Assimilative capacity of the Waccamaw River and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 1989-92

Water-Resources Investigations Report 95-4111
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Abstract

The assimilative capacities of selected reaches of the Waccamaw River and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, were determined using results from water-quality simulations by the Branched Lagrangian Transport Model. The study area included tidally influenced sections of the Waccamaw River, the Pee Dee River, Bull Creek, and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Hydrodynamic data for the Branched Lagrangian Transport Model were simulated using the U.S. Geological Survey BRANCH one-dimensional unsteady- flow model. Assimilative capacities were determined for four locations using low-, medium-, and high- flow conditions and the average dissolved-oxygen concentration for a 7-day period. Results indicated that for the Waccamaw River near Conway, the ultimate oxygen demand is 370 to 6,740 pounds per day for 7-day average streamflows of 17 to 1,500 cubic feet per second. For the Waccamaw River at Bucksport, the ultimate oxygen demand is 580 to 7,300 pounds per day for 7-day average streamflows of 62 to 1,180 cubic feet per second. For the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway near North Myrtle Beach, simulations indicate ultimate oxygen demand is 5,100 to 10,000 pounds per day for 7-day average streamflows of 110 to 465 cubic feet per second. The ultimate oxygen demand for the Waccamaw River near Murrells Inlet is 11,000 to 230,000 pounds per day for 7-day average streamflows of 2,240 to 13,700 cubic feet per second.

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Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Assimilative capacity of the Waccamaw River and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 1989-92
Series title Water-Resources Investigations Report
Series number 95-4111
DOI 10.3133/wri954111
Year Published 1995
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) South Atlantic Water Science Center
Description viii, 58 p.
Country United States
State South Carolina
City Myrtle Beach
Other Geospatial Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Waccamaw River
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