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The Status of
Water Quality in the Wheeler Lake Basin of Northern Alabama
Teferi D.
Tsegaye
Department of Plant and Soil Science, Alabama A&M University, Normal, Al
35762
Institute of
Agricultural and Environmental Research
Seminar Series
Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN
May 25, 2005
Water
pollution from point- and non-point sources has drawn concerns because
of its associated health and environmental impacts. Recently, the water
quality status in northern Alabama has been declining due to urban and
agricultural growth. Remote sensing and geographic information system
(GIS) technologies were used in a number of environmental monitoring and
non-point source pollution applications with varying degrees of success.
This research demonstrates the integration of remote sensing, GIS, and
global positioning system (GPS) technologies for water quality
assessment in the Wheeler Lake basin. Physical, chemical, and biological
properties of both soil and water samples which included pH, turbidity,
total suspended solids, total fecal coliform, total nitrogen, total
phosphorus, biological oxygen demand, and selected metal cations
concentrations were measured. Soil and water samples were collected
every two weeks from 54 locations within the basin. Results revealed
that samples taken at locations in Indian Creek and Mountain Fork Creek
have nitrogen concentrations ranging from 9.30 mg/L to 10.47 mg/L, which
are considered relatively high when compared to the standards set by the
EPA. The fecal coliform counts for most of the water sources were also
higher than the current EPA standards. They ranged from 200 mg/L to 512
mg/L. These high concentrations are attributed to a combination of
various agricultural practices and increased urban development in the
Wheeler Lake basin. The effectiveness of integrating spatial information
technologies (remote sensing, GIS and GPS) and laboratory analysis
techniques to predict sources of pollution and estimate concentration
levels of pollutants in the Wheeler Lake basin will be discussed.
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