Title:
Does the Chickasawhatchee Swamp Influence Water Quality? (Poster)
Does the Chickasawhatchee Swamp Influence Water Quality? (Poster)
Author(s)
Golladay, Stephen W.
Battle, Juliann
Battle, Juliann
Advisor(s)
Editor(s)
Hatcher, Kathryn J.
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Abstract
As watersheds become dominated by human land use, water quality is often altered or degraded. Since 1994, water-quality constituents have been measured monthly in three adjacent Coastal Plain watersheds in southwest
Georgia. Row-crop agriculture and managed forestlands are the dominant land use within each watershed; however, one
watershed (Chickasawhatchee Creek) had 10-13% less
agriculture and greater wetland area than the others. Much of
the wetland area was within the Chickasawhatchee Swamp, a
substantial wetland complex adjacent to the lower portion of
the creek. Riparian areas had less forest, greater agriculture, and greater wetland area compared to the other watersheds. Chickasawhatchee Creek had significantly lower suspended
sediment and NO₃₋N concentrations than the other sites. Organic and inorganic carbon concentrations were
significantly greater than the other sites. These results suggest
that the Chickasawhatchee Swamp may be an important
buffer preserving water quality in southwest Georgia. However, these results should be considered preliminary
because water quality was not quantified in tributaries
entering the swamp. An expansion of the current sampling
effort to include upstream tributaries of the swamp is
addressing this information need.
Sponsor
Sponsored and Organized by: U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Natural Resources Conservation Service, The University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology
Date Issued
2001-03
Extent
Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
Proceedings