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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.

	ABSTRACT

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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

	INTRODUCTION

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WATER QUALITY has improved in many streams, rivers, and lakes in the USA over the past 20 to 30 years (Smith et al., 1987). This is due largely to the passage of laws that regulate discharges into waters of the USA. For example, the Clean Water Act (CWA) was passed in 1977 (including amendments of the previously passed Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 [Arbuckle et al., 1993]), which was established "to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters." To achieve this purpose, a permitting system called the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) was developed to regulate pollution from point sources into rivers or lakes of the USA. As a result, all chemical, manufacturing, energy, and mineral extraction companies are required to obtain NPDES permits with effluent standards for discharged water since 1977. Municipalities discharging wastewater effluent into rivers and lakes were also forced to obtain NPDES permits, which prompted the construction of wastewater treatment facilities.

Another example is the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), which became law in 1977. The SMCRA established mining performance and land reclamation standards, including the assurance that "surface coal mining operations are so conducted as to protect the environment." It also provided a mechanism where previously disturbed and abandoned, unreclaimed land could be reclaimed to current standards.

The effects of these two laws on water quality improvements are often overlooked because changes in land and water resources over decades of time are forgotten or not passed on to succeeding generations. The Deckers Creek watershed has a long history of industrial development and associated environmental abuses from both land and water pollution practices. This watershed is used as an example to evaluate the changes of water quality in the Appalachian region where resource extraction practices have occurred during the past 100 years.

	DESCRIPTION, HISTORY, AND POLLUTION OF DECKERS CREEK

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The Deckers Creek watershed lies within the drainage basin of the Monongahela River in western Preston and eastern Monongalia Counties in northern West Virginia (Fig. 1) . The stream is approximately 38.1 km (23.6 mi) in length, originating in Preston County at an elevation of 737 m (2427 ft) with respect to mean sea level. The creek flows southeast for a short distance, then it loops to the north, receiving water from Kanes and Dillan Creek tributaries. Relief is very gradual from the headwaters to Masontown before becoming steep for a long stretch flowing northwest from Masontown to Dellslow. After Dellslow, the creek again flows over gently sloping terrain until reaching the Monongahela River at an elevation of 237 m (793 ft) (Teti, 1974).

View larger version (30K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 1. The Deckers Creek watershed, located in northern West Virginia, is shown with eight representative sample points from the Headwaters to Morgantown. The Richard Mine discharge is also shown.

The land surface is part of the Allegheny Mountain section, which includes the highest elevations of West Virginia, and is generally composed of mountain ranges oriented in a northeast–southwest direction. The vegetation is classified in the Northern Hardwood cover type, with 70% of the land surface in the watershed covered by the oak–hickory (Quercus–Carya spp.) forest type (Strausbaugh and Core, 1977). Farmland comprises 15% of the watershed, with nearly all of the active farming occurring in the upper portions of the watershed in Preston County. Urban land, found in and around the cities of Masontown and Morgantown, makes up roughly 10% of the area. Mined land accounts for the remaining 5% (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2000).

The area was first settled in 1772 along Deckers Creek near Morgantown. By 1798 one of the first iron works west of the Blue Ridge Mountains was located at Rock Forge beside a steep portion of the creek, just 4 km east of Morgantown. The population of Morgantown and surrounding areas grew slowly through the 1800s as these small industries gradually developed. Timbering operations clear-cut the northern West Virginia forest in 1870–1880. The second-growth forest was again cut in the 1900–1920 period, and again in the 1930s and 1940s (Clarkson, 1964; Hicks, 1998). During the timber boom, observers wrote, "... the great mountain slopes and forest had been ruinously detimbered, the soil on the hillsides had eroded and washed down, and the surface mines had been deserted leaving raw scars ..." (Eller, 1985).

Numerous coal mines opened throughout both Monongalia and Preston Counties within the watershed in the early 1900s (Moreland, 1985). The first commercial coal mine in the Deckers Creek watershed was located at Richard (5 km east of Morgantown) in 1903, when the West Virginia Coal Company opened an underground drift mine into the Upper Freeport coal along the north bank of Deckers Creek. By the end of that first year, 52 miners and laborers had produced enough coal to yield more than 6350 Mg (7000 U.S. tons) of coke by burning the coal in the 75 original beehive coke ovens (Paul, 1904). The operation grew so that by 1919, the coal miners were delivering coal to the surface at a rate of 60 820 Mg (67000 U.S. tons) per year, yielding 41 200 Mg (45 377 U.S. tons) of coke per year. Mining continued at the Richard Mine until the 1950s, when production ceased.

When the mine was abandoned, water accumulated in the underground mine voids and seeps eventually appeared at the land surface at many points, with the major water outflow from the mine coming at the portal and entering Deckers Creek. The reason poor-quality water drains from the Richard Mine is due to the coal itself and the mine's hydrology. Deckers Creek flows through the high-sulfur coal region in West Virginia, where the coal and associated strata contain high levels of pyrite. When exposed to water and oxygen during mining, pyrite undergoes a series of chemical reactions, ultimately resulting in the release of sulfate, proton acidity, and iron (Geidel and Caruccio, 2000). As elevated levels of iron are introduced into natural waters, the iron is oxidized and hydrolyzed, thereby forming iron hydroxides (Rosseland et al., 1992). The iron hydroxides precipitate out of solution and coat stream rocks and sediments, causing a distinct orange-colored stain (Younger, 1998). Low-pH conditions in the water accelerate weathering and the dissolution of silicate and other rock minerals, thereby causing the release of other elements such as aluminum and manganese into the water (Kittrick et al., 1982).

Acidity and metals, especially aluminum, have detrimental effects on aquatic organisms (Gray, 1995; Neville and Campbell, 1988; Sparling and Rowe, 1996). In a study of benthic macroinvertebrates in Deckers Creek, Mains et al. (1999) found that most of the stream contained a very low diversity of organisms, and that the total number of organisms was also very low. The most heavily damaged section of the stream was below the Richard Mine discharge, where the creek rated "very poor" by the Save Our Streams approach (a common method to categorize streams based on aquatic life), and no fish were reported.

The addition of limestone to acid mine drainage streams neutralizes the acidity and causes metals to precipitate from solution. A large limestone input to Deckers Creek comes from an active limestone quarry, Greer Limestone, which stores alkaline tailings along a 500-m (1640-ft) section of floodplain about halfway between the headwaters and the mouth at Morgantown (Fig. 1). The alkaline input at Greer is thought to be responsible for the improved quality of Deckers Creek from Greer down to the inflow of untreated acid mine drainage at the Richard Mine discharge.

Through the early to mid-1900s, mining became important to the economy in northern West Virginia. Underground mining was responsible for 90% of the coal production in this area before 1960 (Barlow, 1974). Surface mining gradually increased, so by 1990 underground mining accounted for about 50% of the coal removed (West Virginia Mining Association, 2000). The Deckers Creek watershed included only two seams of commercial coal, namely the Bakerstown and Upper Freeport coal seams. Both seams accounted for about 1.8 million Mg (2 million U.S. tons) of the average 118 million Mg (130 million U.S. tons) of West Virginia coal produced each year (West Virginia Mining Association, 2000).

As mining increased in this area during the mid-1900s, more people and other industries were established in the Deckers Creek watershed. The increased industrial activity led to the addition of higher amounts of acid mine drainage, chemicals, and sediment to the creek. Many residents along the creek used Deckers Creek for trash and sewage disposal. High levels of pollutants from soap, oil, and sediment, as well as nitrogen, phosphorus, and pathogens in sewage were introduced to the stream. Eventually, the pollution levels exceeded the assimilative capacity of the creek, resulting in widespread deterioration of water quality. By 1935, recreational use of Deckers Creek had stopped and the State Health Department at the time identified the creek as a possible health hazard due to its high levels of sewage contamination. A sewage collection and treatment system was completed in the Morgantown area by 1962, but acid mine drainage and sewage continued to enter the creek at various uncontrolled points along its stretch (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2000).

Fecal coliform bacteria are the most commonly isolated organism for identifying sewage inputs into streams. These bacteria are found in the gastrointestinal tract of mammals. Therefore, the extent to which natural waters have been affected by fecal matter in sewage from mammals may be evaluated through the isolation and enumeration of FC bacteria (Howell et al., 1995; Thelin and Gifford, 1983; Young and Thackston, 1999).

In 1974, James Teti, a graduate student at West Virginia University, conducted a water quality study of Deckers Creek (Teti, 1974) by sampling and analyzing the water at 29 sampling sites during a six-month period. The objectives of this study were to revisit the original sites sampled by Teti, collect water samples over an 18-month period, and, after water analyses, evaluate the changes in water quality between 1974 and 1999–2000.

	MATERIALS AND METHODS

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1974 Sampling Procedures
Water samples were collected monthly in plastic, 1-L bags at 29 sample sites along Deckers Creek (Fig. 1) between January and June of 1974. Teti (1974) reported withdrawing each sample from a flowing part of the stream, filling the sample containers completely, placing the water samples on ice, and analyzing the water in the laboratory for pH, acidity, alkalinity, iron, calcium, and magnesium. Teti did not measure flow when he collected water samples during the 1974 sampling period.

1999–2000 Sampling Procedures
Beginning in March 1999, water samples were collected at the same 29 sites along Deckers Creek. A Model 3500 water quality meter (YSI, Yellow Springs, OH) was used to measure temperature, electrical conductivity, and pH in the field. Two water samples were collected at each site. The first sample was collected in a 250-mL plastic bottle and was neither filtered, nor acidified. A second sample of 20 mL was filtered with a 0.45-µm filter and acidified to pH 2.0 with 0.5 mL of concentrated hydrochloric acid. Both samples were placed on ice and transported to the laboratory. The first sample was analyzed for pH, acidity, and alkalinity with a TitraLab Autotitrator (Radiometer A/S, Brønshøj, Denmark), while the second sample was analyzed for total iron, aluminum, calcium, and several other elements with a Plasma 400 inductively coupled spectrophotometer (PerkinElmer, Wellesley, MA). All titrations were performed within 6 h of sample collection.

Flow determinations were made at the same time water samples were taken. At the beginning of the study at each sample point, the cross-section of the stream channel was mapped and a reference point was marked for subsequent depth measurements. At later sampling times, the depth of the water was measured at this reference point and used to calculate the vertical area of water flow at the stream cross-section. Water velocity was measured with a FP101 flow probe (Global Water, Gold River, CA), which computed an average velocity over a 10-s period. Multiplying the cross-sectional area of the water in the stream by velocity provided the estimate of flow at that sampling point.

Another water sample was collected two or three days after chemistry samples were obtained each month and tested for the presence of FC bacteria. A membrane filtration technique was used (Clesceri et al., 1998). Samples were collected in 1-L plastic sterilized bottles that had been treated with 3 mL of sodium thiosulfate to bind any residual chlorine present in the creek water. Six volumes were analyzed (0.1, 1.0, 5.0, 10.0, 50.0, and 100.0 mL) to produce plates with between 20 and 60 countable colonies. Both the 0.1- and 1.0-mL volumes of sample were combined with 12 mL of peptone buffer to pass a sufficient volume of fluid through the filters. The 5.0-mL sample had 8.0 mL of peptone added, the 10-mL sample had 4.0 mL of peptone added, while the 50- and 100-mL volumes had no peptone buffer added. Suspensions were plated onto m-FC agar and incubated at 44.5°C ± 0.2°C for 24 h. Individual colonies with a bright blue color were counted to determine the number of colony forming units per 100 mL.

Regression analysis (Microsoft Excel) was used to compare rainfall with stream flow data (Microsoft, 1997). Statistical software (SAS and Excel) was used to perform t tests on pairs of data points (1999 vs. 2000 data) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the 1974, 1999, and 2000 data sets (SAS Institute, 1989). The least significant difference (LSD) method was used to separate means when significant differences were found by ANOVA. To compensate for variations over orders of magnitude in FC bacteria counts normally seen in microbiological studies, geometric means were analyzed. When working with a data set with large variations, geometric means give a better measure of centrality than do arithmetic means (Hunter et al., 1999).

	RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

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Flow Data
Since no flow data were collected during the 1974 study, an evaluation of stream flow in Deckers Creek during 1974 was necessary. Therefore, we estimated 1974 flows by developing correlations between measured monthly stream flow and rainfall data in Deckers Creek from 1948 to 1970. If rainfall and the resulting flows varied greatly between 1974 and 1999–2000 sampling times, any differences in water chemistry may be due to dilution or concentration effects rather than changes in baseline conditions. Therefore, using the monthly 1948–1970 data, we regressed monthly rainfall and stream flow at the mouth of Deckers Creek and found R² values of 0.51 to 0.82 for the months of March to June. For these months, removing one or two outliers improved the R² values to >0.85. Since these monthly correlations were very high between rainfall and stream flow, we used the regression equations to calculate each month's average stream flow in 1974 and compared these flows with the measured monthly flows at the mouth of Deckers Creek in 1999 and 2000 (Table 1).

Data from 8 of the original 29 sites were selected to represent specific sections of the stream (Fig. 1). The Headwaters sampling location was the most upstream sampling point and represented an area of limited pollution from households and land disturbances. Kanes and Dillan Creek sampling locations were selected to show the effects of two major tributaries draining areas heavily mined in the 1960s to 1980s. The Masontown site is shown because it is just below the town of Masontown, where numerous direct sewage inputs from residential areas occur. There is no central treatment system for Masontown (population 2000). About one-half the homes have septic tanks, while the rest do not. Greer is the location of a large limestone quarry, where limestone materials of various sizes are introduced into the stream at this point. At the Dellslow site, the limestone and water have mixed and several good-quality tributaries have entered the creek. But most important, this site is just upstream from a major acid mine drainage input from the Richard underground mine complex. Tramps is immediately downstream from the Richard Mine discharge into Deckers Creek, and the Morgantown site is near the mouth just before Deckers Creek enters the Monongahela River.

The data indicate that pH and alkalinity at 75% of the sites have significantly increased (p < 0.05) between 1974 and 1999–2000, and acidity and iron have significantly decreased (P < 0.05) at 60% of the sites (Table 2). Less improvement, however, occurred at the Tramps site and on downstream.

Water pH at six of eight sites was significantly higher (p < 0.05) during the present study than in 1974 (Table 2). In 1974, water pH in Deckers Creek was less than 5.5, except at Dellslow (Teti, 1974). Prolonged periods of low pH water in a stream are detrimental because metal solubility increases substantially at pH < 5.5. Dissolved aluminum and free protons interfere with oxygen absorption in benthic macroinvertebrates and fish (Sparling and Rowe, 1996). Aluminum also binds phosphorus into less available forms and interferes with the uptake, transport, and use of nutrients and water by aquatic plants.

Alkalinity levels have increased throughout the entire watershed. Alkalinity neutralizes acidity and complexes dissolved metals, therefore a stream with high alkalinity levels will be able to supply adequate amounts of carbonate, bicarbonate, and hydroxide ions in solution to bind up free protons and metals. A major factor responsible for the increase in alkalinity in 1999–2000 in the Kanes and Dillon Creek sites is limestone addition to the water. In the late 1970s, due to the enforcement of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program in West Virginia, an active treatment system was constructed at the outlet of an underground mine on Kanes Creek. This facility intermittently pumped and treated water from this underground mine using powdered calcium carbonate. The treated water was passed through a series of settling ponds, allowing metal precipitation, before the water was discharged into Kanes Creek. When operating, this system added 3780 to 7560 L min^-1 (1000–2000 gallons min^-1) of water with high pH and alkalinity to the creek. Table 3 shows the effects of this treatment on both Kanes Creek and on the main stem of Deckers Creek after the treated water entered Deckers Creek. Levels of acidity, iron, aluminum, and manganese were all reduced, while pH, alkalinity, and calcium all increased. Acidity was reduced by 97% in Kanes Creek as a result of this treatment facility.

Reducing water acidity has multiple benefits, and is consequently a main goal of all acid mine drainage control and treatment measures. Acid water irritates the gills and eyes of fish and aquatic insects. Elevated acidity also leads to accelerated weathering of clay minerals and pyrite (Kittrick et al., 1982). Clay minerals may break down quicker, releasing metals such as aluminum and iron from their crystal lattices. The exposure of pyrite during coal mining is the source of acid mine drainage (Geidel and Caruccio, 2000).

Total iron levels dropped 90% throughout the upper stretches of the watershed (Table 2), but no differences were found at three of our eight locations: Headwaters, Tramps, and Morgantown. Tramps had the highest iron levels in 1999–2000 due to inputs of untreated mine drainage at Richard. Iron is less toxic than aluminum, and will readily combine with hydroxide ions to form precipitates that coat stream bottoms.

Aluminum and manganese concentrations in Deckers Creek were not analyzed during the 1974 study. In 1999–2000, average aluminum concentrations in Deckers Creek were lower than the state standard (0.75 mg L^-1) at all points upstream from the Richard Mine discharge (Table 4). The Richard discharge water averages 71 mg L^-1 aluminum, 173 mg L^-1 iron, and almost 4 mg L^-1 manganese. At each sampling site downstream of Richard, average aluminum concentrations in Deckers Creek were 3 to 4 mg L^-1. Average manganese levels were lower than the state standard of 1.0 mg L^-1 at all sites, except the Richard discharge water.

In 1991, an abandoned spur of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad along Deckers Creek was converted into a high-use biking and hiking trail. The trail follows Deckers Creek from the mouth in Morgantown upstream to Kanes Creek in Preston County, a distance of about 29 km (18 mi). Instead of being an asset, Deckers Creek is a detriment to the rail trail due to the unsightly appearance of the creek. Residents living along the creek also feel the negative effects of having a polluted waterway near their homes. In an environmental assessment report for the Upper Deckers Creek watershed (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2000), more than 100 pages are devoted to letters of complaint and concern by local residents about the quality of the creek.

Surface mining activities in the watershed have greatly declined during the past decade due to reduced coal markets and the reluctance of operators to mine coal where acid mine drainage will result from mining. Enforcement of state and federal laws (Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act and Clean Water Act) has caused coal mining operators to withdraw mining activities from this area. About 52 coal mines operated in the Deckers Creek watershed in the 1970–1980s, and about 95% of these mines have been completed and reclaimed. Only two surface coal mines currently operate in the watershed and both are mining the Bakerstown coal, which does not produce acid mine drainage.

Six small refuse piles have been reclaimed in the watershed by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Abandoned Mine Lands (WVDEP-AML), and this has led to improved soil conservation and water quality. Two 30-ha, abandoned coal mining areas in Kanes Creek were also reclaimed by the WVDEP-AML at a combined cost of $600 000 in 1996. Passive treatment systems (wetlands and open limestone channels) were installed at both sites to help treat the water coming from these sites and to deal with acid mine water from underground portals within the project boundaries. Three other abandoned mine sites near Masontown are in the planning stages for reclamation. In 1984, the Richard underground mine portal had a wet seal installed and the land surface around the portals and coke ovens was reclaimed. This reclamation decreased the amount of sediment and other pollutants entering the creek from the land surface, but a concrete channel from the wet seal still conveys the majority of untreated Richard Mine drainage water to Deckers Creek.

Overall, decreased mining activity (both surface and underground), addition of alkaline materials at active treatment stations, and reclamation of active and abandoned surface mines in the Dillan and Kanes Creek areas have led to improved water chemistry of Deckers Creek. These actions would not have occurred without the passage and enforcement of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act and the Clean Water Act. Another important factor behind the water quality improvements in Deckers Creek is natural healing of land disturbance scars with time. Wood et al. (1999) indicate that mine water pollution is most severe in the first few decades after mining and reclamation, and that water, even from large mining complexes, can improve in quality after 40 years. Natural land healing processes, reclamation projects conducted by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection on abandoned surface mined sites, and better treatment and control of water on active surface and underground mine sites has enhanced this improvement.

Fecal Coliform Bacteria
In contrast to improved water chemistry in Deckers Creek, a new water pollution problem is becoming apparent, one that has not been previously noticed or addressed. Populations of FC bacteria were found to be very high in some parts of Deckers Creek due to inadequate sewage treatment (Table 5). No FC bacteria data were available from the 1974 study, but it is hypothesized that the harsh chemical conditions in the creek during 1974 would have masked any FC bacteria problems by limiting survival rates.

Statistical analysis indicates that FC bacteria levels were significantly different among sites (p < 0.01) and that a significant difference also existed among seasons (p < 0.01) at each site (data not shown). The differences among sites are probably due to different land uses, human population densities, and access to adequate sewage systems throughout the watershed. Seasonal differences in FC bacteria densities have been reported (Baudart et al., 2000; Davenport et al., 1976; Edwards et al., 1997; Farrell-Poe et al., 1997; Thelin and Gifford, 1983; Young and Thackston, 1999). During summer months, higher temperatures facilitated the survival of FC bacteria outside their host. Also, stream flow was normally lower during the hotter and drier summer months, reducing the effect of dilution on point sources of sewage pollution.

The City of Masontown is currently constructing a wastewater treatment plant that will collect sewage and household water from residences in Masontown and surrounding towns, all of which are situated along Deckers Creek. The completion of this treatment plant should greatly decrease the direct flow of sewage that enters Deckers Creek in its upper stretches, and decrease the hazard from FC bacteria in the stream. While the state regulatory agency has been aware that Masontown does not have a centralized treatment system, the magnitude of the effect on Deckers Creek was probably unnoticed or not perceived to be a problem. Since the degree of impact was assumed to be small, city leaders were not pressed to pass a tax or raise funds from the residents to build a treatment system, as the Clean Water Act requires. Recently, as Deckers Creek began improving in chemistry over time and as we and others became aware of the more significant biological effect, planning began in 1998 for a treatment system with the encouragement of the state regulatory agency. The treatment plant and the underground pipe collection system are scheduled to go on line in 2003.

	CONCLUSIONS

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Water chemistry in Deckers Creek has significantly improved between 1974 and 1999–2000. The creek is a good example of the changes in water quality of many streams in the Appalachian Region during the past 20 to 30 years that were affected by resource extraction activities over the past century. Water pH was generally 1 to 2 units higher, and acidity has declined by more than 38% between these two dates across all sampling locations. The upper portion of the creek showed dramatic improvements with >70% reductions in acidity and metals. Measurable improvements have been realized after 20 years with the enforcement of environmental laws and regulations developed in the 1970s. Natural reclamation and time passage also have had beneficial effects on improving stream quality. Water quality has improved because of reduced surface and underground mining activities, better reclamation and water control techniques on active surface mines, reclamation of abandoned surface mined lands, treatment of mine discharges, and natural healing of past land disturbances over time. This study also showed that as the chemistry of Deckers Creek improved to support aquatic life, sewage inputs were found to be an increasingly noticeable problem. Sewage treatment by wastewater treatment plants is needed to limit the direct input of sewage into the creek and to restore the quality of Deckers Creek. The City of Masontown, one of the major contributors of FC bacteria to the creek, will complete a treatment plant in 2003.

	ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 
The authors thank Jim Gorman for initial help in the design of the study, and Gary Bissonnette, Louis McDonald, and John Sencindiver for suggestions in data collection and manuscript review. We also express appreciation to Louis McDonald, Katrina Klugh, and William Thayne for statistical analyses, and also to Jen Demchak, Kelly Flemming, and Joan Wright for help in sample preparation and water quality analyses.

	NOTES

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Scientific contribution no. 2825 from the West Virginia Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Morgantown. This research was supported by funds appropriated under the Hatch Act.

J. Stewart, current address: Marshall Miller & Associates, P.O. Box 848, Bluefield, VA 24605.

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