Hydrodynamic and Water-Quality Monitoring of Bushy Park Reservoir, 2017-2018

The Bushy Park Reservoir is a relatively shallow impoundment in a semi-tropical climate and is the principal water supply for the 400,000 people of the City of Charleston and the surrounding areas including the industries in the Bushy Park Industrial Complex. Although there is an adequate supply of freshwater in the reservoir, there are taste-and-odor water-quality concerns. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Charleston Water System, monitored the hydrology and water-quality conditions in the Bushy Park Reservoir immediately before, during, and after a unique shutdown period when the average daily 800-cubic-feet-per-second withdrawals by South Carolina Electric and Gas (SCE+G) Williams Station from Bushy Park Reservoir were discontinued from September to November 2017. Monitoring data were collected to provide information on any changes in water-quality and hydrologic conditions during the shutdown period. This data release is for water-quality profiles collected with a hand-held calibrated field meter from a manned boat concurrent with the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) water-quality surveys to identify and verify diurnal- and depth-related changes during the water-quality surveys. Data includes water temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, chlorophyll, and blue-green algae (phycocyanin). Additionally, phytoplankton data were collected to evaluate the limnological conditions and phytoplankton community structure in the Reservoir and as an additional verification for the AUV water-quality survey output in relation to in situ chlorophyll and phycocyanin fluorescence measurements. Vertical velocity profiles also were measured, using acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCP), during this study at 3 locations. The velocity data was measured from above the reservoir floor up to the surface and logged at 15 minute intervals. This Data Release supplements data collected for USGS Scientific Investigations Report entitled "Characterization of the Water Quality of Bushy Park Reservoir, South Carolina 2013-2015".