Water Quality in the Mississippi Embayment, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky,1995–98

By Barbara A. Kleiss, Richard H. Coupe, Gerard J. Gonthier, and Billy G. Justus

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 1208

The full report is available in pdf.  Links to the pdf.

A contribution of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program

• NATIONAL WATER-QUALITY ASSESSMENT PROGRAM
• SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS
• INTRODUCTION TO THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT
• MAJOR FINDINGS
  • Nutrient Contributions to the Mississippi River System
  • NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE—National Comparison of Total Nitrogen in Streams
  • Pesticides Commonly Found in Mississippi Embayment Surface Water
  • NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE—Pesticides in Streams Across the United States
  • Tertiary Aquifers Have High-Quality Drinking Water
  • Few Pesticides Detected in Memphis Shallow Aquifers
  • Water-Quality Differences in Geological Subunits of the Alluvial Aquifer
  • NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE—Radon Levels in Ground Water Low in Mississippi Embayment Study Unit
  • Aquatic Communities Show Environmental Stress
  • NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE—Comparison of Mississippi Embayment Aquatic Communities to National Results
  • Organochlorine Pesticides Persist in Fish Tissue
  • Pesticides in Air and Rain Samples from Agricultural and Urban Sites
  • Integration of Biological, Geological, and Chemical Data Improves Understanding of Aquatic Systems
• STUDY UNIT DESIGN
• APPENDIX—WATER-QUALITY DATA FROM THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT IN A NATIONAL CONTEXT
• References
• A Coordinated Effort
• Glossary