Water quality characteristics of
streams in forested and rural areas of North Carolina
Water-Supply Paper 2185-B
By C.E. Simmons and R.C Heath
Abstract
Data collected in North Carolina during 1973-78 from a statewide
network of 39 rural sampling sites were used to define
unpolluted or baseline stream quality. The basins were 90 to 100
percent forested and, except for the unknown effects of air
pollution, were relatively unaffected by man 's activities. Five
distinct geochemical zones were delineated across the State. The
chemical characteristics of surface waters in each zone are
similar. Mean and other statistical values for major dissolved
constituents, nutrients, and minor elements in base runoff and
storm runoff were determined. Twenty additional rural sites were
located in basins where farming activities ranged from 15 to 55
percent of basins' land area. Data from these 20 sites were
used for comparison with data from the 39 unpolluted sites to
determine the increase in constituent levels caused by man. For
basins where farming activities accounted for 20 or more percent
of total land use, phosphorus levels were 2 to 13 times greater
than those from the forested basins and several major
constituents were 2 to 3 times greater. Concentrations of minor
elements were essentially the same in both developed and
undeveloped basins.
Citation:
Simmons, C.E., and Heath, R.C., 1982, Water quality characteristics of streams in forested and rural areas of North Carolina, in Water quality of North Carolina: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2185-B, p. B1-B33.
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