VARIATIONS OF NUTRIENTS, TURBIDITY, AND FECAL COLIFORM BACTERIA FROM 2001 TO 2005 IN THE LITTLE TALLAPOOSA WATERSHED CARROLL COUNTY, GEORGIA

In 2001 assessment of water quality of Carroll and Heard Counties was conducted by the Center for Water Resources (CWR) of the University of West Georgia as part of the West Georgia Watershed Assessment. Beginning in August 2003 the CWR begin long term monitoring in Carroll County and parts of Douglas County. During the original one-year 2001 study 21 water quality parameters were measured weekly or monthly at 70 sample stations in the Tallapoosa and Chattahoochee watersheds of west Georgia. When needed extra fecal coliform bacteria samples were collected between monthly samples. The present long term monitoring study has 48 sample stations, 27 of these sites were sampled during the 2001 study.

The purposes of this abstract is to compare water quality results of 2001 and 2004 from 11 sites on the Little Tallapoosa River, the major source of drinking water for the city of Carrollton, and to discuss three lakes in the Little Tallapoosa watershed that contribute to the drinking water supply. All sample sties in 2003-2005 are monitored monthly with additional fecal sampling if needed to determine if a site is in violation of Georgia fecal water quality standards. In general water quality results for the Little Tallapoosa River from 2001 and 2004 are similar. The river has higher averages in 2004 for turbidity and fecal coliform bacteria while total phosphorus and specific conductivity are slightly lower in 2004. A deep part of the lakes were sampled near the dam. A surface sample and a sample about 1.5 feet above the lake bottom were collected. Sharps Creek Reservoir, the deepest (bottom sample at a depth of 21 ft) and best protected lake, showed little degradation of water quality parameters with rainfall. The other two lakes (bottom sample at depths of 6 and 10 ft) had more developed shorelines and were effected by rainfall events that would increase turbidity (from dry sampling events of less than 5 NTU to more than 35 NTU, whereas maximum turbidity at Sharps Creek Reservoir was 5.2 and 11 NTU for the surface and bottom sample) and fecal coliform bacteria (over 1000 col./100ml for sites except the surface of Sharps Creek Reservoir that never exceeded 100 col./100ml). Sharps Creek Reservoir developed the strongest natural seasonal water stratification with bottom samples of low DO (<1.3 mg/L), and high TKN, nitrite-nitrate-N, and ammonia-N.