LAND-USE AND WATER-QUALITY RELATIONSHIPS IN THE GEORGES CREEK BASIN,MARYLAND1

ABSTRACT: Models developed in Ohio to predict water quality conditions resulting from various land uses associated with the surface mining of coal are employed to ascertain their transferability to Maryland conditions. Discriminant analysis is employed to assess patterns of association between water quality and land use variables, and predictive models were then constructed with which to quantify changes in stream quality to be expected from the changing mosaic of upstream land uses in the Georges Greek basin of western Maryland. Data collected under procedures specified by the regulatory authority in Maryland may have accounted for the lack of statistically significant results from these models. Suggested changes in the collection of data are made for the coal region of Maryland.