Real-time Monitoring to Support Environmental Impact Management Strategies for Road Construction Activities on Foothills Parkway: Wears Valley
Privette C. 2019. Real-time Monitoring to Support Environmental Impact Management Strategies for Road Construction Activities on Foothills Parkway: Wears Valley. NPS
The need to monitor surface water quality has been increasingly recognized in recent years in environmental and natural resource management. The advent of real-time remote monitoring technologies has accelerated and enhanced this process. Field observations of water quality data are able to be conducted and analyzed in ways that were previously unavailable. The objectives of this project were to deploy a real-time remote monitoring system for three small watersheds (Hembree, Dunn, and Rudd Hollows) in the Great Smoky Mountains. The watersheds ranged in size from 12 to 19 ha. The monitoring stations were established in forested watersheds downstream from construction of the Foothills Parkway in East Tennessee. Sondes measured and recorded water quality data during the course of a seven-year period for turbidity, pH, conductivity, and temperature. Water quality data were analyzed to assess impacts of highway construction on first-order streams within these watersheds. For periods of no construction within the watersheds, mean turbidity ranged from 62.9 to 189 NTU. Mean pH ranged from 6.35 to 7.24, while mean conductivity ranged from 0.053 to 0.163 mS/cm. Mean temperature ranged from 13.2 to 13.9 °C. For periods of construction, mean turbidity ranged from 26.7 to 64.0 NTU. Mean pH ranged from 6.29 to 7.17, while mean conductivity ranged from 0.064 to 0.147 mS/cm. Mean temperature ranged from 13.0 to 15.3°C. Based on review of the data collected within all three watersheds and the routine monthly inspections of the streams, National Park Service construction activities located at the top of each watershed, did not have any offsite impacts as determined by the monitoring stations located on the private landowners property. Any fluctuations were due impart to the characteristics of the watershed itself and the internal disturbances.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Privette, Charles
- Date of Issue
- 2019-03-04
- Publisher
- NPS
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- APHN, Appalachian Highlands Network, FHP, foothills parkway, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, GRSM, SER, Southeast Region, Water Quality
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Water Chemistry