Spatial Assessment and Analysis of Pollution Sources and Water Quality in the Bogue Falaya River and Abita River Watersheds, St
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2012 Spatial assessment and analysis of pollution sources and water quality in the Bogue Falaya River and Abita River watersheds, St. Tammany Parish, LA Chelsea Core Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Core, Chelsea, "Spatial assessment and analysis of pollution sources and water quality in the Bogue Falaya River and Abita River watersheds, St. Tammany Parish, LA" (2012). LSU Master's Theses. 3778. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/3778 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SPATIAL ASSESSMENT AND ANALYSIS OF POLLUTION SOURCES AND WATER QUALITY IN THE BOGUE FALAYA RIVER AND ABITA RIVER WATERSHEDS, ST. TAMMANY PARISH, LA A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Chelsea Core B.S., University of New Orleans, 2005 May 2012 For the two Core men, together and at peace. We love you… ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thank you to the Department of Geography and Anthropology and the Graduate School for supporting me during my Master’s program at Louisiana State University. This research would not have been possible without the support of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation and especially the water quality director, Dr. Andrea Bourgeois-Calvin, who contributed greatly to this project in many ways; I could not have made it without you. Thank you, as well, to those who maintain the LSU Atlas website; it was the source of many data layers for this project. Thank you to the Louisiana State University campus community for creating a sense of pride and commitment to finish strong. GEAUX TIGERS. To other key persons who made life a little easier: Dr. William F. Fagan, John Anderson, and Dana Sanders. Also, to my friends and family who supported me through this seemingly never-ending adventure. Thank you to my thesis committee; I have been fortunate and honored to learn from and work with: Dr. Michael Leitner, Dr. Robert V. Rohli, and Dr. Melanie Gall for guiding me through my degree. Most of all, I would like to thank my mother, Lenore Core, for teaching me that I can accomplish anything in life. And to Dona Quintanilla, for your relentless patience and unconditional love. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Wastewater Background ....................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Study Objective ..................................................................................................................... 5 1.4 Research Questions ............................................................................................................... 5 1.5 Answering the Research Questions ...................................................................................... 6 1.6 How Does This Add to Knowledge of the Topic? ................................................................ 6 CHAPTE 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................... 8 2.1 Clean Water Act .................................................................................................................... 8 2.2 Lower Tchefuncte River ..................................................................................................... 10 2.3 Growth in St. Tammany Parish ........................................................................................... 13 2.4 Past Work in the Bogue Falaya and Abita River Watersheds ............................................ 13 2.5 GIS and Watersheds ............................................................................................................ 15 2.6 Water Quality and Watersheds ........................................................................................... 16 2.7 Impervious Surfaces ............................................................................................................ 19 2.8 The Watershed Plan ............................................................................................................ 21 CHAPTER 3: STUDY AREA, DATA, AND METHODS .......................................................... 24 3.1 Watershed Classification .................................................................................................... 24 3.2 Louisiana and the Pontchartrain Basin ............................................................................... 24 3.3 St. Tammany Parish ............................................................................................................ 26 3.4 The Study Area: Bogue Falaya River and Abita River Watersheds ................................... 30 3.5 Data and Methods ............................................................................................................... 31 3.5.1 Watershed and Sub-watershed Classification .............................................................. 31 3.5.2 Land Use Classification ............................................................................................... 33 3.5.3 Point Source Classification .......................................................................................... 34 3.5.4 Subdivision Classification ........................................................................................... 35 3.5.5 Home Wastewater System Classification .................................................................... 35 3.5.6 Water Quality Classification ........................................................................................ 36 3.6 Correlation of Water Quality and Sources .......................................................................... 39 3.7 Density Analysis ................................................................................................................. 40 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS .............................................................................................................. 44 4.1 Land Use Classification ...................................................................................................... 44 4.2 Point Source Classification ................................................................................................. 45 4.3 Subdivision Classification .................................................................................................. 49 4.4 Home Wastewater System Classification ........................................................................... 49 4.5 Water Quality Analysis and Classification ......................................................................... 53 4.5.1 Non-Parametric Statistical Correlations ...................................................................... 53 iv 4.6 Density Analysis Hot Spots ................................................................................................ 59 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................ 61 5.1 Linking the Results: Upper vs. Lower Watersheds ............................................................ 61 5.2 Water Quality and Pollution Source Correlations .............................................................. 61 5.3 Looking to the Future.......................................................................................................... 64 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 66 APPENDIX A: LDEQ CRITERIA FOR DESIGNATED USES ................................................. 70 APPENDIX B: GIS METADATA ............................................................................................... 74 APPENDIX C: CALCULATING LAND USE ............................................................................ 75 APPENDIX D: SUBDIVISION LIST .......................................................................................... 79 APPENDIX E: EXCERPT FROM: QUALITY ASSURANCE PROJECT PLAN ..................... 84 APPENDIX F: STATISTICAL ANALYSIS RESULTS ............................................................. 97 VITA ..........................................................................................................................................