Nutrient and triazine-herbicide concentrations in streams of the Chickies Creek Basin, south-central Pennsylvania, during low-flow conditions

Excessive nutrients and herbicides in surface and ground water can affect human health and the aquatic life in Chickies Creek. Potential sources of these contaminants are all around us—direct application of nutrients and herbicides on land, discharge from wastewater-treatment and septic systems, and even deposition from the atmosphere. However, by far the largest source in the Chickies Creek Basin is the application of nutrients and herbicides for agricultural purposes. Because the land use in Chickies Creek Basin is predominantly agricultural (83 percent), the potential for surfaceand ground-water contamination is great. In fact, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PaDEP) has listed the Chickies Creek Basin as 1 of 50 watersheds most susceptible to surface- and ground-water contamination in Pennsylvania (out of 478 surveyed).