Water Quality of Four Major Lakes in Mississippi, USA: Impacts on Human and Aquatic Ecosystem Health

Abstract

Harmful algal blooms (HABs), harmful microorganisms (pathogens) and toxic metals represent three major agents of water quality deterioration. Water quality of three northern lakes (Sardis, Enid, and Grenada) and a central lake (Ross Barnett Reservoir) of Mississippi, USA were examined in this study. While all these lakes are heavily used for recreational purposes, the Ross Barnett Reservoir serves additionally as the primary water supply for the City of Jackson, the capital city of Mississippi. The main goal of this study was to comprehensively assess the water quality of these lakes employing field and satellite data, and evaluate the potential human and aquatic health impacts. A time-series of true color images derived from satellite data indicated that algal blooms have been a recurring phenomenon in these lakes. Cyanobacteria, the algal group that predominantly occur in freshwater and form toxic blooms, were always present in these lakes and were most abundant on many occasions. The most toxic cyanotoxin, microcystin-LR, was found in all OPEN ACCESSWater 2015, 7 5000 lakes, and its concentrations exceeded federal drinking water guidelines for children under six years of age many times. Potential bioaccumulation and biomagnification of microcystin-LR may pose serious risk to the aquatic ecosystem and human health including adults. Nutrient measurements indicated that all four lakes were eutrophic. Among bacterial populations, total coliforms and enterococci exceeded guideline values on several occasions. Arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and lead were found in the water of all the lakes, with arsenic exceeding the guideline values at two sites in Ross Barnett Reservoir. While it is apparent from this study that these lakes face many water quality issues, data across all seasons will be required to document potential trends and to devise management strategies. Use of remote sensing technology is recommended to monitor some of the water quality parameters such as suspended particulate matter and algal blooms, especially cyanobacterial blooms.

Roles of Nutrient Regime and N:P Ratios on Algal Growth in 182 Korean Agricultural Reservoirs

“…It strongly considered that phosphorus and biogenic turbidity was the key factor regulating the trophic state of the Korean reservoirs [52]. In USA the analysis of TSID of four major lakes of the State of Mississippi showed dominant biogenic turbidity and a little bit phosphorus limitation, which means that most of the lakes were in hypertrophic condition [53].…”

Linking biological toxicity and the spectral characteristics of contamination in seriously polluted urban rivers

“…The black-odor water is usually associated with low amount of dissolved oxygen and negative redox potentials, which results in dark or grey color in waters. The black-odor water could seriously endanger the ecological functions of urban, and finally impacts on urban residents' health [7][8][9][10]. In China, a total of 1861 water bodies were labeled as black-odor water by the end of 2017, which led to damages on urban ecological functions and even on the residents' physical and mental health [11].…”

In Situ and Satellite Observation of CDOM and Chlorophyll-a Dynamics in Small Water Surface Reservoirs in the Brazilian Semiarid Region

“…Satellite remote sensing (RS) has been used for inland water monitoring in the Brazilian semiarid region with regard to water extents and bathymetries of surface reservoirs [3][4][5]. Also for quality monitoring, several authors presented encouraging results for satellite RS application in rivers and large lakes of different locations [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. However, there are only few studies applying satellite RS to small complex inland water bodies such as the water-surface reservoirs in the semiarid Brazil, where monitoring and understanding magnitude and composition of optically visible water constituents, in particular the concentration of Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) and Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM), are highly relevant given the dense population that relies on the water supply.…”