Characterizing Transient Storage and Nitrate Uptake for Pre-restoration Monitoring of Lost Creek

Lost Creek is a tributary of the Wabash River and runs directly through the campus of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT) in Terre Haute, Indiana. Students have been collecting survey and water quality data along Lost Creek for the past three years as a part of a pre-restoration monitoring program. We expanded the database of pre-restoration conditions by characterizing transient storage and nitrate uptake under current conditions. In doing so, we have a baseline to compare any increases or decreases in storage and uptake due to possible future implementation of restoration techniques. In the summer of 2011, students conducted several nutrient injection tracer studies of sodium chloride and potassium nitrate on a study reach of Lost Creek that runs through campus. We continued this study by modeling solute transport of the 2011 tracer injection data collected at two different discharges with the One-Dimensional Transport with Inflow and Storage model (OTIS). The resulting modeled parameter estimates showed greater transient storage along the reach at the lower of the two discharges that were modeled. Because we only have data from two injections, we can only compare the results of these two particular studies and cannot extrapolate beyond our collected data to make inferences on general trends at this point. By collecting more data through future injections, we can establish more conclusive baseline conditions to inform pre-restoration monitoring efforts.