Waters in the Lake Waco-Bosque River watershed have been listed on the 303(d) list of impaired waters in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2000 for nutrient enrichment (i.e., elevated nutrient concentrations and excessive algal growth). Since the 1990s, the Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research (TIAER) has conducted water quality monitoring in both the watershed’s rivers and Lake Waco. Collected data offered information to more accurately characterize the nutrient impairments in the lake, and TIAER researchers conducted additional laboratory analyses to identify soluble reactive phosphorus (P04-P) as the limiting nutrient in Lake Waco. The researchers established significant, predictive relationships between P04-P concentrations and algal blooms. Using that information, they identified lake P04-P targets for specific levels of algal growth and found that a range of P04-P concentrations between 8 µg/L and 14 µg/L would yield desirable conditions in the lake at a target chlorophyll a concentration of 20 µg/L (Kiesling et al. 2001).
Reference:
Kiesling, R.L., A.M.S. McFarland, and L. M. Hauck. 2001. Nutrient Targets for Lake Waco and North Bosque River: Developing Ecosystem Restoration Criteria. TR0107. USDA Prepared for Lake Waco-Bosque River Initiative. Accessed October 2016. http://tiaer.tarleton.edu/pdf/TR0107.pdf Exit .