Document Type
Thesis
Abstract
Lake Matoaka is an important aspect of the College of William and Mary campus and of the local hydrologic system. Though the lake has been evaluated in terms of water quality and nutrient enrichment, no previous study has focused on stream contributions or groundwater fluxes to the lake. This study attempted to address these issues using a water balance approach, making estimates of precipitation, evaporation, and stream flow from published data and direct observations over a seven-month period. Results of this study indicate that College Creek is the most significant tributary to the lake in terms of the volume of water delivered, and that evaporation represents significant water loss, especially relative to the amount of water delivered to the lake by direct precipitation. Land use is an important control on the amount of runoff generated from a given land area, as development increases basin runoff considerably. Residence time for the lake was calculated using previous estimates of lake volume and the stream inflows estimated in this study. The result was consistent with the only previous estimate available. Runoff values used in this study were obtained using precipitation and land use data. These results were compared to values obtained using rating curves established from direct measurements of stream discharge for College Creek. Results of this comparison suggest that, while there are often significant disparities between the values obtained by these two methods, both are accurate to within an order of magnitude.
Date Awarded
2003
Department
Geology
Advisor 1
Gregory S. Hancock
Recommended Citation
Bottenfield, Sara, "Estimating Stream and Groundwater Contributions to Lake Matoaka: A water balance apprcoach" (2003). Geology Senior Theses. William & Mary. Paper 109.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/geologyseniors/109
