This data release contains a data compilation and analysis of the hydrogeology in the U.S. portion of the Lake Superior watershed, for the purpose of providing background data for future study and modeling of groundwater and contaminant movement in the watershed. The data support an analysis of groundwater contributions to the water budget of Lake Superior and provide hydrogeologic context for future modeling and sampling of groundwater in the region. The data release contains three child items: Baseflow analysis for tributaries to Lake Superior from 1946 to 2020; Geohydrology data for groundwater analysis in the Lake Superior Watershed; and Groundwater wells from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan state databases and the U.S. Geological (USGS) National Water Information System (NWIS) database with static water level data within 10km of the Lake Superior watershed.

This child item contains geology and hydrogeology data used in the hydrogeologic characterization of the Lake Superior watershed and a shapefile of water budget zones for reporting water budget terms for Lake Superior. The geology data include shapefiles of bedrock units from the USGS Geologic map database (Horton, 2017) and surficial geology units from Soller and others (2012). A compilation of hydrogeologic properties (hydraulic conductivity and transmissivity) from a variety of studies in and around the Lake Superior basin and from a field study conducted in 2021 is included in a data table and the values are applied to the bedrock and surficial unit shapefiles. We also include here a zipped grid of simulated groundwater discharge to surface water (rivers and streams) extracted from the Zell and Sanford (2020) MODFLOW6 model of the shallow groundwater in the United States. The sources of data used in the compilation of properties also are included.

This child item contains geology and hydrogeology data used in the hydrogeologic characterization of the Lake Superior watershed and a shapefile of water budget zones for reporting water budget terms for Lake Superior. The geology data include shapefiles of bedrock units from the USGS Geologic map database (Horton, 2017) and surficial geology units from Soller and others (2012). A compilation of hydrogeologic properties (hydraulic conductivity and transmissivity) from a variety of studies in and around the Lake Superior basin and from a field study conducted in 2021 is included in a data table and the values are applied to the bedrock and surficial unit shapefiles. We also include here a zipped grid of simulated groundwater discharge to surface water (rivers and streams) extracted from the Zell and Sanford (2020) MODFLOW6 model of the shallow groundwater in the United States. The sources of data used in the compilation of properties also are included.

This section of the data release supports the data used in models for the associated publication. The U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay collected hydrologic and water-quality data to assess the effectiveness of agricultural conservation management practice (CMP) implementation at Mainstem Plum Creek (USGS site ID: 04084911) and West Plum Creek (USGS site ID: 04084927) in northeastern Wisconsin. Monitoring data from 2010–2020 at Mainstem Plum and 2013–2020 at West Plum were used to detect changes in hydrologic and water-quality responses during runoff events. Runoff events were defined by hydrographers and used to compute event loads and event flow-weighted mean concentrations of total phosphorus and total suspended solids – all of which are included in this data release. The data included in this release serve as model inputs for the associated model archive. Models in the associated archive were used to assess changes in water quality between two time periods (“initial” and “post-CMP implementation”) while controlling for environmental factors, such as weather and the conditions preceding events to elucidate water-quality changes more directly associated with CMP implementation.

This section of the data release supports the data used in models for the associated publication. The U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay collected hydrologic and water-quality data to assess the effectiveness of agricultural conservation management practice (CMP) implementation at Mainstem Plum Creek (USGS site ID: 04084911) and West Plum Creek (USGS site ID: 04084927) in northeastern Wisconsin. Monitoring data from 2010–2020 at Mainstem Plum and 2013–2020 at West Plum were used to detect changes in hydrologic and water-quality responses during runoff events. Runoff events were defined by hydrographers and used to compute event loads and event flow-weighted mean concentrations of total phosphorus and total suspended solids – all of which are included in this data release. The data included in this release serve as model inputs for the associated model archive. Models in the associated archive were used to assess changes in water quality between two time periods (“initial” and “post-CMP implementation”) while controlling for environmental factors, such as weather and the conditions preceding events to elucidate water-quality changes more directly associated with CMP implementation.

These data include base flow separation estimates for 64 USGS streamflow gages in the Lake Superior watershed from 1945 to 2020, shapefiles of the gaging stations and watersheds for each gaging station, and a zipped folder of graphics of the base flow separation results. The base flow separation estimates were calculated using the U.S. Geological Survey Groundwater Toolbox (Barlow and others, 2014) for any complete water years of record for these gages from 1945 to 2020. The shapefile of the gaging stations includes the starting and ending years of data for each station, the number of years of record. The watersheds shapefile includes the source for the watershed delineation, the watershed area, and the number of upstream and(or) downstream gaging stations on the same river system. If there are upstream gaging stations in the river system, the watershed delineated is only the incremental part of the watershed between gaging stations. The baseflow separation estimates for each gaging station include daily, monthly, and annual output from the Groundwater Toolbox for six estimation methods included in the software (full references are available in Barlow and others, 2014): the baseflow Index-Standard method, HySep Fixed Interval, HySep Local Minimum, HySep Sliding Interval, baseflow Index-Modified, PART, and BFLOW. A summary of the annual baseflow estimates for all the gaging stations using all the methods is provided also is included in this data release. This data release is one of three child items under the overall data release at https://doi.org/10.5066/P9084UKQ.

These data include base flow separation estimates for 64 USGS streamflow gages in the Lake Superior watershed from 1945 to 2020, shapefiles of the gaging stations and watersheds for each gaging station, and a zipped folder of graphics of the base flow separation results. The base flow separation estimates were calculated using the U.S. Geological Survey Groundwater Toolbox (Barlow and others, 2014) for any complete water years of record for these gages from 1945 to 2020. The shapefile of the gaging stations includes the starting and ending years of data for each station, the number of years of record. The watersheds shapefile includes the source for the watershed delineation, the watershed area, and the number of upstream and(or) downstream gaging stations on the same river system. If there are upstream gaging stations in the river system, the watershed delineated is only the incremental part of the watershed between gaging stations. The baseflow separation estimates for each gaging station include daily, monthly, and annual output from the Groundwater Toolbox for six estimation methods included in the software (full references are available in Barlow and others, 2014): the baseflow Index-Standard method, HySep Fixed Interval, HySep Local Minimum, HySep Sliding Interval, baseflow Index-Modified, PART, and BFLOW. A summary of the annual baseflow estimates for all the gaging stations using all the methods is provided also is included in this data release. This data release is one of three child items under the overall data release at https://doi.org/10.5066/P9084UKQ.

This section of the data release supports an archive of the models used in the associated publication. The U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay collected hydrologic and water-quality data to assess the effectiveness of agricultural conservation management practice (CMP) implementation at Mainstem Plum Creek and West Plum Creek in northeastern Wisconsin. Monitoring data from 2010–2020 at Mainstem Plum and 2013–2020 at West Plum were used to detect changes in hydrologic and water-quality responses during runoff events. Runoff events were defined by hydrographers and used to compute event loads and event flow-weighted mean concentrations of total phosphorus and total suspended solids – all of which are included in the associated data release. Additionally, changes in these parameters were assessed between two time periods (“initial” and “post-CMP implementation”) using the models included in this model archive. Because event discharges, loads, and concentrations are influenced by factors such as weather and the conditions preceding events, random-forest and regression models were developed to control for these factors and to elucidate water-quality changes more directly associated with CMP implementation. Residuals from random-forest models were used to detect changes between the two time periods via Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and multiple linear regression models were used to determine percent change in responses via time-period dummy variable coefficients. Results indicate statistically insignificant changes in most responses during runoff events.

This section of the data release supports an archive of the models used in the associated publication. The U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay collected hydrologic and water-quality data to assess the effectiveness of agricultural conservation management practice (CMP) implementation at Mainstem Plum Creek and West Plum Creek in northeastern Wisconsin. Monitoring data from 2010–2020 at Mainstem Plum and 2013–2020 at West Plum were used to detect changes in hydrologic and water-quality responses during runoff events. Runoff events were defined by hydrographers and used to compute event loads and event flow-weighted mean concentrations of total phosphorus and total suspended solids – all of which are included in the associated data release. Additionally, changes in these parameters were assessed between two time periods (“initial” and “post-CMP implementation”) using the models included in this model archive. Because event discharges, loads, and concentrations are influenced by factors such as weather and the conditions preceding events, random-forest and regression models were developed to control for these factors and to elucidate water-quality changes more directly associated with CMP implementation. Residuals from random-forest models were used to detect changes between the two time periods via Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and multiple linear regression models were used to determine percent change in responses via time-period dummy variable coefficients. Results indicate statistically insignificant changes in most responses during runoff events.

The U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay collected hydrologic and water-quality data to assess the effectiveness of agricultural conservation management practice (CMP) implementation at Mainstem Plum Creek and West Plum Creek in northeastern Wisconsin. Monitoring data from 2010–2020 at Mainstem Plum and 2013–2020 at West Plum were used to detect changes in hydrologic and water-quality responses during runoff events. Runoff events were defined by hydrographers and used to compute event loads and event flow-weighted mean concentrations of total phosphorus and total suspended solids – all of which are included in this data release. Additionally, changes in these parameters were assessed between two time periods (“initial” and “post-CMP implementation”) using the R scripts included in this model archive. Because event discharges, loads, and concentrations are influenced by factors such as weather and the conditions preceding events, random-forest and regression models were developed to control for these factors and to elucidate water-quality changes more directly associated with CMP implementation. Residuals from random-forest models were used to detect changes between the two time periods via Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and multiple linear regression models were used to determine percent change in responses via time-period dummy variable coefficients. Results indicate statistically insignificant changes in most responses during runoff events. This parent page serves as a landing page for two child items associated with Water Quality and Estimated Changes in the Plum Creek Watershed 2010-2020. Data release child page: contains the event times, event loads, and flow-weighted mean concentrations used for modeling purposes. Model archive child page: contains the inputs, scripts, and outputs used and produced to evaluate changes in water quality associated with conservation management practice implementation.