A Study of Cutoff Bendways on the Tombigbee River
Abstract
Biological and physical data were collected from four bendways within the river portion of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (TTW) from Columbus, Mississippi, to Demopolis, Alabama: Rattlesnake Bend, Cooks Bend, Big Creek Bendway, and Hairston Bend. During this study, the four bendways had not all been cut off and had been impounded for varying lengths of time. At the completion of the TTW project, all four of the bendways will be severed from the main navigation channel. Four distinct areas within each bendway were compared: above the bendway; within the bendway; below the bendway; and within the cut. Sampling was conducted from January 1979 to September 1980 to coincide with four different river stage/water temperature regimes: late fall-moderate flow/ decreasing water temperature; winter-high flow/low temperature; spring-high flow/rising temperatures; and summer-low flow/warm water temperatures with increased probability of thermal stratification. Data were collected for numerous physical and water quality parameters, phytoplankton and chlorophyll, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fishes. During early September 1980 a mollusk and aquatic macrophyte survey was conducted at all four bendways. Sediment analysis and bottom profiles indicated that the substrate composition of some of the bendways is changing. Overall, the substrate of the study area is changing from a sand-gravel-fines mixture to one of predominantly sand and fines. Areas of some bendways, in particular the upper areas, were accumulating sediments. At big Creek Bendway, this accumulation completely blocked water exchange between the river and the within-bendway areas.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1981
- Accession Number
- ADA108896
Entities
People
- C. H. Pennington
- C. L. Bond
- F. G. Howell
- J. A. Baker