GEOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF LAKE CONWAY SEDIMENTS

Lake Conway, located in Faulkner County, Arkansas, is a 27 km² lake and is the largest man-made game and fish commission lake ever constructed in the United States. The watersheds surrounding Lake Conway in central Arkansas have seen dramatic growth over the last several decades, with the population in Faulkner County increasing from approximately 60,000 in 1990 to over 106,000 in 2008. Coupled with this rapid population increase, water quality in the lake and its tributaries has continued to decline. Multiple studies from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality have shown several trace elements present in the sediment and water that are thought to have originated from urbanization pressures surrounding the lake and both industrial and municipal discharges into the lake’s tributaries. This study analyzed total metal concentrations for ten elements (Al, Cu, Cr, Fe, Ni, Pb, Zn, Mn, As, Hg) known to have been discharged from nearby facilities or commonly present in sediments originating from urbanized watersheds.