A productivity study of the Roanoke River above Niagra Dam

The deterioration of the water quality in the upper end of the Roanoke River arm of Smith Mountain Lake due to eutrophication has caused much concern. The Smith Mountain impoundment was built in 1965 as a pump storage facility to generate electric power, and the lake serves as a major recreational area for Southwest Virginia. Eight sampling stations were established along the length of the river from an agricultural area in Montgomery County through the urban area of Roanoke-Salem to Niagra Dam which is above Smith Mountain Lake. On twelve different occasions, grab samples were taken from some of these points. The samples were analysed for general chemical parameters and the phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations. The "Algal Assay Procedure Bottle Test" was than run on the samples and on the sample with phosphorus and/or nitrogen spikes to determine potential productivity and what we limiting potential productivity. Results of this investigation showed that the ''Algal Assay Bottle Test" is useful in correlating phosphorus concentration with algal growth rate. However, more work needs to be done to correlate growth rates in the lab with actual growth rates occurring in a natural water system. Phosphorus was found to limit the algal growth rates in the Roanoke River above the Roanoke wastewater treatment plant for Selenastrum capricornutum and Anabaena flos-aquae, the two algal species used in this study. Maximum specific growth rates tended to increase with increasing phosphorus concentration. The concentration of phosphorus was affected more by point sources than non-point sources in this study.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Environmental Science and Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Environmental Science and Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Year dc:date.issued

1975

Author dc:creator

• Hoyle, Joyce L.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/94438

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/94438