TRACKING CONTAMINANTS IN A MISSOURI WATERSHED: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH

Karst watersheds are fragile systems that can become quickly contaminated. Not all sources of contamination are regulated, which may present problems for municipalities experiencing water quality problems. Contaminant source tracking may be used to determine the source and its relative geographic location. The primary goal of this study was to track sources of fecal coliforms in the South Dry Sac Watershed (77km²), located on the northern edge of Springfield, MO. Sampling took place weekly to biweekly from late July through November, 2010 at thirteen sites dispersed along the main branch of the watershed. Additional parameters for this study include optical brighteners, general water parameters (pH, conductivity, DO, etc), and concentrations of major ions. Land use was determined using remote sensing classification methods in ENVI. Municipal GIS layers donated by the City of Springfield's GIS Division were used in ArcMap to perform geospatial analysis of the data set. Final results will be discussed during the presentation.