Storm discharge, loads, and average concentrations in northwest Ohio rivers, 1975-1995

A computerized technique was developed to identify storm runoff episodes an d calculate storm discharges, storm loads, and storm average concentrations for each event in datasets with up to 10,000 records. This technique was a pplied to four watersheds within the Lake Erie drainage basin and identifie d between 160 and 250 runoff events in each. Storm event loads and storm ev ent mean concentrations were calculated for each runoff event for suspended solids, total phosphorus, soluble reactive phosphorus, nitrate, and total Kjeldahl nitrogen. The basic characteristics of the resulting data are desc ribed, as are systematic differences as a function of watershed size, seaso nal differences, and trends over time. Many of the results of this study re flect the importance of nonpoint processes and improvements in agricultural best management practices in these watersheds.