Assessing Stream and Watershed Function for a System Affected by Livestock Production in the Northeast Mississippi
John J. Ramirez Avila
Watersheds and Water Quality Research Lab
Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
Mississippi State University
Starkville, MS
Authors: John J. Ramirez Avila, Lorena Chavarro-Chaux, Sandra Ortega-Achury, Brad Richardson, Joby Czarnecki, Tim Schauwecker
Assessments of stream water quality and health are advanced along a 0.9-km reach tributary of the Catalpa Creek in northeast Mississippi. The stream directly receives concentrated runoff (gullies) from the upper 0.52-km2 livestock drainage area production. Monitoring results evidenced the stream baseflow has poor water quality conditions, apparently driven by the presence of cattle in the fields and their direct access to the stream, the potential nutrient enrichment of the shallow water table (which maintains the baseflow level during the dry months of the year), and the supply of sediment from active streambanks along the main stream and tributary gullies. Measured nutrient concentrations (TN: 1.2-2.2 mg/l; TP: 0.27-0.72 mg/l; NO3>0.3-0.78 mg/l; TKN: 0.72-1.82 mg/l) exceeded the standard nutrient criteria proposed for Mississippi. Critical levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) (1.6-5.0 mg/l) and water temperatures of up to 34.3oC were observed during summer and fall seasons. The biological assessment reports little macroinvertebrate diversity along the reach. Samples were dominated by midge larvae (Family: Chironomidae) and aquatic worms (Subclass: Oligochaeta), both considered indicators of poor water quality when dominant. Other indicators of poor water quality conditions were green blooms and floating cyanobacteria, the latter mostly present along the deeper segments of the reach containing low DO. Watershed and reach assessments indicated the restoration potential for the study reach should focus on the uplift of hydrology, hydraulic and geomorphology processes. Monitoring will continue through the implementation of stream crossings and riparian buffers, practices expected to improve stream health and water quality conditions along the stream system.
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