Organizational Unit:

Georgia Water Resources Institute

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https://hdl.handle.net/1853/70796

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School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 80

Jackson Lake: Response to Nutrient Reduction

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1989-05) Kamps, David M.

Jackson Lake is a 4750 acre Georgia Power Co. impoundment of the Ocmulgee River located 40 miles southeast of Atlanta. The lake was formed in 1911 by the closure of Lloyd Shoals Dam and has served as an important recreational resource since that time. In the 1960's, Jackson Lake exhibited signs of rapidly accelerating eutrophication. Symptoms included fish kills, algal blooms, hypolimnetic anoxia and floating debris. Subsequent studies revealed the primary cause to be excessive input of nutrients, mainly from the South River and to a lesser extent from the Yellow River. The principal nutrient inducing algal growth was found to be phosphorus. By the mid 1970's construction projects were initiated to improve wastewater treatment in the South and Yellow River Basins. Major upgrades to facilities in both basins included phosphorus reduction. The City of Atlanta also initiated the Three Rivers Project which diverted treated wastewater from two facilities on the South River to the Chattahoochee River, and another major discharge was diverted to a land application system. In 1983, DeKalb County instituted advanced treatment with phosphorus reduction at the Snapfinger Water Pollution Control Plant, and in December 1984, the City of Atlanta began operation of the Three Rivers pipeline. Also, in early 1986, facilities to handle the "first flush" from three combined sewer overflows in the upper South River Basin were put into service.
Mitigation for Reservoir Projects Part I: Wildlife Mitigation Past and Present

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1989-05) Burns, Carol J. ; Conger, Allen W. ; Whiteside, Richard W.

The environmental impacts of water development projects have recently become the source of considerable concern by various groups. A dichotomy has evolved in which there exists a continuing need to satisfy population water demands and a recognition that projects to accomplish these ends may cause irreversible adverse impacts (Hagan and Roberts 1973). Mitigation for the loss of wetland habitat has been a major issue to resource managers and developers for only the past 15 years. In the interim, substantial progress has occurred in the evolution and acceptance of the concept; we are now at a time when we have enough knowledge and experience to review how effectively the concept has been implemented (LaRoe 1986). For the portion of Georgia north of the Fall Line, a network of public fishing and water supply reservoirs was proposed to ensure future water supplies. A need for 31 reservoirs was identified (Cowie and Cooley 1988). What avoidance, restoration/ creation criteria and techniques should those proposing to impact wetland tracts apply for reservoir mitigation in each instance? The scope of this paper is to present the evolution of the wetland mitigation concept with respect to reservoir development. A review of case histories and evaluation of our progress is presented with a specific emphasis on mitigation for wildlife.
Chemical and Physical Components of Crusting in Southeastern Soils

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1989-05) Miller, William P. ; Radcliffe, David E. ; Scifres, J.
The Capture-Zone Method for Recovery System Design

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1989-05) Seaburn, Gerald Eloy
Determination of Nitrate-Nitrogen in Water Using a Coated Wire Electrode

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1989-05) Goodroad, L. L. ; Shuman, Larry M. ; Pitts, R. B.

Monitoring nitrate (N0 [3]) in water has important implications to public health and environmental quality. Of the analytical methods available, ion selective electrodes have potential for simple, rapid determination of N0[3] concentrations in water. Use of ion selective electrodes has been limited due to interference by a variety of ions, relatively high detection limits, and short operational lifetimes (Tabatabi and Dick, 1983). According to Langmuir and Jacobson (1970) chloride (Cl) and bicarbonate (HC0[3]) were the chief interfering anions in most waters when using a commercially available liquid junction N0[3] specific electrode. Lee et al (1986) described a procedure for making coated wire nitrate-selective electrodes. In this paper, we report the characteristics of the coated wire N0[3] selective electrode and the possible application to N0[3] analysis in water.
Development of a Trihalomethane Control Strategy

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1989-05) Skalsky, Daniel S. ; Hildebran, Randy E. ; Simmons, Carl S.

In 1974, Congress adopted the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) which directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop national standards for drinking water quality. As a result of growing concern about the health effects of trace chemical compounds and other radio-nuclide and biological contaminants occasionally found in drinking water, the Safe Drinking Water Act was amended by Congress in 1986. With the current trend toward new and more stringent regulations, advanced water treatment technologies are being utilized with increasing frequency to meet the challenge of providing safe drinking water. In recognition of the impact of the SDWA Amendments of 1986 and forthcoming drinking water requirements, the City of Raleigh, North Carolina has embarked on an aggressive study to ensure that future drinking water treatment goals are achieved. Brown and Caldwell has been working with the firm of Olsen Associates to prepare a master plan for the City of Raleigh's E.M. Johnson Water Treatment Plant (WTP). The objectives of the study are to: Conduct a review of the existing water treatment process, raw water and finished water quality and current regulatory trends, and to identify treatment processes that may be required in the future to meet recently adopted and anticipated water quality regulations; Prepare a master plan for the E.M. Johnson WTP that provides for the expansion of the treatment facilities to their ultimate capacity of 100 mgd, incorporates currently required changes in the treatment processes, and provides flexibility for future anticipated treatment processes; and Prepare preliminary cost estimates and recommendations for new facilities included in the master plan. This paper focuses on the formation of trihalomethanes (THMs) and their control using a variety of treatment technologies. Trihalomethane concerns and control alternatives are discussed, and the strategy recommended for the EM. Johnson WTP is presented.
Riparian Zone Effects on Water Quality

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1989-05) Lowrance, Richard

Riparian ecosystems in Georgia are almost exclusively forested wetlands or floodplain forests. Our understanding of the importance of riparian ecosystems in maintaining water quality has been based on a relatively small number of research projects carried out over the last decade. Much of this research has examined effects on runoff and drainage from agricultural land. The Southeast Watershed Research Laboratory of the Agricultural Research Service, in cooperation with the University of Georgia, has made substantial contributions to our understanding of riparian ecosystems. This paper will present a review of research on riparian ecosystems and water quality in the coastal plain and will examine a number of management issues concerning riparian zones. In the Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Plain of the southeastern U. S., riparian forests often form a natural buffer between row-crop fields in upland areas and the stream channel. This natural buffer was not always in place. When plowing and cultivation were done with horses and mules, it was possible to plow closer to the stream than it is today with large tractors. Aerial photographs from Turner County, GA show clearly that forest buffer strips which are now 30m to 40m wide were not present in the 1930's (Lowrance et al., 1986). Although water quality data for these earlier times are not available, it is likely that the lack of a riparian buffer strip resulted in higher sediment loads and contamination of surface water with the agricultural chemicals used in those days.
Effective Evaluation of Water Distribution Systems

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1989-05) Haas, David L. ; O'Neil, John

The City of Athens operates a water treatment plant which supplies an average of 15.5 million gallons per day (mgd) to the residents and businesses of Clarke County and parts of Barrow, Oconee, Jackson, and Madison Counties. As the rapid growth trends of metro Atlanta push eastward, the need to manage water resources in Athens becomes more evident. An important aspect of water resource management is maintaining a reliable supply of water to the customer. Several computer programs are available to aid the engineer in evaluating the adequacy of water distribution systems. The City of Athens uses one such program, developed by the University of Kentucky (Wood, 1980) and based on the Hardy Cross Method, to evaluate the water system's ability to meet demands and to point out hydraulic deficiencies in the distribution system where improvements are necessary. Historical billing records are used by Athens to help make these evaluations with the aid of LOTUS 1-2-3 and D-base software. working interactively with the Hardy Cross computer program.
Habitat Suitability Criteria for Assessment of Instream Flow Needs for Fish

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1989-05) Crance, Johnie H.

In the western portion of the United States, competition for stream water has often been fierce. Water resource management agencies in the southeastern United States, where water has been relatively abundant, are now being faced with similar competing demands for water, and with increasing pressures to develop and defend recommendations for protecting fish and invertebrates in streams. Streamflow depletion at any time can result in severe long-term effects on fish populations (Peters, 1982). The allocation of stream water to any of numerous instream or offstream uses is tied to the issues of water quantity, quality, and timing, which center on two critical questions: (1) when and how much water of an acceptable quality should be left in a stream, and (2) what happens if flow regimes are changed? Answers to these questions will probably be complex, but reliable answers are needed to protect instream and offstream values. If instream flow interests expect to compete with offstream uses for limited water supp1ies, they must be ab1e to establish reliable and defensible methods for determining instream flow needs and demonstrate the environmental consequences of altered flow regimes. My objectives in this paper are: (a) to present an overview of the need, deve1opment, and use of stream habitat suitability criteria, and the use of these criteria for the assessment of instream flow needs; (b) to give a status report on the plan of the National Ecology Research Center (NERC) for expansion of instream flow research in the Southeast; and (c) to discuss the relevancy of the research to river corridor management.
Water Supply Planning and Coordination in the Atlanta Region

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1989-05) Stevens, Patricia A.

The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is the regional planning and development agency for the seven-county Atlanta Region. The area encompasses Clayton, Cobb; DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Gwinnett and Rockdale counties. The Region currently has a population of 23 million people and is expected to have 3.7 million people by the year 2010. ARC's dual mission is (1) to provide a forum for the Region's leaders to discuss issues of common concern and plan for coordinated solutions, and (2) to develop comprehensive plans to guide future growth. Water supply is one of ARC's functional areas. In March, 1988 the ARC Board adopted an updated Regional Water Supply Plan to reflect new long-range forecasts for population and employment. This plan serves as a guide for the allocation of raw water supplies in the Atlanta Region. This paper describes the main elements of the ARC Water Supply Plan. This presentation will also briefly discuss ARC's role as a forum for discussing water restrictions during the 1988 drought.