DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL RUNOFF IN NORTHEAST ARKANSAS USING ORGANOCHLORIDE PESTICIDES

Pesticide use is heavy in northeast Arkansas because of mosquito abatement and agriculture applications. Urban and rural runoff that contains pesticides will enter the creeks and riverbeds that flow throughout Arkansas. The City of Jonesboro, located in northeast Arkansas, is a growing city of 50,000+ people. Jonesboro has industrialized areas located within it and agricultural lands (mainly rice, cotton, and soybeans) surrounding it. Jonesboro uses pesticides as part of its citywide mosquito abatement program and agriculture applies pesticides to its crops—both are non-point sources of pollution. In this study, three creeks are being examined to determine the effect that the urban (City of Jonesboro) and rural (surrounding agriculture) areas have on the geochemistry of the waterways. Big Creek begins north of the City of Jonesboro and flows southwest through a dominantly agricultural area just west of Jonesboro. Lost Creek also begins north of the Jonesboro and flows to the southwest, parallel to Big Creek, but through a heavily industrialized region of Jonesboro before it confluences with Big Creek, west of Jonesboro. EPA has classified Lost Creek as an impaired stream as it passes through the city. Turtle Creek begins at the center of Jonesboro and flows southeasterly into an agricultural region. We anticipate that we will be able to distinguish between urban and rural runoff and their effects on the streams by analyzing the water and sediment samples for organochlorine pesticides.