The USGS has collected discharge records on the river since 1958, and extensive water-quality data were collected from 1966 until 1983. An additional 5,000 acres of State-owned land, which includes DeSoto State Park, will be donated to the Preserve. Another 130 acres owned by Cherokee County also will be acquired. The NPS uses streamflow and water-quality data collected by the USGS to document the pristine character of the Little River Canyon and to develop management plans to maintain the natural beauty of the canyon. The NPS and the USGS are planning additional studies to increase scientific knowledge on the biota, geology and hydrology of the canyon.
Plans also exist to catalog the data by using a geographic information system.
Monitoring the Quality of Public Water Supplies For several years, the USGS has had ongoing cooperative agreements with the cities of Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Mobile to monitor the quality of water in their public supply reservoirs. All three cities were concerned that various land uses within the drainage basins of the reservoirs could have a negative effect on the quality of the water in the reservoirs. In the case of Tuscaloosa, the major concerns were strip mining for coal and residential development within the basin. In Birmingham, the concerns were residential development and industrial discharges. In Mobile, the concerns are plant nurseries, logging activities, and the transport of hazardous chemicals and material across the reservoir on a major U.S. highway and railroad, as well as residential development.