Water Quality Monitoring of the Upper Cullasaja Watershed, Highlands, North Carolina (2012)
Undergraduates: Mary Nell Johnson, Autumn Arciero, Morgan Bettcher, Alice Kim, Mallory Nickel, Tyler Tran, Ryan Evans, Alyssa Kraig-Arn old, Austin Brooks, Mary Nell Johnson, Alec Mcconnel
Faculty Advisor: Anya Hinkle
Department: Environmental Studies
The Upper Cullasaja River watershed is located in the area of Highlands, North Carolina and is composed of four sub-watersheds: the Cullasaja River, Big Creek, Mill
Creek, and Monger Creek. In recent years, there have been documented water quality issues in
the watershed, emphasizing the need for consistent monitoring. In order to provide an evaluation
of the current state of the watershed we conducted a series of water quality assessments at six
sites in the watershed. Physical and chemical monitoring were conducted through habitat
assessment, Wolman pebble counts, and chemical analyses. Biological monitoring was
conducted through an investigation of benthic macroinvertebrates with a focus on EPT data and
development of an Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) as an additional indication of stream health.
The results of this study will assist in an update the 2004 Upper Cullasaja Watershed Association
(UCWA) Strategy and Action Plan and the 2010 capstone report. Additionally, the present study
supports the development of an updated watershed restoration plan for the Upper Cullasaja
scheduled to be completed in 2012 through funding from EPA Section 319 and the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (NCDENR) FY2010 Nonpoint Source
Pollution Control Grant program.