A spatial analysis was conducted on data collected in 1994 and 1995 from an intensive nutrient study of the Chattahoochee River and its tributaries by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division. High NH4-N concentrations are attributed to sewage discharge because sewage discharge is also associated with high biological oxygen demand and fecal coliform bacteria concentrations.
Nutrient concentrations vary temporally.
Tot-P concentrations increased at mainstem sites in the Chattahoochee River basin in Georgia through the middle to late 1980's and decreased markedly thereafter because of improvements to WWTF and a 1990 Statewide phosphate detergent ban. Tot-P concentration variability has increased at the four tributary sites since 1993, although recent concentrations, on average, are the lowest since 1970.