The relationship of land use practices to surface water quality in the Upper Oconee Watershed of Georgia

On a watershed scale, geospatial information can be used to identify water resources that are least buffered from contamination. Implementing conservation practices at these locations may accelerate the process of increasing a watershed’s ability to support its designated uses. The Upper Oconee Watershed of Georgia contains land areas devoted to poultry, dairy, and beef production. Within these historically agricultural lands, urbanization is proceeding rapidly around existing cities. Agricultural production practices are concentrated in the watershed with poultry in the headwaters area and dairy near a major lake (Lake Oconee). The objective of this research was to relate data sets representing surface water quality at selected sites throughout the watershed to the predominant land use in that portion of the watershed. The location of 550 poultry operations in the headwaters of the Upper Oconee Watershed, away from the city of Athens GA, has minimized conflicts between agricultural and urban interests. Phosphorus, nitrogen, and fecal coliform bacteria were high near the poultry production area, but were reduced within the watershed prior to reaching the intake for the municipal water supply. Athens had a large impact on surface water quality and approximately doubled the amount of phosphorus and nitrogen in the Oconee River. The Oconee River contributed approximately 70 % of the water flowing to Lake Oconee. The residents of Lake Oconee have noted the 30 dairies located west of the lake impacting two relatively minor creeks flowing to the lake. These two creeks make up approximately 2.5 % of the flow to the lake, but the proximity of the dairies to the lake makes losses of phosphorus, nitrogen