Runoff Water Quality of Hydraulic Dredging Disposal Operations at Unconfined Disposal Sites in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway

Water quality monitoring programs for the water runoff at unconfined dredged material disposal sites in Glynn/McIntyre County, Georgia, were conducted during hydraulic dredging disposal operations for the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW) maintenance dredging performed in 1999 and 2001. The monitoring was performed on the water runoff into the adjacent water body at locations from disposal areas along the AIWW. The dredged material was a fine-grained clayey silt and silty clay in general. Field measurements included water temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, conductivity, salinity, and turbidity along with a brief description of weather, water, and tide conditions. Water samples were collected from several locations and tested in the laboratory for total suspended solids (TSS). TSS concentrations for the remaining locations were estimated through a correlation established by statistical regression analysis between field turbidity measurements and TSS laboratory analytical results.