Results from Six Years of Community-Based Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring By the Upper Oconee Watershed Network

Proceedings of the 2007 Georgia Water Resources Conference, March 27-29, 2007, Athens, Georgia.The Upper Oconee Watershed Network (UOWN), an Athens, GA-based non-profit volunteer organization, was organized in 2000 with the mission to improve water quality in the Upper Oconee River basin through community-based advocacy, monitoring, and education. Quarterly monitoring of both reference and impaired stream segments form the basis for achieving all three of UOWN’s mission objectives. UOWN has developed a model for engaging the public in quarterly monitoring and in the larger annual River Rendezvous events. Quarterly monitoring not only tracks long-term trends in targeted stream segments, but also has resulted in the discovery and remediation of acute incidences of pollution. Six years of data collection revealed high levels of contamination in urban streams as evidenced by high conductivity and bacterial numbers, and potential limitations when using quarterly water quality monitoring to assess the health of Piedmont streams.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 TechnologyThis book was published by the Institute of Ecology, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2202. The views and statements advanced in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not represent official views or policies of The University of Georgia, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Georgia Water Research Institute as authorized by the Water Resources Research Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-397) or the other conference sponsors

Community-based Water Quality Monitoring by the Upper Oconee Watershed Network

Proceedings of the 2001 Georgia Water Resources Conference, April 26 and 27, 2001, Athens, Georgia.The Upper Oconee Watershed Network is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting streams and rivers by community oriented water quality education, advocacy and monitoring. Presently, community volunteers have collected water quality data on over 150 sites in the Middle and North Oconee Rivers. The purpose of this study was to compile data on visual assessments, physical and chemical analyses (temperature, pH, turbidity, conductivity and dissolved oxygen) and biological measurements (fecal coliform levels and macroinvertebrate indices) from 11 primary sites to evaluate seasonal trends in water quality and to assess the effects of land-use on water quality in the Upper Oconee watershed. Of all parameters tested, biological measurements were the most sensitive indicators of degraded water quality. Seasonally, water temperatures and fecal coliform levels were highest in the summer, whereas dissolved oxygen concentrations were lowest. Turbidity was highest in the spring and winter possibly because of increased rainfall and corresponding runoff during that time. Water quality degradation was more apparent at sites with urban land-uses. Together, these data illustrate the importance of including land-use observations and seasonal biological assessments in community-based water quality monitoring.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 TechnologyThis book was published by the Institute of Ecology, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2202. The views and statements advanced in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not represent official views or policies of The University of Georgia, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Georgia Water Research Institute as authorized by the Water Resources Research Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-397) or the other conference sponsors

Lead Accumulation in Soft Tissues and Shells of Asiatic Clams (Corbicula fluminea)

Proceedings of the 1999 Georgia Water Resources Conference, March 30 and 31, Athens, Georgia.Bivalves bioaccumulate metals and are useful as sentinel organisms for assessing the bioavailability of metal contaminants in aquatic ecosystems. Frequently, tissue metal concentrations are used by environmental monitoring studies to evaluate potential exposure and effects scenarios. However, bivalves may accumulate certain metals, such as lead, to a significant extent in shells. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the uptake and distribution of lead in the Asiatic clam (Corbicula fluminea) to determine the utility of using shell lead concentrations in environmental monitoring studies. Clams were exposed to lead (5 and 10 mg/L) in a static-renewal system for three weeks. Tissue (adductor muscle and foot) and shell lead concentrations were quantified by atomic absorption spectroscopy after three weeks of exposure and one week post-exposure. Lead accumulation in shells and tissues increased with increasing exposure concentrations. Lead accumulation in shells was approximately 76 to 89% greater than accumulation in adductor muscle tissue and 48 to 70% greater than accumulation in foot tissue. Furthermore, shell lead concentrations were not altered in depurated clams. Together, these data indicate that shells represent a primary storage site for lead in Asiatic clams and suggest that shells may represent a valuable biological material to sample in environmental monitoring studies when lead is a contaminant of concern.Sponsored and Organized by: U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, The University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of TechnologyThis book was published by the Institute of Ecology, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2202 with partial funding provided by the U.S. Department of Interior, geological Survey, through the Georgia Water Research Insttitute as authorized by the Water Research Institutes Authorization Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-397). The views and statements advanced in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not represent official views or policies of the University of Georgia or the U.S. Geological Survey or the conference sponsors