A comparative water quality analysis of selected recreation lakes and streams in the White Mountains of Arizona.

Abstract

Participation in water-based recreation has increased greatly in recent years. In some areas use and development pressures have reached levels which have caused land managers serious concerns regarding the capabilities of water recreation sites under their control to sustain such heavy impacting. These concerns have led to the generation of a number of research efforts to determine the various effects of recreation use and development on water quality. This study examines the water quality issue in relation to selected recreation lakes and streams in the White Mountains of Arizona. Four major parameters of water quality were investigated: (1) physical environmental factors, (2) chemical nutrient concentrations, (3) fecal bacterial contamination, and (4) visitor use effects. Data were collected through field and laboratory analyses conducted over the 1973 summer recreation season. Results of the study indicate intensive recreational use and development may be reflected by decreased water quality. For example, the research lake exhibiting the most intensive use and development showed significantly greater fecal bacterial contamination in the concentrated use area. Management considerations developed in this report are directed toward assisting recreation land managers in recognizing and preventing present and future water quality problems.