Ji-Seok Kim
Eutrophication, water quality degradation due to nutrition overload, is difficult problem to detect because even a relatively rapid water quality degradation occurs over many years. In first half of my research I concentrated on analyzing 15 years of volunteer water quality data of a small, currently pristine Chocorua Lake in New Hampshire. I attempted to uncover a trend in water quality change by analyzing and presenting the data in various ways. All analysis results showed significant downward trends in water quality indicators and I concluded that a rapid water quality degradation occurred in Chocorua lake over past fifteen years between 1982 and 1996. In later part of my research, I tried to conduct an impact assessment of each nonpoint pollution sources in the watershed to find out which source needs to be regulated in order to prevent further eutrophication of Chocorua lake. Three pollution sources were identified as possible major phosphorus sources based on previous research results and my personal observations. However, I was not able to make a numerical comparison among each phosphorus sources because necessary data did not exist for the time being. Uniqueness of each individual watershed development pattern also made it difficult to extract useful information from other researches and apply them to the Chocorua Lake eutrophication. Nevertheless, my research result should be useful to any reader who is involved in a lake water quality monitoring program.
* My thesis contains a number of graphical representations of the Chocorua Lake water quality data which should be particularly useful to readers who want to learn how to present water quality indicator data in an effective format.