Tennessee Valley Authority
Bear Creek Reservoir
Contents of this page
Ecological health rating
Bear Creek Reservoir rated poor in 2005 monitoring by TVA.
Swimming advisories
The state of Alabama has not issued any advisories against swimming in Bear Creek Reservoir or the Bear Creek Floatway.
Fish consumption advisories
The state of Alabama has issued a limited consumption advisory for largemouth bass from Bear Creek Reservoir.
Related Links
More about Bear Creek Reservoir
Sport
fishing ratings
Get
the facts on the availability of important sport species.
General information
Monitoring
river conditions
Find
out how TVA evaluates the river system’s ecological health
and suitability for human use.
Ecological health rating
TVA monitored Bear Creek Reservoir annually from 1993 to 1997 to establish baseline data on the reservoir’s ecological health under a range of weather and flow conditions. Bear Creek is now monitored every other year.
Bear Creek Reservoir rated poor in 2005. The ecological health score for Bear Creek has been poor in most years.
Bear Creek Reservoir Ecological Health Ratings, 1994-2005
Click chart for raw data.
The table below shows the ratings for individual ecological health indicators at Bear Creek in 2005. These ratings are briefly explained in the paragraphs that follow.
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Dissolved oxygen
As in previous years, dissolved oxygen rated poor in 2005. Much of the water column had low dissolved oxygen levels during the summer months.
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll typically rates poor on Bear Creek Reservoir, and 2005 was no exception. Average chlorophyll concentrations were slightly lower in 2005 as compared to most years, but still high enough to warrant a poor rating.
Fish
Fish community scores have consistently been at the upper end of the fair range, except in 2001 and 2005, when this indicator rated good.
Bottom life
Bottom life rated poor in 2005 because few animals were found and most were species able to tolerate poor conditions. Some samples contained no animals at all. Bottom life typically rates “low fair” or poor.
Sediment
Sediment quality rated good. The reservoir bottom was free of pesticides and PCBs, and concentrations of metals were within expected background levels.
Swimming advisories
TVA has not issued any swimming advisories for Upper Bear Creek Reservoir or Bear Creek Floatway.
E. coli bacteria levels in samples collected in 2007 were within the Environmental Protection Agency’s suggested guidelines for water contact with the following exceptions.
- Hwy 5 Bridge Canoe Access Site. Exceeded the single sample maximum 1 or 10 sampling events
- Twin Forks Beach. Exceeded the single sample maximum 1 of 10 sampling events
- Hwy 43 Canoe Access Site. Exceeded the single sample maximum 1 of 10 sampling events
The sites sampled in 2007 were:
Site Name |
Location |
County |
State |
|---|---|---|---|
Military Bridge Canoe Access Site |
Bear Creek Mile 95.7 |
Franklin |
AL |
Hwy 43 Canoe Access Site |
Bear Creek Mile 99.4 |
Marion |
AL |
Hwy 172 Bridge Canoe Access Site |
Bear Creek Mile 104.8 |
Marion |
AL |
Hwy 241 Bridge Canoe Access Site |
Bear Creek Mile 111.8 |
Marion |
AL |
Hwy 5 Bridge Canoe Access Site |
Bear Creek Mile 113.9 |
Marion |
AL |
Twin Forks Beach |
Bear Creek Mile 115.3 |
Marion |
AL |
Quarter Creek Beach |
Bear Creek Mile 125.0, County Road 71 |
Winston |
AL |
Mon Dye Beach |
Little Bear Creek Mile 5.7 |
Franklin |
AL |
Fish consumption advisories
In March 2004 the state of Alabama issued a limited consumption advisory for largemouth bass from Bear Creek Reservoir because of mercury contamination. The state of Alabama states that the “intent of a limited consumption advisory is for women of childbearing age and children (less than 15 years of age) to refrain from consumption of any fish indicated under this advisory. All other individuals should limit their consumption of the particular species to one meal per month.”
TVA collected channel catfish and largemouth bass from the reservoir in fall 2006 for tissue analysis. The results, which were similar to those of previous years, will be provided to state agencies in Alabama. TVA will analyze fish from the Bear Creek Forebay again in fall 2007.
