R2000-230 AUTHORIZING AGREEMENT - Laserfiche WebLink

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federal, state, and county agencies (IEPA, Macon County Soil & Water Conservation Distnct) as weil as local watershed planning committees such as the Upper Sangamon Watershed Planning Committee. The City of Decatur/ISWS monitoring effort in the Lake Decatur watershed has been the focus of several research groups at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (LTItJC) and has attracted additional funding in 1999 from the Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research (C-FAR), Water Quality Research Initiative (WQ-SRI). The object of this additional funding is to supply reliable stream data for other UIUC C-FAR researchers conducting quantita.tive and modeling research in the Upper Sangamon R.iver watershed to address nutrient mass balance issues. The product of this cooperative research will be an improved understanding of the movement of nitrogen in the watershed and effects of various best management practices (BMPs) on nitrogen levels. This grant builds on da.ta collection efforts already established and funded by the City of Decatur, as well as other IJILJC research projects funded under different grants. Due to this coordinated effort, streamflow, sediment, and nutrient data will be available for the Monticello (111) and Big Ditch(106) stations. • PROJECT OBJECTIVES The main goal of this project is to continue to assist the City of Decatur comply with the � Letter of Commitment (LOC) ag�reed upon with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) by continuing to monitor the watershed for nitrates for one year. To accomplish this goal, we outline the following objectives. 1. Continue to maintain and operate the watershed monitoring. Figure 1 and Table 1 presents the monitoring stations and the proposed sampling schedule. The Illinois State Water Survey will maintain the continuous stream recording equipment and the data records will be processed to determine continuous stream flows. Nitrate-N will continue to be sampled at the sites listed and visited weekly. This sampling schedule will provide the data needed to quantify the amount of nitrates being contributed to Lake Decatur from the watershed. 2. Collect additional data: At the request of the City of Decatur, samples will be collected for pH, arsenic, boron, sulfur, and non-volatile organic carbon (NVOC) analyses. These parameters are important to the city for managing other aspects of Lake Decatur and drinking water conditions. The pH would be measured on-site at all stations using a portable field meter. The remaining parameters, arsenic, boron, sulfur, and NVOC, would be determined from samples collected at the Mahomet (105) and Monticello (111) stations on a bi-weekly basis. The results of these parameters will be tabulated and reported to the City of Decatur for their use. 2