Evaluation Of Watershed Land Use And Water Quality In Mill Creek Youngstown Ohio

The Mill Creek Watershed (MCW) is located in Mahoning and Columbiana Counties, Ohio. It is a 47,000 acre sub-watershed of the Mahoning River watershed. The main surface stream is Mill Creek which starts in Fairfield Township, Columbiana County and continues until it reaches the Mahoning River just west of downtown Youngstown. Mill Creek runs through Mahoning County's largest metropolitan park, Mill Creek MetroPark (MCMP). Mill Creek is approximately 39 kilometers long with a mixture of land use types ranging from heavily industrialized and residential to agriculture and mixed forests. The impact of land use practices and aging infrastructure in the Mill Creek Watershed have resulted in various water quality concerns related to human and ecological health. Local water quality issues include bacteria (and other pathogens) from animal waste, combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and failing septic systems; nutrients from urban and agricultural land uses; and sediment loading from erosion and construction. Project objectives are to establish a monitoring program for this watershed. Initial evaluation of MCW monitoring sites, based on specific watershed land uses and inputs (point and non-point) was identified. Twelve sites of concern were selected for water chemical, biological and physical analysis. To establish a control, baseline samples (low flow) were taken during dry periods of rainfall. To assess the effects of land uses in the watershed water samples were collected 24-48 hours after a significant rainfall (>1.9 cm). SPSS analyses were performed using Spearman correlation and ANOVA on SPSS. Soluble reactive phosphate was most prevalent upstream where land use was predominately agricultural. Total and fecal coliforms counts were greatest during the October 21 storm event. During that event, coliform counts were highest, specifically, upstream where agricultural land use dominated and in the Mahoning River where there is larger industrial and residential land use. Precipitation events did not appear to have an influence on any parameters other than total and fecal coliforms. Metals found within the watershed included calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, and sulfur. Results of the monitoring program will educate the public on water quality issues and the influence of watershed activity on water quality. Importantly, it will also provide data to Mill Creek MetroParks and the Mahoning County District Board of Health to improve its management of waters coming into and leaving the park.