Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-2002

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Plant, Soil and Environmental Sciences

Major Professor

Joanne Logan

Committee Members

Michael Mullen, Forbes Walker

Abstract

As part of the Clean Water Act of 1972, all states are required to establish water quality standards, develop a list of impaired waterbodies called the 303(d) list, and create Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for these impaired waters (Hession et al., 2000). A TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards described by the section 303 of the CWA. Water quality is greatly affected by land use (USEPA, 2001b). In Tennessee, agriculture, forestry, and urban land use are predominant nonpoint sources, with top impairments cited as sediments and nutrients. Reduction of nonpoint source pollutants may be accomplished by implementing best management practices (BMP). When correctly installed and maintained, buffers have the capacity to remove up to 50 percent or more of nutrients and up to 75 percent of sediments. Two watersheds were chosen for this project, each containing an impaired stream from the 303(d) list. The first watershed land use was predominantly dairy Pond Creek. The second watershed. Crooked Fork-Emory, had mixed land use. There were two primary objectives for this study: 1) collection and analysis of water samples within two east Tennessee watersheds. Pond Creek (HUC 06010201) and Crooked Fork-Emory (HUC 06010208), and 2) the examination of land use as related to nonpoint source pollutants. Water analysis showed nutrient levels in both watersheds to be greater than ecoregion reference stream data. Overall, nutrient and solids concentrations were higher in the agricultural watershed, with highest concentrations located along the more intensive agricultural land use areas. Crooked Fork-Emory watershed also showed high concentrations of nutrient and sediments. Residential, commercial, and some agricultural land use are all built on the floodplain, which increases the likelihood of impairment. Water quality improvements could be seen with implementation of BMPs in both Pond Creek and Crooked Fork-Emory watersheds.

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