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ORGANIC WASTE CONTAMINATION INDICATORS IN SMALL GEORGIA PIEDMONT STREAMS
Citation:
BURKE, R. A. AND J. MOLINERO. ORGANIC WASTE CONTAMINATION INDICATORS IN SMALL GEORGIA PIEDMONT STREAMS. Presented at 2005 Georgia Water Resources Conference, Athens, GA, April 25 - 27, 2005.
Impact/Purpose:
The overall objective of this task is to identify or develop useful indicators of organic waste enrichment in aquatic systems that are easily measured and based on basic underlying ecosystem processes so that they will be widely applicable. These activities will primarily contribute to an APG within Long Term Goal 2 of the Water Quality Research Program Multiyear Plan: the 2008 APG on equipping EPA Regions, States, and Tribes with knowledge, skills and tools to determine the causes of impairments for freshwater and coastal systems required in various regulations and will also contribute to EPA Strategic Plan 2003-2008 Sub-objective 2.2.2: Improve Coastal and Ocean Waters. Activities that address the 2008 Water Quality APG will focus primarily on small streams of the Georgia Piedmont, which receive human and agricultural waste inputs. The activities related to EPA Sub-objective 2.2.2 will focus on the nearshore marine ecosystem of the Pacific Ocean, which receives treated wastes from the approximately 15 million people who live in the coastal zone of southern California and northern Baja California, Mexico, and on the nearshore marine ecosystem of the Gulf of California, which receives little anthropogenic pollution. The indicators that will be evaluated or developed will include concentrations of trace gases (N2O, CH4, and CO2), dissolved oxygen (DO), nutrients, and dissolved organic matter (DOM), other key parameters such as temperature, conductivity or salinity, flow rate, alkalinity, and pH, rates of key processes such as denitrification and DO consumption, and stable isotope ratios of various pools and substrates such as plants, animals, sediments, and DO.
Description:
We monitored concentrations of dissolved organic carbon(DOC) and dissolved oxygen (DO), and other parameters in 17 small streams of the South Fork Broad River watershed on a monthly basis for 15 months. Here we present estimates of the amounts of organic waste input to these watersheds and evaluate the possible impact of the waste on stream DOC concentrations. Our results suggest that application of poultry litter at recommended rates may impact stream DOC levels if applied to a high enough percentage of the watershed land area.