Kleinschmidt Leike WPA 



Climatic setting. The net annual precipitation balance for the 

 Kleinschmidt Lake site (from the MAPS database) is -18 inches, 

 placing the site toward the middle of the range for hydrologically 

 and regionally similar sites. Monthly average precipitation for 

 the Ovando 9 SSE climatic station shows a bimodal distribution, 

 with a primary June peak and a secondary January peak. The 3 -year 

 moving average of total annual precipitation remained below (often 

 considerably below) the long-term average from the mid-1970s 

 through 1993. The total precipitation for 1993 (the year prior to 

 sampling) was very near the long-term average. 



Geologic setting. Kleinschmidt Lake occupies an irregular basin 

 within a terminal moraine complex deposited by a glacier advancing 

 down the North Fork of the Blackfoot River during the late 

 Pleistocene. Permeable outwash gravels dating from the retreat of 

 the North Fork glacial lobe forms Kleinschmidt Flat to the 

 northeast; advance outwash deposits may underlie the till forming 

 the end moraine complex. Tertiary valley-fill sediments underlie 

 glacial deposits at an unknown depth. 



Hydrologic type. Kleinschmidt Lake lies in glaciated terrain with 

 generally poorly integrated drainage, but has channelized inflow 

 and outflow. The outflow elevation was altered by a wetland 

 enhancement project in the mid-1980s(?) . Relatively low salinity 

 indicates that discharge from the lake occurs frequently. Ground- 

 water relationships are undescribed. 



Basin characteristics. Kleinschmidt Lake receives inflow from 

 nearby Brown's Lake via a small drainage meandering through an area 

 of small internally drained depressions. Most of the contributing 

 catchment is upgradient of Browns Lake. The timing and quantity 

 of inflow received by Kleinschmidt is influenced by residence time 

 of the larger Brown's Lake. Prior to alteration of the outflow, 

 the estimated volume of the lake was 1083 acre-feet, with an 

 average depth on the order of 5 feet. The present lake depth and 

 volume are uncertain. 



Water chemistry. At the time of sampling, Kleinschmidt Lake 

 contained relatively dilute, highly alkaline magnesium-bicarbonate 

 water. Mineral equilibria indicate substantial oversaturation with 

 respect to carbonate phases. Ammonium and nitrate concentrations 

 were below detection limits, and the orthophosphate concentration 

 was near the low end of the range shown for sites in this class. 

 The total organic carbon concentration ranked mid-range within the 

 site class. The total phosphorous concentration was not 

 determined. 



Arsenic and iron concentrations ranked mid-range among sites 

 classed with Kleinschmidt Lake; the selenium concentration made 

 Kleinschmidt Lake one of only 5 sample sites with reportable water 

 column values for this element. 



