Stewart Jason, Skousen Jeff
Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV 26506-6108, USA.
J Environ Qual. 2003 Mar-Apr;32(2):654-61. doi: 10.2134/jeq2003.6540.
The Deckers Creek watershed in northern West Virginia (USA), containing a land area of 166 km2 (63 mi2), has a long history of industrial development and attendant environmental abuses from both land and water pollution practices. The water in Deckers Creek was sampled in 1974 at 29 locations along the main stem and resampled in 1999-2000 to determine water quality changes over this 25-year period. Water samples were analyzed for pH, acidity, alkalinity, iron, and calcium at both times, while aluminum, manganese, zinc, and fecal coliform (FC) bacteria densities were added in 1999-2000. Water at almost all sampling points showed lower acidity and metal contents in 1999-2000 compared with 1974. Water pH increased at the mouth from 5.4 in 1974 to 6.0 in 1999-2000. Acidity and iron concentrations were decreased an average of 70% in the upper stretches of the creek. However, one major untreated point source of water from an abandoned underground mining complex continues to degrade the quality of the creek in its lower stretches. In the upper section, the water quality in Deckers Creek has improved due to decreased surface and underground coal mining activities, reclamation of abandoned and recently permitted surface mined lands, and natural healing of past land use scars from timbering and mining over time. The decrease in mineral extraction activities and the reclamation of disturbed lands has occurred due to the passage and enforcement of water quality and land reclamation laws and regulations. More time and additional reclamation projects will continue to enhance the water quality in the creek. Improved water chemistry in the majority of the creek, however, shows the previously unnoticeable biological contamination from sewage inputs.
美国西弗吉尼亚州北部的德克斯溪流域面积为166平方千米（63平方英里），有着悠久的工业发展历史，且因土地和水污染行为导致环境长期遭到破坏。1974年，在德克斯溪干流沿线的29个地点采集了水样，并于1999年至2000年重新采样，以确定这25年间的水质变化。两次采样均分析了水样的pH值、酸度、碱度、铁和钙含量，1999年至2000年的分析还增加了铝、锰、锌和粪大肠菌群（FC）细菌密度。与1974年相比，1999年至2000年几乎所有采样点的水样酸度和金属含量均有所降低。河口处的水pH值从1974年的5.4升至1999年至2000年的6.0。溪流上游酸度和铁浓度平均下降了70%。然而，一个废弃地下采矿综合体未经处理的主要水源点继续影响着溪流下游的水质。在溪流上游，由于地表和地下煤炭开采活动减少、废弃及近期获批的露天矿区得到复垦，以及过去因伐木和采矿造成的土地使用伤痕随时间自然愈合，德克斯溪的水质有所改善。矿物开采活动的减少和受干扰土地的复垦是由于水质和土地复垦法律法规的通过与实施。更多时间和更多复垦项目将继续改善溪流的水质。然而，溪流大部分区域水质的改善显示出来自污水排放的此前未被注意到的生物污染。
