EVALUATION OF THE RECOVERY OF A POLLUTED URBAN STREAM USING THE EPHEMEROPTERA-PLECOPTERA-TRICHOPTERA INDEX

A survey of the benthic macroinvertebrate community of Dried Indian Cr eek, a second/third order stream in the Georgia Piedmont flowing throu gh the city of Covington, was initially conducted in 1978. The study w as repeated and expanded in 1993 to compare recent conditions with tho se in 1978 and to evaluate historical changes in the stream biota. The 1993 study revealed significant improvement in the structure of the i nvertebrate community measured by differences in the Ephemeroptera/Ple coptera/Trichoptera index values obtained from the two studies. The in troduction of a tertiary phase in the wastewater treatment systems of local governments resulted in improved water quality. Furthermore, the appearance of a small wetland probably explains an improvement in con ditions in the creek upstream from the original point of introduction of wastewater effluent.