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<br />0131 <br /> <br />WATER-QUALITY VARIATIONS AND TRENDS IN MONUMENT AND FOUNTAIN CREEKS, <br />EL PASO AND PUEBLO COUNTIES, COLORADO, WATER YEARS 1976-88 <br /> <br />By Barbara C. Ruddy <br /> <br />ABSTRACT <br /> <br />Water-quality data were collected at four stations on Monument Creek and <br />five stations on Fountain Creek during water years 1976 through 1988. These <br />data were statistically analyzed to determine variations and trends in water- <br />quality properties and constituents. A qualitative comparison using boxplots <br />of water quality among all stations was done for the period of record. A <br />spatial trend analysis was done to compare the water-quality changes among <br />seven of the nine stations for water years 1980 through 1988. Analysis of <br />time-series trends at each station was done to determine if changes in water- <br />quality conditions occurred during the period of record. <br /> <br />Median values of the water-quality properties and constituents were <br />compared to the appropriate State water-quality standards. Median values of <br />the water-quality properties and constituents were within the State standards <br />except for the following trace-metal concentrations: dissolved manganese at <br />Monument Creek above North Gate Boulevard at U.S. Air Force Academy and <br />Fountain Creek above Little Fountain Creek below Fountain; total recoverable <br />copper at Monument Creek at Pikeview and Monument Creek at Bijou Street at <br />Colorado Springs; and total selenium at Fountain Creek at Pueblo. Occasional <br />violations of the State water-quality standards occurred at all stations. <br /> <br />Generally, median concentrations of most water-quality properties and <br />constituents were larger downstream. Nutrient concentrations, except for <br />nitrite plus nitrate as nitrogen, were largest at Fountain Creek below <br />Janitell Road below Colorado Springs, which is downstream from the wastewater- <br />treatment plant at Colorado Springs; the concentrations then were smaller <br />downstream. <br /> <br />Statistical comparisons of median values of selected water-quality <br />properties and constituents for determining trends among seven of the nine <br />stations were made for water years 1980 through 1988. For Monument Creek, <br />the comparisons indicated that median concentrations of most constituents at <br />Monument Creek at Palmer Lake were significantly different from median con- <br />centrations of most constituents at Monument Creek at Pikeview and Monument <br />Creek at Bijou Street at Colorado Springs, which are more similar to each <br />other. Median concentrations of most constituents at Fountain Creek near <br />Colorado Springs, upstream from the mouth of Monument Creek, were signifi- <br />cantly different from the median concentrations of most constituents at <br />downstream stations on Fountain Creek, with a few exceptions. Median <br />concentrations of most constituents at Fountain Creek at Colorado Springs, <br />downstream from the mouth of Monument Creek, were more similar to median <br />concentrations at Monument Creek at Bijou Street at Colorado Springs than to <br />median concentrations at Fountain Creek near Colorado Springs. <br /> <br />1 <br />