HR: 1340h
AN: H53A-1224    [Abstracts]
TI: Changes in concentration of contaminants in Scott Creek, Western North Carolina
AU: * Allmendinger, N E
EM: allmendinge@email.wcu.edu
AF: Western Carolina University, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, 349D Stillwell Building, Cullowhee, NC 28723 United States
AU: Clapp, R B
EM: RBC99@aol.com
AF: Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River, 835 Main Street, Bryson City, NC 28713 United States
AB: Scott Creek is a 4th-order gravel-bedded stream in the Little Tennessee watershed in a mountainous region of Western North Carolina. The region is highly dependent on this river for water contact sports and input for a paper mill. Recently, water sample have shown high levels of fecal coliform in spite of efforts to fix a broken sewer pipeline and eliminate straight-piping. Our objective is to assess the current quality of the water, and to devise methods for future monitoring and prediction of contaminant concentration in the river. During a 5-day period in July 2004, we monitored the stage and velocity of the river as well as the concentration of nitrates, reactive phosphorous and fecal coliform in the water. Our results suggest that the nutrients and the bacteria counts vary in phase with the river discharge. Our analysis of the data leads us to conclude that both discharge and E. coli concentration are related to precipitation. The relationship between river stage and precipitation is complex, requiring a "multiple" regression equation which plots Q as a function of the previous 3 days of rainfall. The relationship between E. coli concentration and precipitation is much simpler, showing that the abundance of bacteria varies directly with daily rainfall. We infer from our data that it is unlikely that E. coli in Scott's Creek has a "point" source, suggesting that the bacterial contamination is related to undetected straight pipes and not to a steady sewer failure.
DE: 1803 Anthropogenic effects
DE: 1806 Chemistry of fresh water
DE: 1860 Runoff and streamflow
DE: 1871 Surface water quality
DE: 0805 Elementary and secondary education
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting