Evaluation of Spatial and Temporal Variation in Stream Water Quality: a Case Study for a Mississippi Urban Headwater

Ramirez-Avila, J. J., Ortega-Achury, S. L., Schauwecker, T. J., Prince Czarnecki, J. M., & Martin, James L. (2019). Evaluation of Spatial and Temporal Variation in Stream Water Quality: a Case Study for a Mississippi Urban Headwater. Mississippi Water Resources Conference. Jackson, MS.

Evaluation of spatial and temporal variation of water quality and identification of pollution sources is very important for effective implementation of watershed management actions/plans. Water quality monitoring data were collected from more than 40 monitoring stations along the main stream and tributaries of the Catalpa Creek between 2017 and 2018. Water quality distribution and characteristics of each stream is evaluated by conducting multivariate statistical analysis for 9 water quality parameters (i.e. temperature, dissolved oxygen, total suspended solids, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total dissolved solids, pH, turbidity and electric conductivity). Results are expected to indicate if monitoring sites with high levels of pollution are directly affected by the direct contribution of urban or agricultural areas, the differences in type of riparian vegetation, occurrence of in-stream processes and/or seasonal variation of baseflow and stormflow rates. Impairment of waterbodies will be determined based on the study results, and priorities for water quality improvement, items required for watershed management implementation, will be determined for efficient water quality management in terms of future watershed management.