1991-2000
ALBE Surface-Water Study Design
Albemarle-Pamlico
Study (ALBE), National Water-Quality Study
(NAWQA)
Site
Map
From
1992 to 1995, over 400 surface-water-quality
samples were collected and analyzed for
12 sites in the study area. Physical
properties, major ions, nutrients, pesticides,
organic carbon, and suspended sediment (list
of constituents) were collected
weekly to monthly at these sites.
Seven
streams in the study area were selected
to evaluate water quality in relation to
cropland, forest, and wetlands—Van
Swamp, Albemarle Canal, Chicod Creek, Durham
Creek, Devil's Cradle Creek, Pete Mitchell
Swamp, and Bear Creek. All of these basins
are located in the Coastal Plain physiographic
province except for Devil's Cradle Creek,
which is in the Piedmont physiographic province.
Durham Creek was selected as a reference
basin to provide data on relatively pristine
water-quality conditions. Sites on the Nottoway,
Blackwater, Tar, and Neuse Rivers and Contentnea
Creek were sampled at the downstream most
point before tidal influence to reflect
effects from all land uses in the basin.
Basin areas upstream from these stations
range in size from 602 to 8,384 mi2
and drain about 70 percent of the study-unit
area.
In
1996, a period of low-level monitoring began.
Two of the 12 sites were sampled on a monthly
basis -- Neuse River and Contentnea Creek.
The Contentnea Creek basin was a focus of
the study because this basin has the highest
nitrogen and phosphorus instream loads of
all of the large river basins in the Albemarle-Pamlico
region. (Abstract)
The Neuse River and Contentnea Creek were
previously a part of the National Stream-Quality
Accounting Network (NASQAN).
These sites have a long history of data
collection and, therefore, are helpful in
determining long-term water-quality trends.
