| Water quality variables were sampled for five years in the Baker's Run watershed, before and during construction of a segment of Appalachian Corridor H located in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The purpose of the study was to determine if any effect from the construction could be measured and related to the cumulative change in land use and land cover. Variables sampled were turbidity, pH, conductivity, total suspend solids, alkalinity, acidity, sulfate, chloride, iron, calcium, nitrate, ammonia, phosphate, and flow. Land use/land cover was interpreted and classified from 1:24,000 digital ortho-quarter quads and correlated to changes in water quality using Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Water quality variable most closely related to the change in land use were turbidity, TSS, alkalinity, sulfate, iron, nitrate, and ammonia. The correlation between nutrients and paved area was related to the use of mulches, fertilizer, and hydroseeding used as Best Management Practices (BMP) for erosion and sedimentation control. The Mid-Atlantic Region has impairment related to organic enrichment and suspended solids and must be implemented into the BMP's during highway construction in the region. |
