This paper is concerned with restoring the quality of water in some portions of the San Pedro River. There are high concentrations of bacteria in some parts of the San Pedro River. Our aim is to find ways of improving the situation. Specifically, there are two objectives in the study. The first one attempts to identify the possible sources of the bacterial contamination and assess its trends within the watershed. The second objective is to determine appropriate methods of restoring the water quality. The main water quality problem is nonpoint source pollution, which enters the stream and moves along with it. The magnitude of the problem is affected by the size and duration of the streamflow, which brings bacteria-laden sediment. The amount of sediment brought into the system is large during the monsoonal events. At this time, the streamflow becomes highly turbid in response to the organic and inorganic sediments entering the system. Based on research done for this paper, the amount of bacterial concentration is strongly related to turbidity. Best management practices (BMPs) have been designed and implemented to restore the water quality problem in the area. The BMP's consist of actions such as monitoring, educational outreach, proper signage, and other range/watershed related improvement practices. Other issues that contribute to the increasing amount of bacteria that are briefly addressed in this paper are bank and gully erosion, flood control, and surface water and streamflow issues that occur on the stream headwaters.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/621703 |
| Date | 18 April 2015 |
| Creators | Klotz, Jason, Tecle, Aregai |
| Contributors | School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ |
| Publisher | Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Proceedings |
| Rights | Copyright ©, where appropriate, is held by the author. |
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