Assessment of Water Quality in Two Creeks of the Collins River Sub-Watershed Dominated by Nursery Crop Production.

In middle Tennessee, especially in Warren, Dekalb and Grundy counties, large concentrations of nursery crop production operations exist and the Collins River watershed spans these counties. There is a dearth of research on the impact of nursery crop production systems on surface water quality. Subsequently, growers are not aware of the impact of their fertilizer and lime management on surface water. The protection of surface water from agricultural pollutants continues to pose a major challenge to scientists and growers. Therefore, the assessment of streams, lakes and creeks requires sound monitoring strategies at the watershed scale. The goal of the study is to assess the concentration of essential nutrients derived from agricultural fertilizer and lime in surface water, as well as pertinent water quality parameters. Two creeks were selected for sampling during base flow and storm flow conditions. The selection was based on the abundance of nursery crop production operations in the area. The data collected will be used to determine temporal distribution of nutrient concentrations in the creeks relative to nursery crop growing season(s).