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Impact of Land Use on Water Quality of Mill Creek Watershed in the Mahoning Valley, Ohio

Koirala, Manasa
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1560257033109932

Abstract Details

2019, Master of Science in Environmental Science, Youngstown State University, Department of Physics, Astronomy, Geology and Environmental Sciences.
This is a study of the influence of the various land use practices on water quality parameters of Mill Creek Watershed that flows north from Columbiana County, then through Boardman Township and Mill Creek Park, before finally merging with the Mahoning River in Youngstown, Ohio. Land uses in the Mill Creek sub-watershed vary from residential to urban industrial as well as from agricultural to forested and recreational areas. Water samples were collected from eleven different points of Mill Creek. Various physical, chemical and biological water quality parameters like temperature, DO, pH, ammonia, soluble reactive phosphorous, nitrate-nitrogen, TSS, VSS, TDS, VDS, Total Coliform, E.coli and BOD were measured using standard methods. Graphical representations showed the difference in the averages of different water quality parameters before and after rain events. Inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation techniques were used to represent the spatial dispersion of nutrients, solids and bacteria at the scale of whole watershed. Different types of land cover i.e., herbaceous land, forest, developed areas, cultivated crops, open water and wetlands of Mill Creek Watershed are used in this study. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of water quality parameters shows a positive correlation of the potential runoff from impervious surfaces and cultivated land with the concentrations of ammonia, TSS, E.coli, VSS and Coliform. On the other hand, percentage of forest does not depict any trend with the concentrations of ammonia, TSS, E.coli, VSS and Coliform. Principal Component Analysis with whole data covering 2016-2018 indicate that the high precipitation events in summer 2016 diverged from high precipitation events in the fall. Excluding the high precipitation events from summer of 2016 results implications that are similar to that of 2017-18. Thus, high precipitation events of summer 2016 apparently produced water parameters similar to that of low flow conditions. This study shows that the runoff from cultivated land and impervious surfaces has negative impact on the water quality of the watershed. Beside runoff from impervious surfaces and cultivated land, input of nutrients, bacteria and solids from the tributaries of the Mill Creek River might be contributing to reduced water quality in Mill Creek River. It is recommended to expand the sampling into the tributaries of the Mill Creek River.
Felicia Armstrong, PhD (Advisor)
Colleen McLean, PhD (Committee Member)
Thomas Diggins, PhD (Committee Member)
Ryan Tekac (Committee Member)
125 p.
Chemistry; Environmental Engineering; Environmental Science; Water Resource Management
Landuse; water quality; watershed

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Citations

  • Koirala, M. (2019). Impact of Land Use on Water Quality of Mill Creek Watershed in the Mahoning Valley, Ohio [Master's thesis, Youngstown State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1560257033109932

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Koirala, Manasa. Impact of Land Use on Water Quality of Mill Creek Watershed in the Mahoning Valley, Ohio . 2019. Youngstown State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1560257033109932.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Koirala, Manasa. "Impact of Land Use on Water Quality of Mill Creek Watershed in the Mahoning Valley, Ohio ." Master's thesis, Youngstown State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1560257033109932

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ysu1560257033109932
570
© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Youngstown State University and OhioLINK.