Variability, Seasonality, and Persistence of Fecal Coliform Bacteria in a Cold-Region, Urban Stream
Publication: Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 24, Issue 2
Abstract
Fecal coliform (FC) analyses were conducted on weekly water samples collected from a single watershed over a 2-year period in Anchorage, Alaska. Although peak FC concentrations were observed primarily during the warmer months, lower FC levels could be observed throughout the year in the urbanized portion of the watershed. Median annual FC counts ranged from 3 FC/100 mL at an undeveloped site to 49 FC/100 mL at one of the urbanized sites. Median FC concentrations were found to be significantly higher in the summer compared to the winter at two locations directly downstream from a lake ( and 0.029), but not at the sites upstream or distant from the lake. FC-discharge relationships indicated a significant negative correlation between FC concentration and discharge at two sites ( and 0.035) and no significant correlation at the remaining three sites. In total, the results indicated that the water quality was impacted not only by peakwarm season loading events, but also by chronic low-level loading throughout the year.
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Acknowledgments
This project was made possible by generous funding from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, and supported by additional funding from the UAA Faculty Grants and Leaves Committee, the UAF Water and Environmental Research Center, and the USGS National Institutes for Water Resources. The writers thank David Nyman, Adinda Demske, and Lucas Gamble of Restoration Science and Engineering; Scott Wheaton of the Municipality of Anchorage Watershed Management Services; Tim Stevens of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation; Heather Chambers of the University of Alaska Anchorage; and Peter Prokein of the UAF Institute of Northern Engineering for offering their technical expertise throughout the course of this effort.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 24 • Issue 2 • June 2010
Pages: 54 - 75
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 30, 2008
Accepted: Oct 22, 2009
Published online: Oct 24, 2009
Published in print: Jun 2010
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