Table 1 illustrates their findings for lead, zinc, cadmium, and nickel. The authors found that roof runoff has the highest input of dissolved zinc. According to the authors parking areas are important sources of dissolved nickel and lead. Streets and vehicle service areas are important sources of cadmium. Specifically, this study is focused on sediment bound metal contamination in South Creek, a tributary of Wilson Creek and ultimately the James River.
South Creek is strictly an urban stream and suffers from the associated land uses.
A large portion of South Creek is channelized and is confined to a concrete channel. South Creek receives many small tributaries that run through various subdivisions and other urban landscapes. A detention pond exists in the course of South Creek upstream of its confluence with Wilson s Creek. This study is focused on assessing sediment bound metal levels upstream and downstream of this detention pond. The research hypothesis is that this pond will attenuate the downstream affects of urbanization.