Map of study area and data collection sites

Treyburn

Background

Since 1988, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been collecting data at 18 sites in and around Treyburn, North Carolina, which is an 8-square-mile (mi²) residential, commercial, and industrial development located in the Falls Lake watershed. Water-quality data, assessments of biological conditions, and streamflow information have been collected at the sites over different time intervals. No single stream drains the entire Treyburn development.

In cooperation with the Triangle Area Water Supply Monitoring Steering Committee, the USGS is conducting a water-quality investigation of major inflow streams to Falls Lake. Some of these inflow streams receive drainage from Treyburn and, consequently, are sampled as part of the Treyburn project and the Triangle Area Water Supply Project.

Objectives

During the course of this project, the Treyburn water-quality monitoring network has been modified to meet the following primary objectives:

1. Identify, through water quality monitoring, the extent to which development affects water quality and aquatic biology in streams draining Treyburn;
2. Determine sediment, nutrients, and metals loading in streams draining the Treyburn development and in tributaries to Falls Lake through streamgaging and water-quality monitoring;
3. Identify trends in water quality through long-term monitoring and provide a warning mechanism to alert the City of Durham about potential water-quality problems.

Approach

A network of five sampling sites in and around Treyburn is monitoring water quality and stream discharge. The network is designed to collect information on loadings from Treyburn sites, including the effects of Mountain Creek on loadings to Little River Reservoir and the effects of Flat River on loadings to Lake Michie.