A Preliminary Ecological Study of Areas to be Impounded in the Salt River Basin of Kentucky

This report includes work that is an extension of Project No. B-005-KY as reported in Research Report No. 43 of the University of Kentucky Water Resources Institute. That project was initiated in April 1968 as Project No. A-019-KY with principal emphasis on physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the main stem of the Salt River upstream from the proposed damsite for Taylorsville Lake, an impoundment of about 3, 600 acres at seasonal pool. The report includes descriptions of an additional 13 stations along the stream, bringing to 38 the number of permanent collecting sites. Values for dissolved oxygen ranged from 60% to 120% of saturation, turbidities ranged from 5 to 650 pp, SiO2, total alkalinities ranged from 130 to 220 ppm as CaCO3, pH from 6. 8 to 8. 4, and total dissolved solids ranged from 40 to 160 mg/1. Conductivity ranged from 100 to 350 micromhos, nitrate nitrogen from 0.1 to 9.9 mg/1, and orthophosphate from 0.2 to 2.9 mg/1. Iron and manganese were consistently present in low quantities. Estimates of standing crop of bottom organisms range from 0 on the bare limestone bottom to more than 275 pounds per acre in more suitable areas. The profusion and species diversity of bottom organisms indicate a healthy stream. More than 50 species of fishes have been collected and the standing crop of those vertebrates ranged from 4.7 to 217.8 pounds per acre. More than 100 species of birds have been identified in the area along with many species of reptiles, amphibians, and mammals. Average land values in the area surrounding the proposed lake site have not increased more rapidly nor to a greater extent than comparable lands some distance from the site. The lands with the highest values are those nearest the large centers of population