Surface water and sediment quality data in the Grand River Watershed, focused on Belwood and Conestogo reservoirs

The primary focus of this research is to determine the nutrient dynamics within these reservoirs. Sediment cores were collected from Lake Belwood (Febuary 14th, 2018) and Conestogo Lake (July 17th, 2018) and analyzed for sedimentation rate and radioisotope dating, trace metals, total phosphorus (TP), carbon (TC), and nitrogen (TN), and isotopes (δ13C and δ15N). Between June 1st, 2018 and July 26th, 2018, surface water samples were collected biweekly and analyzed for soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), total phosphorus (TP), total dissolved phosphorus (TDP), cations, nonpurgeable organic carbon (NPOC), total nitrogen (TN) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIC). Field data included in-field measurements of temperature, dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH and Eh, the use of a water column profiler which provided data on depth, temperature, photosyntheticactive radiation, fluorometry-chlorophyll, conductivity and dissolved oxygen. Samples were analyzed in various labs across campus including the Ecohydrology Research lab, the WATER lab, and the Environmental Isotope Laboratory at the University of Waterloo.

This dataset was developed in order to improve the understanding of long-term nutrient retention within reservoirs and to quantify the potential contributions of reservoir nutrient legacies to current and future water quality in watersheds around the Great Lakes. Specifically, this dataset will provide information on the accumulation of nutrients within the reservoirs at Lake Belwood and Conestogo Lake located within the Grand River Watershed. Note, that this data set is collected for the project titled "Lake Futures: Enhancing Adaptive Capacity and Resilience of Lakes and Their Watersheds". Lake Futures is a Pillar 3 project under the Global Water Futures Program funded by Canada First Research Excellence Fund.

Basu, N., Tenkouano, G.-T. and Van Cappellen, P. (2018) Surface water and sediment quality data in the Grand River Watershed, focused on Belwood and Conestogo reservoirs. Waterloo, Canada: Canadian Cryospheric Information Network (CCIN). Unpublished Data.

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