GEOCHEMICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION OF FOSTER JOSEPH SAYERS RESERVOIR, CENTRE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

The Foster Joseph Sayers Reservoir (FJSR) was created by damming the Bald Eagle Creek by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers in the early 1970s as part of a state-wide flood control system. This 1730-acre reservoir provides holding capacity for spring floods, helping to protect the downstream community in the lower Bald Eagle and West Branch Susquehanna watersheds from large seasonal runoff events. Although these reservoirs act as an essential tool for storm water management and help to harness nature's seasonal fury, the impact of dams on water quality in the lakes themselves and downstream are not well known. This study is designed to investigate the role that the FJSR plays on water chemistry, as well as to identify transport and accumulation patterns of various metals and nutrients that enter the reservoir with surface runoff and groundwater flow. Multiple water samples were collected during the summer of 2013 from FJSR, its major tributaries, and the reservoir’s receiving stream, the lower Bald Eagle Creek, which in turn confluences with the West Branch Susquehanna River (WBSR) at Lock Haven, PA. A canoe was used to retrieve water samples at depth from multiple locations throughout the reservoir to determine variations in water chemistry. The field parameters included temperature, pH, DO, conductance, TDS, salinity, and ORP. Additional lab analyses yielded several cations, anions, and nutrient concentrations in the assayed samples. A sounding device was used to take measurements along multiple longitudinal and transverse profiles. Additionally, several ground penetrating radar transects were carried out in Hunter Cove and the FJSR to determine the bathymetry of the reservoir and sediment accumulation geometry. The data provided insights into the chemical and physical processes that affect the overall water quality in FJSR, the lower Bald Eagle Creek and ultimately the main stem of the WBSR.