Tuesday, May 27, 2008
201

Assessing water quality in streams of the Mississippi alluvial valley

Todd Tietjen, Wildlife and Fisheries, Mississippi State University, Mailstop 9690, Mississippi State, MS 39762

The streams of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley are of extremely low gradient, deeply incised, profoundly impacted by long term agriculture, and increasingly experiencing decreased discharge as groundwater is diverted to other uses. Many of these streams would be evaluated as moderately to severely degraded by traditional measures of water quality. An Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) evaluation scheme has been developed to evaluate these streams using integrated biological measures, in preparation for mitigation and restoration. To supplement and focus these efforts I have been collecting traditional water quality data for a variety of chemical (Nitrite+Nitrate-Nitrogen, Ammonium-Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Oxygen, pH), biological (Total Coliform, Fecal Coliform, Chlorophyll, Chemical Oxygen Demand), and physical (suspended sediments, temperature) parameters. Overall, this effort is attempting answer two questions: Can correlative relationships be developed between IBI scores and some combination of traditional water quality measurements? Can “classes” of pollutants be identified and correlated to IBI score ranges? It is extremely difficult to plan and execute management recommendations based on IBI scores alone. By correlating the IBI data with traditional measures of water quality the benefits of biomonitoring can be combined with water quality parameters for which there are demonstrated successful management techniques in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley.


Web Page: Index of Biotic Integrity, Water Quality, Mississippi Alluvial Valley

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