Water quality and fecal-indicator detection in response to an impaired urban watershed, Turkey Creek: A “Gulf of Mexico Initiative Focus” and a “Making a Visible Difference” Program Stephanie D. Friedman 1, Jerry Boos 2, Lael Butler 2, David Beddick 1, Trip Boone 1, James Farmer 3, Judy Steckler 4, Paulette Carter 5 and Troy Pierce 2 1 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Gulf Ecology Division, Gulf Breeze, FL, 2 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Gulf of Mexico Program, Gulfport, MS, 3 Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Gulfport, MS 4 Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain, Biloxi, MS, 5 North Gulfport 8 th Grade, Gulfport, MS Table 1. Table 1. Sample stations along the Turkey Creek watershed, Gulfport, MS. Turkey Creek, an urban watershed near Gulfport, MS, is listed as a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) impaired-water body for fecal coliforms on the Mississippi 1998 and 2015 reports. The Turkey Creek community is environmentally overburdened, underserved and economically distressed. The neighborhoods of North Gulfport and Turkey Creek prepared a community plan to identify and mitigate all pollution sources and establish regular monitoring in order to identify water-quality issues. BACKGROUNDABSTRACT EPA staff, along with students from a near-by middle school, collected water samples at various previously-determined impaired stations along the watershed (Table 1). The IDEXX Colilert (IDEXX Laboratories, Inc, Westbrook, ME) was used to quantify E. coli levels on a weekly basis as follows. IDEXX Colilert reagent pack was added to 100 ml of ambient water and mixed until dissolved. The 100 ml water/reagent was then poured into the IDEXX 2000 tray, sealed, and incubated overnight at 37 o C. Following incubation, fluorescent wells were illuminated using a hand-held UV light source. The number of fluorescent wells were converted to a Most Probable Number (MPN) of E. coli per 100 ml. To increase the communities’ water-quality monitoring capabilities, EPA established a Citizens’ Science program including nearby middle schools and community colleges involving both students and faculty. Monitoring data collected by the students and EPA staff are regularly presented to the Turkey Creek Steering Committee and in the future, source- tracking will be implemented and should provide additional leverage to support decisions and target environmentally-feasible solutions. OBJECTIVES Fig 4. Citizens prepare, seal, incubate and read the IDEXX assays. Fig 2. Turkey Creek watershed. COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES METHODSRESULTS 1.The Gulfport, MS, community is actively involved in water-quality monitoring for a TMDL-impaired urban watershed, Turkey Creek. 2.Participation by the local community, students, residents and other partners imparts a sense of “ownership” between residents and their local waterways while providing additional water-quality data. 3.Monitoring data is shared with the Turkey Creek Steering Committee to support decisions and environmentally-feasible solutions. 4.Future research will assess nutrient loadings and evaluate changes to the microbial and algal communities within this urban watershed. CONCLUSIONS The historical communities of Turkey Creek originated in 1866, when a group of emancipated African-Americans purchased land in Harrison County, MS, along the Turkey Creek watershed. Many of the current members of this community are descendent from the original settlers. This watershed provided a way-of-life for the settlers and for the present-day communities including fishing, recreation and community baptisms. What was once a forested and riparian floodplain has been dramatically altered as the influx of commercial development merged the Turkey Creek community into the city of Gulfport, MS. EPA is focused on lending support to local communities as part of the Agency’s “Making a Visible Difference” program. The Turkey Creek watershed has become a high-priority watershed on the “Making a Visible Difference” (MVD) program for the Agency. In response to their needs, EPA will help the community align environmental concerns with economic priorities, including community involvement, community organizations, and connecting the community to local officials. The Gulf of Mexico Initiative Program initiated a Citizens’ Science partnership to increase water-quality monitoring and community participation within the Turkey Creek watershed. Students from a near-by middle school, along with their EPA partners, are collecting water samples at various previously-determined impaired stations along the watershed and using the IDEXX method to quantify the E. coli levels on a weekly basis. Stations with higher levels of E. coli will be studied more in-depth to evaluate source of the fecal contamination. The monitoring data collected by the students and EPA staff are regularly presented to the Turkey Creek Steering Committee and in the future, the source-tracking results should provide additional leverage to support decisions and target environmentally-feasible solutions. This presentation will show- case the Citizens’ Science project along with the environmental data. Fig 3. Citizens’ Science participates use a Nisskin to collect water samples. Fig 7. Background E. coli counts remain around 300 per 100 ml or less in the urban watershed (Turkey Creek) and around 200 MPN/100 ml or less in non-urbanized watersheds (Weeks Bay, AL, and Jourdan River, MS). Following rain events, E. coli counts ranged from approximately 1000 – 2400 MPN/100 ml in the urban watershed and in the non- urbanized watershed. Watersheds have been monitored for approximately 1-2 yrs. WaterbodyStation IDLocationLatitudeLongitude Turkey Creek Upstream, IDEXX Canal Rd 2.5 mi N of Long Beach at Canal Rd Bridge, just past the trailer park Turkey Creek, IDEXX CS221 Arkansas Ave At Gulfport Hwy 49 Arkansas Bridge Turkey Creek IDEXX Rippy Rd Turkey Creek at Gulfport Airport Rd and Creosote Rd Turkey Creek, IDEXX Ohio AveOhio Ave, North Gulfport, reference, wooded