Urban Riparian Wetland Water Quality Dataset_Stormwater Capture in Beaver-mediated Wetlands along Walnut Creek, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

This is the initial release of a water quality dataset pertaining to the riparian floodplain wetlands alongside Walnut Creek in Raleigh, North Carolina USA.  Walnut Creek is the main drainage channel in an urbanized watershed (HUC-12: 030202011101) in central North Carolina.  There are several riparian floodplain wetlands along the creek which are largely supplied by urban stormwater runoff including directed storm sewer flows and regular overbank flooding events. In many of these wetlands local water retention and residence time in the surface ponds is mediated by the damming activity of North American beavers (Castor canadensis).  This dataset contains data specific to the water quality values of Walnut Creek, its tributary Little Rock Creek, and the surface ponds and groundwater at the Walnut Creek Wetland Park which is actively influenced by resident beavers.  The period of this dataset is from January 5, 2023 through October 28, 2023. 

This dataset includes a variety of common water quality parameters measured in situ by use of a YSI Pro water quality meter, as well as dissolved nutrient values determined by laboratory analysis of collected water samples.  YSI data was collected on a weekly basis and water samples were collected for laboratory analysis on a monthly basis. Additional measurements and collection took place during six large rainfall events to allow comparison between baseflow and stormflow conditions across the site.  This dataset aims to provide a comprehensive look at the water quality of Walnut Creek in comparison with the surface ponds and groundwater in the Walnut Creek Wetland Park, which are all ultimately sourced from urban stormwater runoff.

This water quality dataset is intended to accompany the separate hydrology dataset published on Zenodo at URL: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10709630. Together, these datasets are meant to support an improved understanding of the water availability and water quality found in connection with beaver-mediated stormwater capture in an urbanized watershed in the North Carolina Piedmont.

 This dataset resulted from research supported with a Graduate Student Research Grant awarded by the North Carolina Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI), under Project Number 23-10-W: "Stormwater Diversion, Storage, and Treatment by Beaver-enhanced Floodplain Wetlands in Piedmont Urban Watersheds".  

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) under Grant No. (DGE 2137100). Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Special thanks to Raleigh Parks and Walnut Creek Wetland Park for making this work possible.

Laboratory analysis support for evaluation of dissolved nutrients (nitrate+nitrite, TKN, total phosphorus, and total organic carbon) was provided by the NC State Environmental and Agricultural Testing Services (EATS) laboratory, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences.

 Additional laboratory analysis support for evaluation of dissolved nutrients (TKN and total phosphorus) was provided by the NC State Environmental Analysis Laboratory (EAL), Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAE).

 Usage of and technical support for the YSI Pro water quality meter used in this study was made possible by the Osburn Lab, Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (MEAS), NC State University.