Laserfiche WebLink
irrigation water monitored in the West lateral showed little chemical variability as flow was <br />monitored in the downstream direction. Of the parameters mentioned, only total suspended solids <br />(TSS) and dissolved iron (Fep) showed trends of slight increases (mean values) as irrigation water <br />progresses down the ditch. <br />Relationships Among Flow, TSS and TDS. The interrelationships among certain physical and <br />chemical parameters in surface water often control the chemical quality. Generally, as the <br />discharge (flow) of a stream increases, so does the concentration of total suspended solids (TSS). <br />For streams that commonly experience elevated levels of TSS (104 to 105 in semi-arid <br />environments), total dissolved solids (TDS) commonly is inversely related to TSS, that is, as TSS <br />level increase, TDS concentration will decrease. This inverse relationship between TSS and TDS <br />will result in lower proportions of dissolved constituents while conserving the total chemical load of <br />the water. <br />In order to investigate the significance of relationships among flow, TSS and TDS in streams <br />monitored at the New Horizon 2 area, simple linear regression correlation analyses were performed <br />on flow, TSS and TDS values collected simultaneously at each surface water site. Using flow as <br />the independent variable, discharge was regressed against TSS and TDS. Also, using TSS as the <br />independent variable, TSS was regressed against TDS. <br />TSS showed little to no correlation with flow. The range of correlation coefficients (r2 values) <br />determined for flow versus TSS during the irrigation season were from .000 to .298. For periods <br />between the irrigation seasons, r2 values ranged from .000 to.447. These calculated correlation <br />coefficients indicated that discharge (instantaneous measurements) has no relationship with levels <br />of TSS in the monitored streams at the New Horizon 2 mining area. <br />Flow correlated with TDS fairly well at some sites, but the variability of the correlation results at all <br />sites indicated that the relationship between these two parameters was not strong. For instance, <br />during periods of no irrigation, flow correlated strongly with TDS (r2 > .75) at sites SW N103 and <br />at SW-N7. However, the period of record for the data sets analyzed for these two sites was less <br />than two years. During the irrigation seasons, flow correlated well with TDS (r2 > .75) at Sites <br />SW-N102 and SW-N105. Again, data analyzed for both these sites were limited (July, 1986 <br />through December, 1987). Considering the analyses performed on the large data sets for both <br />2.04.7-44