WATER QUALITY VARIATIONS OF CENTRALHATCHEE CREEK, HILLABAHATCHEE CREEK, AND NEW RIVER, HEARD COUNTY, GEORGIA: THE EFFECTS OF LAND USAGE AND SEASONAL VARIATION ON SURFACE WATER QUALITY

The largest tributaries to the Chattahoochee River in Heard County, Georgia are Centralhatchee Creek, Hillabahatchee Creek, and the New River. Heard County is downstream of the Atlanta metropolitan region, which results in a heavy pollution load in the Chattahoochee River. In order to assess the health of tributary streams to the Chattahoochee River, eight water-monitoring stations were established on these tributary streams as part of the West Georgia Watershed Assessment. Centralhatchee Creek is the principal source of surface drinking water in Heard County and is classified as partially supporting its designated use because of elevated fecal coliform bacteria values. Parameters measured in situ are temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, specific conductivity, and turbidity. Samples were analyzed for nutrients (nitrite-nitrate, phosphate, ammonia), total metals (Cu, Cd, Pb, Zn, Ni, Se) chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand, fecal coliform bacteria, total suspended solids (TSS), and total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN). Centralhatchee Creek and Hillabahatchee Creek originate and flow across mostly forests, hayfields and pasture. They sporadically exhibit high fecal coliform bacteria contents (>200 colonies/100mL), which commonly correlate with rainfall events. The New River originates in the more developed Coweta County where treated sewage is discharged into it. This results in the New River having lower minimum and average DO and higher specific conductivity, turbidity, hardness, TSS, and nitrite-nitrate-N. Although the New River is classified as partially supporting its designated use because of elevated fecal coliform bacteria values our results do not show elevated fecal coliform bacteria levels in the New River in Heard County.