Graduation Year

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.S.

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

Degree Granting Department

Graduate School

Major Professor

Christopher Meindl, Ph.D.

Committee Member

James Ivey, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Sharon Ewe, Ph.D.

Keywords

first flush, nutrients, Pinellas County, trophic state

Abstract

Booker Creek, a 1.9-mile stream with a 4.9-mi2 watershed, flows southeast through highly urbanized St. Petersburg, Florida, and empties into Bayboro Harbor, which connects with Tampa Bay. This study collected and analyzed water quality data for several parameters (TN, TP, nitrate-nitrite, ammonia, orthophosphate, chl-a, fecal coliform, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, temperature, and salinity) every two weeks, at four different sites, during the 2022 wet season to characterize the current state and geographic variability of Booker Creek. Current creek sampling regimes, though consistent, do not sample at multiple sites along the creek. Urban streams do not display uniform water quality along their lengths, and stormwater and runoff inputs during the wet season often flush higher nutrient and pathogen loads into urban streams. This study found that Booker Creek was not uniform along its length for DO, turbidity, chl-a, nitrate-nitrite, and ammonium, and that salinity, pH, temperature, chl-a, nitrate-nitrite, and fecal coliform varied bi-weekly over the wet season. A fecal coliform first flush was observed, and the creek demonstrated impairment levels of fecal coliform. TN and TP concentrations were above the levels for nutrient limitation, and the creek sometimes displayed mesotrophic or eutrophic characteristics in TN, TP, and chl-a concentrations.

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