HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Related articles in JEQ Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (3) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Stewart, J. Articles by Skousen, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Stewart, J. Articles by Skousen, J. Agricola Articles by Stewart, J. Articles by Skousen, J. Related Collections Water Quality Ecosystem Restoration Surface Water Quality Water Pollution

TECHNICAL REPORTS
Surface Water Quality

Water Quality Changes in a Polluted Stream over a Twenty-Five-Year Period

Jason Stewart and Jeff Skousen^*

Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV 26506-6108

^* Corresponding author (jskousen{at}wvu.edu)

Received for publication June 3, 2002. The Deckers Creek watershed in northern West Virginia (USA), containing a land area of 166 km² (63 mi²), has a long history of industrial development and attendant environmental abuses from both land and water pollution practices. The water in Deckers Creek was sampled in 1974 at 29 locations along the main stem and resampled in 1999–2000 to determine water quality changes over this 25-year period. Water samples were analyzed for pH, acidity, alkalinity, iron, and calcium at both times, while aluminum, manganese, zinc, and fecal coliform (FC) bacteria densities were added in 1999–2000. Water at almost all sampling points showed lower acidity and metal contents in 1999–2000 compared with 1974. Water pH increased at the mouth from 5.4 in 1974 to 6.0 in 1999–2000. Acidity and iron concentrations were decreased an average of 70% in the upper stretches of the creek. However, one major untreated point source of water from an abandoned underground mining complex continues to degrade the quality of the creek in its lower stretches. In the upper section, the water quality in Deckers Creek has improved due to decreased surface and underground coal mining activities, reclamation of abandoned and recently permitted surface mined lands, and natural healing of past land use scars from timbering and mining over time. The decrease in mineral extraction activities and the reclamation of disturbed lands has occurred due to the passage and enforcement of water quality and land reclamation laws and regulations. More time and additional reclamation projects will continue to enhance the water quality in the creek. Improved water chemistry in the majority of the creek, however, shows the previously unnoticeable biological contamination from sewage inputs.

Abbreviations: FC, fecal coliform

Related articles in JEQ:

This Issue in Journal of Environmental Quality

JEQ 2003 32: 377-382. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Demchak, J. Skousen, and L. M. McDonald Longevity of Acid Discharges from Underground Mines Located above the Regional Water Table J. Environ. Qual., March 1, 2004; 33(2): 656 - 668. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]