Water Quality and Potential Sediment Erosion Assessment for Proposed Construction at Fort Knox, Kentucky

摘要

New training facilities have been proposed for construction at the Fort Knox Northern Training Complex. These facilities include a digital training range and a complex of drop/landing zones and a maneuver area. During review of an Environmental Assessment, concerns about sediment erosion and adverse water quality impacts from the construction and project were expressed. Assessments of existing water quality data and the potential for sediment erosion were conducted to address potential impacts. Water quality data collected from 1995 to 1998 near the study area at the two major rivers, onsite data collected for discharge permit monitoring, data retrieved from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Storage and Retrieval system (STORET), and real-time discharge data were available for assessing existing conditions. Material loading was estimated using water quality and discharge data. Sediment yield for the preproject and postproject conditions for each alternative was conducted using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, soil characteristics, and terrain slope developed from digital terrain elevation data. Water quality constituents generally fell within acceptable concentration ranges although total phosphorus concentrations were well above concentration guidelines used for lakes and reservoirs (0.02 mg L(exp -1)), and elevated concentrations of solids, nutrients, and fecal coliform were most commonly observed with runoff events. Loading estimates indicated that sediment loads in the Salt River were about four times higher than in the Rolling Fork River.