POINT AND NON-POINT CONTROLS ON WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS OF BUFFALO CREEK, CARROLL COUNTY: A STREAM THAT FLOWS ACROSS INDUSTRIAL, URBAN AND AGRICULTURAL LAND USAGE

Buffalo Creek heads in farmland and forest southeast of Carrollton, Georgia. The stream flows across recreational (golf course), land and then through Carrollton (land usage include industry, urban, and suburban) where three four-lane highways cross it. From Carrollton Buffalo Creek flows southwest across cattle pasture and hay fields into the Tallapoosa River. The downstream section of Buffalo Creek is a swamp. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division has designated Buffalo Creek as not supporting because of fecal coliform, Cu and Pb. This study of Buffalo Creek is part of the West Georgia Watershed Assessment. Parameters measured in this study are temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, turbidity, TSS, BOD, COD, total phosphorous, ammonia-N, TKN, nitrate-nitrite-N, fecal coliform, hardness, and total Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu. Field checks and satellite images are used to assist in determination of land usage in the watershed. The water quality of Buffalo Creek varies with land usage and watershed characteristics. For example, the combination of agricultural and very slow flow (swamp-like) cause Buffalo Creek to discharge high sulfate and low DO water into the Little Tallapoosa River.