CHALLENGES OF IMPROVING SURFACE WATER QUALITY IN BAYOU CHENE, LOUISIANA

To assess the surface water quality of Bayou Chene, which is one of the 303(d) listed water bodies in Louisiana, USA, we monitored surface water quality of the bayou from June 2012 to October 2016. Water quality sampling involved the weekly collection of surface water samples from each location (initially at four locations and later at 10 locations) by grab using a Van Dorn sampler. Laboratory determination of these samples included TSS, TDS, TS, BOD5, NO3/NO2-N, TKN, SRP, TP, Cl, Fl, and SO4. Surface water temperature, DO, turbidity, conductivity and pH were determined in the field using YSI Sonde. As expected, the DO levels were significantly negatively correlated with surface water temperature. Trend analysis showed increasing trends for surface water temperature, TKN and SRP and declining trends for DO levels in Bayou Chene. While efforts were made to implement BMPs in agricultural lands in the watershed, it is apparent from surface water quality results that implementation of additional BMPs as well as sufficient consideration for rising surface water temperature is necessary to improve surface water quality of Bayou Chene in Louisiana.