Intensive survey of Armand Bayou.
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This intensive survey of the Armand Bayou in Southeast Texas was accomplished in July 1980 in accordance with the Texas Water Quality Act and was intended to: (1) determine quantitative cause and effect relationships of water quality; (2) obtain data for updating water quality management plans and setting effluent limits; (3) set priorities for establishing or improving pollution controls; and (4) determine any additional water quality management actions required. Much of the bayou and its tributaries are influenced by tidal exchange with Galveston Bay through Clear Lake; it is an area of significant ecological importance. Seven sampling stations each were established on Armand Bayou and Horsepen Bayou, with additional samples taken from Big Island Slough and the Clear Lake City sewage treatment plant (STP). This study shows that the waters support large populations of algae, whose metabolism produce wide temporal variations in dissolved oxygen; however, in its present state the bayou's dissolved oxygen levels appear to be adequately balanced. Only the middle portion of the Armand Bayou approached critically low levels. The treated sewage effluent from the Clear Lake STP was assimilated in Horsepen Bayou with no serious water quality problems, and this condition should continue if the same level of treatment persists. Water quality modeling results indicate that a treatment level of 5 mg/l BOD5, 12 mg/l total suspended solids, and 2 mg/l ammonia nitrogen imposed on treatment facilities within the basin will maintain a minimum of 4 mg/l of dissoved oxygen in the Horsepen and Armand Bayous.