Historic land use and sedimentation in two urban reservoirs, Occoquan Reservoir and Lake Manassas, Virginia, USA

Human population growth and subsequent land use intensification are closely linked to contemporary increases in sediment and associated contaminants fluxes to fluvial systems, lakes, reservoirs, and coastal zones worldwide. In most urban areas, reservoirs that are the main source of fresh water supply, if not effectively managed, suffer from water quality decline and loss of capacity associated with accelerated siltation. This study analyzes watershed soil losses and sediment accumulation rates in two reservoirs in the Occoquan river basin, a sub-watershed of the Chesapeake Bay in the suburbs of the greater Washington, DC area. Lake Manassas is located in the upper reaches of the basin, characterized by mixed land use and cover of mostly forest, residential areas, and agriculture, whereas Occoquan Reservoir is located in the more urbanized lower reach of the basin in the heavily populated suburban zone south of Washington, DC. Five sediment cores from each lake were used in 210Pb-based sediment accumulation rates analysis, and GIS-based Revised Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model and a sediment delivery ratio (SDR) were used to evaluate basin soil losses and sediment fluxes to the fluvial systems. 210Pb sediment accumulation rate estimates in Occoquan Reservoir range from 0.26 g cm−2 year−1 in the upper reaches to 0.37 g cm−2 year−1 in the lower reaches. Lake Manassas also had comparable accumulation values ranging from 0.22 to 0.40 g cm−2 year−1. RUSLE/SDR estimated watershed sediment fluxes were 0.26 Mg ha−1 year−1 (Mg–mega gram) in the upper watershed, which is significantly higher than 0.07 Mg ha−1 year−1 estimates for the lower reaches of the watershed. The variability in the reservoirs’ sediment accumulation rates and basin soil losses reflects the variability of land use and cover, basin slopes, and erosion mitigation efforts within the watershed. The lower reaches, though more urbanized, have well-developed storm drain systems limiting run-off related soil losses. The well-managed riparian zones surrounding both reservoirs also limit sediment fluxes, hence the relatively low sediment accumulation rates. Although surficial sediment sources seem to be well managed, some of these efforts might be associated with the uptick in intrinsic sediment sources, leading to localized high sediment accumulation in the mouth of tributaries draining the high-intensity urban areas of the basin.