Sediment and fecal indicator bacteria loading in a mixed land use watershed: Contributions from suspended sediment and bedload transport.

ABSTRACT: Overland transport of fecal bacteria in water and their resuspension from bed sediments are important transport mechanisms that help explain the transport of enteric pathogens in watersheds. In this study, multiyear monitoring along with regression relationships between sediment and fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) were used to investigate annual loading in the South Fork Broad River watershed, located in northeastern Georgia, USA. Suspended transport was the dominant transport mechanism contributing to in-stream total annual loads for sediment (81.4-98.1%) and FIB (>98%). Annual bedload transport of FIB was small and Escherichia coli (up to 1.8%) contributed more to annual bedload FIB than enterococci (≤0.03%). Bedload contributions of FIB increased with the duration of critical discharge e

SUBMITTER: Bradshaw JK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9126178 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature