Wilson and Pearson Creek Stormwater Project

Joseph M. Richards, Project Chief

The U.S. Geological Survey is conducting a water-quality study of the Wilson and Pearson Creek watersheds near Springfield Missouri. The focus of the study is to determine if a toxicity problem exists in these two dominantly urban watersheds that could be a contributing factor to the degradation of the water quality in the James River near Springfield.

Approach:

Four storm events and two base flow events will be sampled at six locations in the Wilson and Pearson Creek watersheds. These samples will be analyzed for an extensive list of inorganic and organic constituents, physical properties, and fecal bacteria concentrations. Semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) filled with a lipid material (triolein) will be deployed to act as an "artificial organism" capable of accumulating organic contaminants from the water. Toxicity will be determined on extracts from the SPMDs using the Microtox toxicity testing system. The Microtox system is a highly sensitive metabolic inhibition test that uses a specialized strain of bioluminescent bacteria as the indicator. The SPMDs will be used to collect contaminants both during long-term and storm-event hydrologic conditions. If toxic conditions exist, the analytical data from the water-quality samples will provide clues as to the cause.

Objectives:

• Assess the quality of water during base flow and stormflow conditions in the Wilson and Pearson Creek watersheds.
• Determine if toxic conditions exist in the Wilson and/or Pearson Creek watersheds.
• If toxic conditions exist, identify the amount/type of contaminants and correlate to the urbanized area that the streams drain.
• Provide needed information to the regulatory agencies to establish total maximum daily load (TMDL) management practices.

Click here for more details about the Wilson and Pearson Creek Stormwater Project.

Cooperators:

The Wilson and Pearson Creek Stormwater Project is jointly funded through a cooperative agreement between the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Contact address:

Joseph M. Richards, Hydrologist
U.S. Geological Survey
Missouri Water Science Center
1400 Independence Rd, Mail Stop 100
Rolla, MO 65401
PHONE: 573-308-3568
FAX: 573-308-3645
EMAIL: richards@usgs.gov

U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer: Rita Choate, Webmaster
Updated: August 27, 2003
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URL: http://mo.water.usgs.gov/current_studies/richards/spfd/springfield.htm