The Corbin City Reservoir is the
drinking water supply for the citizens of Corbin and surrounding
communities. The approximately 140-acre reservoir is located just
downstream of the convergence of three large streams, the Laurel and
Little Laurel rivers and Robinson Creek, which drain a total of 140
mi2. The reservoir was formed by the impoundment of the Laurel
River.
The Corbin City Reservoir watershed contains over 450 miles of
streams. The Kentucky Division of Water (KDOW) has assessed about 50
miles of the streams in this watershed for designated uses; of those
miles, approximately 35 miles are currently impaired by pollution
and listed as 1st Priority
303(d) streams.
The reservoir is impaired
for drinking water and aquatic life uses.
Most people’s image of water pollution is a pipe discharging industrial
waste or sewage into a waterway. This “point source” pollution –
that is, pollution from a single, clearly identifiable source – was
once America’s major source of water contamination. In the last 25
years most point source pollution has been eliminated as industries
and wastewater treatment facilities cleaned up their discharge to
comply with the Clean Water Act. Although point source pollution has
been reduced to a fraction of its former levels, we still have
significant amounts of water pollution.
Today most water pollution comes from pastures, construction sites,
parking lots, rooftops, lawns, and driveways. Nonpoint source (NPS)
pollution is the contamination that rain washes off surfaces and
carries into streams and lakes. NPS pollution is the less obvious
source of pollution. A pipe pouring chemicals into a river is easy
to spot. But runoff comes from virtually everywhere and carries a
mix of pollutants with it.
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Only 10% of the nation’s waters are polluted by “point
sources”, such as discharge from industrial plants and
wastewater treatment facilities. |
Most waters are polluted by “nonpoint sources”, the
contaminants that rain washes off land, pavement and
roofs and are carried into streams. |
The streams and reservoir
in this watershed are impaired by nonpoint source (or NPS)
pollutants, primarily pathogens, sediment, nutrients, and organic
enrichment.
Pathogens are harmful organisms in human and animal waste. They can
cause disease directly if you go into pathogen-polluted water, or
indirectly, if you eat shellfish from contaminated water. Sources of
pathogens include runoff from pastures, failed septic systems and
pet waste.
Nutrients include nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers or animal
wastes. They can cause a health hazard in drinking water and
stimulate plant growth in water. Oxygen is taken up by plant growth
and in the decay of organic material. This lowers the level of
dissolved oxygen in water and results in fish kills.
Sediment is eroded soil from construction sites, bare fields, and
other un-vegetated land. As much as six tons of soil can wash off a
single acre in a year if the soil is not covered by vegetation. This
soil settles out in streams and lakes and smothers aquatic organisms
and habitat, clouds the water, and eventually silts up stream
channels and even entire waterways. Sediment can also be eroded from
the streambank itself when a channel is unstable.
In 2003 Third Rock Consultants received a
319 (h) grant (from the US Environmental Protection Agency,
through the Kentucky Division of Water) to assess and monitor the
entire Corbin City Reservoir watershed and to determine the sources
and impacts of nonpoint source pollutants. The grant was used to
produce a document known as a “Watershed Plan”, which
identifies the significant sources of nonpoint source pollution,
presents practical solutions to controlling pollution, and
prioritizes projects for future funding that will improve water
quality throughout the watershed. The goal is to improve the Corbin
City Reservoir and the streams within the watershed for drinking,
overall recreation, and aquatic life.
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