Sediment characteristics of northwestern Wisconsin’s Nemadji River, 1973–2016

In 2015-16, a comparison study of stream sediment collection techniques was done for a U.S. Geological Survey streamgage on the Nemadji River near South Superior, Wisconsin (U.S. Geological Survey station number 04024430) to provide an adjustment factor for comparing suspendedsediment rating curves for two historical periods 1973 -86 and 2006 -16. During 1973 -1986, the U.S. Geological Survey used the equal-width-increment technique to collect suspendedsediment concentration data (EWI SSC). The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency collected grab samples for total suspended solids (grab TSS) concentration starting in 2006 and continuing beyond 2016. In addition to the comparison study of suspended-sediment concentrations, bedload and bed material samples were collected in 2015-16, and the modified Einstein procedure was run to further characterize total sediment loads. The 2015-16 study indicated that the EWI SSC and grab TSS concentrations were different, but not as much as expected, especially on the high end where grab TSS concentrations were sometimes higher than EWI SSC concentrations, possibly due