Quality of water in Tibbee Creek and tributaries near West Point, Mississippi
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Abstract
An intensive water-quality study was conducted on Tibbee Creek and two of its tributaries, Town Creek and Catalpa Creek, on June 19-22, 1979. The data were collected during a period of low discharge and high air temperatures. The water in Tibbee Creek and Catalpa Creek was of much better quality than water in Town Creek. Large quantities of nitrogen, phosphorus, and dissolved solids and high densities of fecal coliform were present in Town Creek. The five-day biochemical oxygen demand values averaged 14 mg/L, and the mean total nitrogen concentration was 56 mg/L. The mean concentrations of ammonia, nitrate plus nitrite nitrogen, and organic nitrogen were 1.8 mg/L, 50 mg/L, and 3.7 mg/L, respectively. A total phosphorus load of more than 400 pounds per day, more than 91 percent of the total phosphorus load leaving the study area, was carried by Town Creek into Tibbee Creek. Total phosphorus concentrations averaged 14 mg/L in Town Creek and 0.11 and 0.12 mg/L in Tibbee and Catalpa Creeks respectively. Bacterial densities were higher at site 2 in Town Creek than at sites 1 and 3 in Tibbee and Catalpa Creeks respectively. The median fecal coliform bacterial density was 25,000 col/100 mL (colonies per 100 milliliters) in Town Creek and less than 200 col/100 mL in Tibbee and Catalpa Creeks. Median fecal streptococcal densities were 1,000 col/100 mL in Town Creek, 210 col/100 mL in Tibbee Creek, and 800 col/100 mL in Catalpa Creek. Fecal coliform to fecal streptococcal ratios were greater than 4.0 in Town Creek, indicating wastes of human origin were probably present during the study. Ratios were less than 0.7 in Tibbee and Catalpa Creeks, indicating human wastes were probably absent during the study.
Study Area
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | Quality of water in Tibbee Creek and tributaries near West Point, Mississippi |
| Series title | Open-File Report |
| Series number | 81-406 |
| DOI | 10.3133/ofr81406 |
| Year Published | 1981 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey |
| Description | v, 42 p. |
| Country | United States |
| State | Mississippi |
| City | West Point |
| Other Geospatial | Tibbee Creek |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |