Tennessee Valley Authority
Little Bear Creek Reservoir
Contents of this page
Ecological health rating
Little Bear Creek Reservoir rated poor in 2005 monitoring by TVA.
Swimming advisories
The state of Alabama has not issued any advisories against swimming in Little Bear Creek Reservoir.
Fish consumption advisories
The state of Alabama has not issued any advisories against consuming fish from Little Bear Creek Reservoir.
Related Links
More about Little Bear Creek Reservoir
Sport
fishing ratings
Get
the facts on the availability of important sport species.
Spring
sportfish survey results
View
the results from TVA’s latest black bass population survey.
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 Little 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. Little Bear Creek is now monitored every other year.
Ecological health conditions in Little Bear Creek Reservoir rated poor for the first time in 2005. The reservoir had rated fair all previous years. Ratings for each indicator have generally been consistent from year to year, but the lower score in 2005 was primarily due to lower rating for chlorophyll.
Little 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 Little Bear Creek in 2005. These ratings are briefly explained in the paragraphs that follow.
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Dissolved oxygen
As in previous years, the lower half of the water column contained little oxygen (less than two milligrams per liter) from June through August. At times during this period, the water on the bottom contained no dissolved oxygen at all.
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll rated fair as a result of a few elevated chlorophyll concentrations. Chlorophyll levels are typically low in Little Bear, resulting in good ratings for this indicator.
Fish
The fish community rated good. Sampling revealed a good number of species and good catch rate.
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 because no pesticides or PCBs were detected and concentrations of metals were within the expected background levels.
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.
