Water-Quality Monitoring on Lake Houston

In cooperation with the City of Houston, the U.S. Geological Survey collects, processes, and interprets water-quality, streamflow, and reservoir water elevation and capacity data. These data are collected to better understand the effects of urbanization in Lake Houston, a drinking water reservoir in Houston, Texas. The combined monitoring efforts of Lake Houston and the associated watershed increase the understanding of the effects of natural and controlled inflows, nutrient and sediment loads, and water-column structure on the chemistry and biology of Lake Houston.

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Lake Houston

Lake Houston is a shallow reservoir on the San Jacinto River located about 25 miles northeast of Houston, Texas. The upper end of the lake splits into two arms that make up 97 percent of the watershed. The western arm includes the West Fork San Jacinto River, Spring Creek, and Cypress Creek, together draining about 63 percent of the watershed. The eastern tributaries include the East Fork San Jacinto River, Peach Creek, Caney Creek, and Luce Bayou, draining about 34 percent of the watershed. The remaining three percent of the basin drains directly into Lake Houston. Differences in the land use and landcover between the areas that drain into Lake Houston can lead to differences in sediment quality.

Location of Lake Houston

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Since 2005, two USGS monitoring stations in the Lake Houston watershed evaluate the effects of watershed influences and in-lake processes on Lake Houston water quality. These continuous water-quality monitoring stations are located in both the rural and the urbanized portions of the watershed. The real-time floating monitoring stations provide:

• Hourly water quality data, including temperature, conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen and turbidity.
• Real-time notification of water-quality changes in Lake Houston.
• Water treatment facility operators the real-time data required to make informed decisions when adjusting treatment methods in response to changing environmental conditions.

Using the Data

The interactive graph below shows turbidity measured at three real-time water quality monitoring locations within the watershed. Typical and elevated turbidity ranges can be explored for all three water-quality locations to explore how changes in turbidity move through the watershed. Results are used to better understand fluctuations of water quality concentrations and loads during changing seasons and flow conditions. Turbidity, for example, can be used as an indicator for the presence of suspended sediment or algae in the lake that may cause taste and odor problems. As shown on the graph, low turbidity or base-flow conditions are seasonal and are often be seen during the month of October.

Examples of elevated turbidity associated with periods of intense rainfall and high streamflow can be seen on the graph below during the following dates:

• Memorial Day flood around May 28, 2015
• Tax Day Flood around April 17-18, 2016
• Hurricane Harvey from August 25-29, 2017

Looking for the raw data?

Water-quality, streamflow, and reservoir data are available as part of USGS data products.