Changing Climatic Conditions Affect Surface Water Quality in Southwestern Louisiana in the United States

Authors

  • Katherine Eddings Environmental Science Program, School of Geosciences, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
  • Durga D. Poudel Environmental Science Program, School of Geosciences, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
  • Timothy W. Duex Department of Civil Engineering, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
  • Robert Miller Department of Civil Engineering, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
  • J. Calvin Berry Department of Mathematics, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13052/spee1048-4236.391414

Keywords:

Climate change, Louisiana, precipitation, temperature.

Abstract

Climate change impacts on rising temperatures, changes on rainfall patterns,
drought, flooding, sea level rise, glacier melts, and incidence of diseases and
parasites are reported worldwide in recent decades. This study investigates
the effects of changing climatic conditions – particularly air temperature and
precipitation, on surface water temperatures and other water quality param-
eters, such as the conductivity, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, and turbidity.
A statistical analysis was performed on air temperature and precipitation
data from 1980 to 2005 to determine the changing climatic conditions. The
water quality data for four waterbodies in southwestern Louisiana was also analyzed to examine trends between the air temperature and surface water
temperatures, precipitation and surface water temperatures, and precipitation
and water quality parameters. There was an unexpected increase in surface
water temperature with an increase in precipitation. As the precipitation and
air temperature increased, so did the surface water temperature. This increase
in surface water temperature was correlated with decrease in DO levels. The
increase in precipitation also correlated with an increase in pH and turbidity
in Bayou Plaquemine Brule. This study’s findings could be utilized in a
dynamic climate modeling system to provide more accurate predictions of
climate change in southwestern Louisiana.

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Author Biographies

Katherine Eddings, Environmental Science Program, School of Geosciences, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

Katherine Eddings earned her Master’s of Science degree in Environmen-
tal Resource Science from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, LA,
USA, and Bachelor’s of Science degree from Western Carolina University in
Cullowhee, NC, USA. She currently teaches undergraduate Environmental
Science classes for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and taught
previously at Horry-Georgetown Technical College. Her areas of interest are
water quality, environmental restoration, and climatology. She has one four-
legged, furry child named Cinna and enjoys hiking, traveling, reading, and
spending time with Cinna.

Durga D. Poudel, Environmental Science Program, School of Geosciences, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

Durga D. Poudel is a Professor of Environmental Science at University of
Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, USA. He received his B.Sc. degree in
Agriculture from University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan, M.Sc. in
Natural Resource Development and Management from Asian Institute of
Technology, Bangkok, Thailand, and Ph.D. in Soil Science from the Uni-
versity of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA. Dr. Poudel’s professional experience
consists of Research Fellow at Asian Vegetable Research and Development
Center, Taiwan; Graduate Research Assistant in Sustainable Agricultural and
Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program,
University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA; and Visiting Research Scholar,
University of California Davis, USA. Dr. Poudel joined the University of
Louisiana at Lafayette, USA, as an Assistant Professor of Soil Science in
August 2000. Dr. Poudel is a Board of Regents Professor in Applied Life
Sciences at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana, USA. As
an Associate Editor, Dr. Poudel has been serving the Strategic Planning
for Energy and the Environment journal since 2020. He is the Founder of
Asta-Ja Framework and the Founding President of Asta-Ja Research and
Development Center (Asta-Ja RDC) Kathmandu, Nepal, and Asta-Ja USA.

Timothy W. Duex, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

Timothy W. Duex has been at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette since
1984 where he is Associate Professor in the School Geosciences. He is a
member of several professional societies, including the Lafayette Geolog-
ical Society, in which he served as President, the American Association
of Petroleum Geology, Division of Environmental Geology, where he is
Secretary-Treasurer, the Geological Society of America, and the Baton Rouge
Geological Society. He is also the University of Louisiana representative
since 2001 on the Water Advisory Task Force of the Louisiana Department
of Natural Resources. He teaches courses in Hydrology, Environmental Geol-
ogy, Mineralogy, Petrology, and Field investigations

Robert Miller, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

Robert Miller is an assistant professor in the civil engineering department
at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, USA. Dr. Miller’s
research focuses on numerical modeling in hydraulics and hydrology, coastal
water quality, and mathematical biology. Prior to joining academia, Dr. Miller worked in the private sector for 11 years as a water resources engineer and
project manager on numerous projects including site drainage design, FEMA
flood zone mapping and floodplain management, environmental impact
assessments, watershed master plans, and coastal restoration. Dr. Miller
obtained his PhD in applied mathematics with an emphasis in structured
population dynamics in 2015 from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
and is a registered professional engineer in Louisiana.

J. Calvin Berry, Department of Mathematics, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

J. Calvin Berry is an associate professor of statistics in the Mathematics
Department at University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana,
USA. Dr. Berry received his Bachelor of Science (1978) and Master of
Arts (1980) degrees in mathematics from the University of North Carolina
at Greensboro, NC, USA. He received his PhD in statistics (1985) from
Cornell University. After graduating from Cornell, he joined the faculty in the
mathematics department at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, USA.
In 1990, he relocated to Lafayette to join the statistics department at UL
Lafayette, then University of Southwestern Louisiana. He teaches statistics
at all levels, provides statistical advice to students and faculty, and conducts
research in statistics.

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Published

2023-01-17

How to Cite

Eddings, K. ., Poudel, D. D. ., Duex, T. W. ., Miller, R. ., & Berry, J. C. . (2023). Changing Climatic Conditions Affect Surface Water Quality in Southwestern Louisiana in the United States . Strategic Planning for Energy and the Environment, 39(3-4), 355–380. https://doi.org/10.13052/spee1048-4236.391414

Issue

2020: Vol 39 Iss 3-4 2020

Section

Articles