Chloride load dynamics along channelized and intact reaches in a northeastern United States urban headwater stream
Sodium chloride has long been used for winter deicing, although its legacy use has resulted in rising chloride concentrations in urban watersheds. Persistently high chloride levels impair drinking water resources and threaten the health of aquatic life and vegetation. In urban areas, chloride fate a...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abd8ab |
| _version_ | 1797747885168656384 |
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| author | John R Slosson Laura K Lautz Julio Beltran |
| author_facet | John R Slosson Laura K Lautz Julio Beltran |
| author_sort | John R Slosson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Sodium chloride has long been used for winter deicing, although its legacy use has resulted in rising chloride concentrations in urban watersheds. Persistently high chloride levels impair drinking water resources and threaten the health of aquatic life and vegetation. In urban areas, chloride fate and transport is impacted by human modification of the environment, including increased impervious surface cover and disconnection of stream corridors from riparian groundwater. We couple continuous streamflow records with weekly chloride concentration data over two water years to create continuous chloride load estimates at three locations along a degraded, urban stream in upstate New York with contrasting channelized and intact reaches. Our results show that degraded reaches characterized by channelized, armored banks and minimal groundwater connection deliver chloride loads closer to chloride application rates in the surrounding watershed. In contrast, stream–groundwater interactions in intact reaches adjacent to riparian floodplains, including surface water losses to subsurface flow paths, result in stream chloride loads that are 50% less than those delivered from upstream channelized reaches. These findings show that longitudinal chloride load estimates along a stream channel can be valuable in identifying the timing and magnitude of chloride sources and sinks, which may be common but less apparent in urban environments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:57:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bbded07f3766400c814f899488476b4b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:57:01Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-bbded07f3766400c814f899488476b4b2023-08-09T14:53:19ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262021-01-0116202500110.1088/1748-9326/abd8abChloride load dynamics along channelized and intact reaches in a northeastern United States urban headwater streamJohn R Slosson0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9643-4046Laura K Lautz1Julio Beltran2Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Syracuse University, 204 Heroy Geology Laboratory , Syracuse, NY 13244, United States of AmericaNational Science Foundation , 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22314, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Syracuse University, 204 Heroy Geology Laboratory , Syracuse, NY 13244, United States of AmericaSodium chloride has long been used for winter deicing, although its legacy use has resulted in rising chloride concentrations in urban watersheds. Persistently high chloride levels impair drinking water resources and threaten the health of aquatic life and vegetation. In urban areas, chloride fate and transport is impacted by human modification of the environment, including increased impervious surface cover and disconnection of stream corridors from riparian groundwater. We couple continuous streamflow records with weekly chloride concentration data over two water years to create continuous chloride load estimates at three locations along a degraded, urban stream in upstate New York with contrasting channelized and intact reaches. Our results show that degraded reaches characterized by channelized, armored banks and minimal groundwater connection deliver chloride loads closer to chloride application rates in the surrounding watershed. In contrast, stream–groundwater interactions in intact reaches adjacent to riparian floodplains, including surface water losses to subsurface flow paths, result in stream chloride loads that are 50% less than those delivered from upstream channelized reaches. These findings show that longitudinal chloride load estimates along a stream channel can be valuable in identifying the timing and magnitude of chloride sources and sinks, which may be common but less apparent in urban environments.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abd8abchlorideroad salturban hydrologywatershed hydrologystreamflowsnow |
| spellingShingle | John R Slosson Laura K Lautz Julio Beltran Chloride load dynamics along channelized and intact reaches in a northeastern United States urban headwater stream Environmental Research Letters chloride road salt urban hydrology watershed hydrology streamflow snow |
| title | Chloride load dynamics along channelized and intact reaches in a northeastern United States urban headwater stream |
| title_full | Chloride load dynamics along channelized and intact reaches in a northeastern United States urban headwater stream |
| title_fullStr | Chloride load dynamics along channelized and intact reaches in a northeastern United States urban headwater stream |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chloride load dynamics along channelized and intact reaches in a northeastern United States urban headwater stream |
| title_short | Chloride load dynamics along channelized and intact reaches in a northeastern United States urban headwater stream |
| title_sort | chloride load dynamics along channelized and intact reaches in a northeastern united states urban headwater stream |
| topic | chloride road salt urban hydrology watershed hydrology streamflow snow |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abd8ab |
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