Sub-basin program

Sub-Basin Pollution Source Tracking Program

The LPBF began the Sub-Basin Pollution Source Tracking Program in January 2002. The Sub-Basin Program utilizes a multi-faceted approach to track down and correct sources of fecal pollution. Activities of the program include intensive water quality monitoring, inspection of and assistance to wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), and analysis of data through the LPBF’s Geographic Information Science (GIS) Program, all covered under an EPA-approved Quality Assurance Project Plan. The Sub-Basin Program targets one watershed each calendar year, studying the Tangipahoa River Watershed in 2005.

Tangipahoa River Water Quality Report Sampled: 8/24/06

#	Site	Fecal Coliform (MPN)
1	Hwy 38	30
2	Hwy 440	50
3	Hwy 10	130
4	Hwy 16	30
5	Hwy 40	23
6	Hwy 442	80
7	Hwy 443	80
8	Carpenter's Landing	23
9	Hwy 22	30
10	Lee's Landing	50

Tangipahoa River Watershed

LPBF performed a reconnaissance of water quality conditions in the Tangipahoa Watershed in December 2004. The reconnaissance involved the sampling of all waterbodies (27 sites) in the watershed on three consecutive days to obtain a “snap-shot” of the current water quality within the watershed. LPBF utilized the data collected through the recon to establish water quality monitoring sites, 22 in all.

The 22 sites established for water quality monitoring were divided into sites on the Tangipahoa River (10 sites) and sites on the tributaries (12 sites). The sites are monitored bi-weekly for the water quality parameters of fecal coliform, Escherichia coli, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, pH, and turbidity.

Analysis of this early data will be used to characterize the watershed and pin-point locations for LPBF to assist owners/operators of wastewater treatment plants and dairies in an effort to reduce fecal pollution counts within the watershed and the Tangipahoa River itself. The LPBF will continue to collect water quality data in the Tangipahoa Watershed throughout the remainder of 2005 and anticipates continuing to work in the watershed for the next 2-3 years. The ultimate goal is to reduce fecal pollution loading in the river to make it meet the Clean Water Act’s “swimmable” criteria and get the waterbody removed from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality’s 303(d) Impaired Waterbodies List.