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WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF LAKE TEXOMA BEACHES, 1999-2001
Citation:
Gonsoulin*, M E., J. R. Masoner, M L. Cook*, AND T E. Short*. WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF LAKE TEXOMA BEACHES, 1999-2001. PROCEEDINGS OF THE OKLAHOMA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 83:63-72, (2003).
Impact/Purpose:
To inform public
Description:
A biological and inorganic assessment of five beaches on Lake Texoma was conducted from September 1999 through July 2001. Water samples for each beach site were divided into two groups, a swimming season and non-swimming season. Water properties such as temperature, alkalinity, and sulfates were slightly higher in the swimming season, while dissolved oxygen and total suspended sediments were slightly higher in the non-swimming season. Constituents such as pH, conductivity, chloride, and nutrients showed no difference between the swimming season and the non-swimming season. A predictive model based on the geometric mean for Escherichia coli (E. coli) was used to measure the gastrointestinal illness rate per 1,000 swimmers during the swimming season. Model results showed an extremely low probability that someone would become sick from swimming at any of the five beaches. A comparative analysis was done that measured the probability that E. coli and total coliform concentrations were statistically different between the swimming and non-swimming seasons. Evidence from the comparative analysis suggested that total coliform concentrations at four beaches were significantly higher in the swimming season than in the non-swimming season. There was no evidence suggesting that E. coli concentrations were statistically different between the two seasons.
