Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-1999

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Biosystems Engineering Technology

Major Professor

Ronald E. Yoder

Committee Members

J. Larry Wilson, D. Raj Raman

Abstract

Five subwatersheds in the Sweetwater Valley of Tennessee were sampled from October 1997 to March 1999 comparing biological and chemical methodologies for each of the different land uses. The five subwatersheds were; (1) wooded, (2) urban, (3) mixed, (4) agricultural, and (5) rural. In each subwatershed fish sampling was conducted in the spring of 1998 along with macroinvertebrate sampling in the fell of 1997, spring 1998, and fall 1998. Also, water quality parameters such as fecal conforms, chloride, nitrate, sulfate, ammonia, biological oxygen demand (BOD), and total suspended solids (TSS) were sampled weekly from April 17,1997 to September 30, 1998. Other water quality parameters such as dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, electrical conductivity, and water temperature were analyzed at high and low flows in all subwatershed stream reaches.

The Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) in the spring of 1998 revealed values for each subwatershed that ranged from 20 (very poor) in the wooded stream reach, 22 (very poor) for the urban stream reach, 32 (poor) for both mixed and rural stream reaches, and 38 (poor/fair) in the agricultural stream reach. Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) values also ranged from poor to fair. The rural stream reach was rated as fair and the other four stream reaches were rated as poor by EPT sampling. All water quality constituents were within EPA water quality standards, except fecal conforms. The in situ water quality parameters were within the State of Tennessee standards for aquatic life.

Results from biotic indices and water quality constituents did not agree among the five subwatersheds since water quality standards were within EPA standards, except fecal coliforms, and the biotic indices were poor to poor/fair for stream health. This suggested that physical parameters were influencing the aquatic habitat. From the habitat analyses all of the subwatersheds were rated poor for homogenous substrate, channelization, and lack of vegetated riparian zones. It appeared that as development and human population increased, physical conditions and stream health were degraded. IBI scores generally improved with decreased development and population densities. The subwatershed with the least amount of anthropogenic activities was the agricultural subwatershed which scored the highest IBI (38), the lowest fecal coliform counts, and the best physical parameters. It was felt that the wider vegetated riparian zones in the agricultural steam reach reduced sediment entering the stream therefore providing better habitat than in the other subwatershed stream reaches.

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