally, dissolved oxygen, pH, sulfate, E. coli, total phosphorus, nitrate-nitrite, and aluminum exceeded state of North Dakota and/or US Environmental Protection Agency water quality standards and/or guidelines. Elevated concentrations of phosphorus, nitrate-nitrite, and E. coli from upstream sources likely have the greatest potential impact on the Lake Alice Refuge.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded in part by the US Fish and Wildlife Service under agreements 62580-7-J002 and 601818J414; the North Dakota Department of Health, who provided laboratory analysis for many samples; and ND EPSCoR through National Science Foundation grant EPS-0447679 and the ND EPSCoR AURA Program. We would like to thank Mike Ell from the North Dakota Department of Health for his continual support and guidance on this project. We would also like to thank the many people who helped in gathering the field data including Sheri Anderson, Brooks Hansen, Mark Blore, Matthew Dinger, and Dusty Vanthuyne. Finally, we would like to thank the anonymous reviewers whose comments and suggestions greatly improved this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, 58202, USA

    Gregory S. Vandeberg

  2. Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge, US Fish and Wildlife Service, 5924 19th St. SE, Woodworth, ND, 58496, USA

    Cami S. Dixon

  3. Devils Lake Wetland Management District, US Fish and Wildlife Service, 221 2nd St NW, Devils Lake, ND, 58301, USA

    Brian Vose & Mark R. Fisher

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  1. Gregory S. Vandeberg
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Correspondence to Gregory S. Vandeberg.

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Vandeberg, G.S., Dixon, C.S., Vose, B. et al. Spatial assessment of water quality in the vicinity of Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge, Upper Devils Lake Basin, North Dakota. Environ Monit Assess 187, 40 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-4222-7

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