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Little Bear Creek Reservoir

Ecological health rating
Swimming advisories
Fish consumption advisories

Ecological health rating

Ecological health conditions in Little Bear Creek Reservoir rated fair in 2007. The reservoir rated fair all previous years, except in 2005 when it rated poor due. primarily to a lower rating for chlorophyll.

TVA monitors one location on Little Bear Creek—the deep, still water near the dam—usually on a two-year cycle.

Little Bear Creek Reservoir Ecological Health Ratings, 1994-2007

rating chart

Click chart for raw data.  

 

The table below shows the ratings for individual ecological health indicators at Little Bear Creek in 2007. These ratings are briefly explained in the paragraphs that follow.

Ecological Health Indicators at
Little Bear Creek Reservoir, 2007

Monitoring
location

Dissolved oxygen

Chlorophyll

Fish

Bottom life

Sediment
Forebay

Dissolved oxygen

As in previous years, dissolved oxygen rated poor. The lower half of the water column contained little oxygen (less than two milligrams per liter) during the summer months.

Chlorophyll

Consistent with previous years, chlorophyll rated good. The exception was in 2005 when slightly elevated chlorophyll concentrations resulted in a fair rating for this indicator.

Fish

The fish community rated at the upper end of the fair range. Fish community scores have consistently been at the upper end of the fair range to good.

Bottom life

Bottom life rated poor because the only animals found in samples collected from the reservoir bottom were species able to tolerate poor water quality conditions.

Sediment

Sediment quality rated good. No pesticides or PCBs were detected, and concentrations of metals were within the expected background levels. Sediment quality has consistently rated good, except for in 2001 when arsenic levels exceeded expected background concentrations, resulting in a fair rating.

 

See definitions of ecological health indicators and monitoring locations.

Swimming advisories

TVA has not issued any swimming advisories for Little Bear Reservoir. 

E. coli bacteria levels in samples collected in 2007 were within the Environmental Protection Agency’s suggested guidelines for water contact with the following exception.

  • Williams Hollow Beach Exceeded the single sample maximum 1 of 10 sampling events

 

The following sites were sampled in 2007:

Site Name Location County / State

Elliot Branch Beach

Little Bear Creek Mile 13.3

Franklin / AL

Williams Hollow Beach

Little Bear Creek Mile 17.4

Franklin / AL

Fish consumption advisories

There are no fish consumption advisories for Little Bear Creek Reservoir. TVA collected channel catfish and largemouth bass from the reservoir for tissue analysis in autumn 2003. The results, which were similar to those of previous years, were provided to state agencies in Alabama. TVA will analyze fish from the reservoir again in autumn 2007.

lake photo

Little Bear Creek Reservoir is located in Franklin County in northwestern Alabama. It is one of four reservoirs on Bear Creek and its tributaries.

 

More about Little Bear Creek

Sport fishing ratings

Spring sportfish survey results

General information

To see monitoring results for other TVA reservoirs, choose from the list below.

 

 

           
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