Air and Land Management

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SSES

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Sediment vertical profile camera

Water Quality Assessment of Wildcat and Kokomo Creeks – Kokomo, IN
Kokomo is a CSO community with 26 permitted discharge locations along Wildcat and Kokomo Creeks. As a NPDES requirement, we were retained in 2001 to conduct a water quality assessment as a prelude to the development of a CSO Long-Term Control Plan (LTCP). The assessment determined the water quality impacts caused specifically by CSOs; created a priority list from which the CSOs would be addressed in the LTCP; and defined the baseline water quality conditions of the creeks. This assessment was complicated by the fact that both Wildcat and Kokomo Creeks within the CSS have contaminated sediment (synthetic organics and heavy metals) from a Superfund site. To confirm the presence and locate the boundaries of the contaminated sediment, we utilized sediment vertical profile camera technology. We are one of only three entities in the United States with this technology.
 

Camera technology isolated Superfund contaminated sediment and helped determine the impacts of CSOs

We were retained by Kokomo to prepare the CSO LTCP and to simultaneously prepare a Stormwater Management Plan. Kokomo recognized that wet weather water quality must be addressed in a unified fashion. The water quality assessment found that Water Quality Standards were met in dry weather but were being violated (bacteria only) during rain events and for a short period of time immediately after the event. Sediment depositon, Superfund contaminated sediment, and flow modifications from the construction of five low-head dams were the primary causes of water quality impairment. Consequently, we will perform a Use Attainability Analysis to determine if wet weather water quality standards, or variances, are appropriate.

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