ng shell creek data powerpoint 2007

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2007 Shell Creek Watershed Study

Advisors – Mark Seier & Suzy Goedeken

Researchers – Sheila O’Brien, Brett Roberg, Sheana Wallin, Jessica Boschen, Sean Farrier, Ann O’Brien, Lynzee Pieke, Mandy Anderson, Alyshia Nelson, Shae Wallin, Jordan Nelson, Jesse Knust, Luke Gasper, Darrek Schmidt, Jonathon Dohmen, Connie Dohmen, Tim Wiese, Laura Johnson, Olivia Wiese, Jake Kaufman, Katie O’Brien, Kelsey Wallin, Josh Kaufman, Tom O’Brien, Heather Schmidt

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(with Township-Range Labels)

Shell Creek and Loseke-Taylor Creek Watersheds

Lower Platte North Natural Resources District

6

4

Site 1

5

Site 2

6

Site 3

7

Site 4

8

Site 6

9

Site 5

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W.Q.I.

• The Water Quality Index was developed by the National Sanitation Foundation as a standard system to compare different bodies of water.

• To determine the WQI, a series of nine tests were performed. These tests were: dissolved oxygen, fecal coliform, pH, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), temperature, total phosphate, nitrates, turbidity, and total solids. We also did a water discharge test which we use to measure the flow of the creek in cubic feet per second.

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• After the tests are completed, the WQI for each section of the creek can be computed.

• To formulate the WQI, we first computed Q-values.

• We multiply this number by a weighting factor, which provides a measure of the relative importance of each test to overall water quality.

• The water quality index ranges from zero to 100.

- 0 - 25 is very bad - 25 - 50 is bad - 50 - 70 is medium - 70 - 90 is good- 90 - 100 is excellent

• The bio-indicator tests weren’t part of W.Q.I., but did give us a water quality rating.

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Sample W.Q.I. Curve Chart

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Sample W.Q.I. Form

Test Results Q-valueWeighting

FactorT o t a l

DO % sat. 0.17 Fecal Coliform col/100 mL 0.16

pH units 0.11 BOD mg/L 0.11

Temperature change in C 0.1 Total Phosphate mg/L 0.1

Nitrates mg/L 0.1 Turbidity JTU 0.08

Total Solids mg/L 0.07

Overall Water Quality Index ___

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2007 Precipitation

0

1

2

3

4

5

May June July August

Inch

es

Rainfall

15

pH

6.3

6.6

6.9

7.2

7.5

7.8

8.1

8.4

May 26 June 15&16 July 9&10 August 7

Date

pH

Leve

l

Site 1Site 2Site 3Site 4Site 5Site 6

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Change in Water Temperature

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

4

May 27 June 15 &16

July 9 & 10 August 7

Date

Deg

rees

Celc

ius Site 1

Site 2Site 3Site 4Site 5Site 6

The higher the change, the worse the water quality.

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Total Solids

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

May 27 June 15 &16


Date

mg

/L


The higher the concentration, the worse the water quality.

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Fecal Coliform

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Fecal Coliform

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

May 27 June15&16


Date

colo

nie

s/100 m

L Site 1Site 2Site 3Site 4Site 5Site 6

20

Flow

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

May 27 June 15 &16


Date

Cub

ic f

eet

per

seco

nd


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Turbidity

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

May 27 June 15 &16


Date

JTU

's


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Dissolved Oxygen

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

May 27 June 15 &16


Date

% S

atu

rati

on


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5 Day Biological Oxygen Demand

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

May 27 June 15 &16


Date

pp

m


The higher the change, the worse the water quality.

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Nitrates

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

May 27 June 15 &16


Date

pp

m


25

Phosphates

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

May 27 June 15 &16


Date

pp

m


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Chemical Test Conclusion• Significant increase in stream

discharge• Increasing nitrate levels• DO consistently low• Total dissolved solids increasing

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WQI Averages by Site

45

50

55

60

65

70

Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Site 6 Site 5

WQ

I

2003 Averages 2004 Averages 2005 Averages

2006 Averages 2007 Averages

Medium

Bad

Good

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WQI Averages by Date

45

50

55

60

65

70


Month

WQ

I

2003 Averages 2004 Averages 2005 Averages

2006 Averages 2007 Averages

Bad

Medium

Good

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2003 to 2007 Chemical Test Average Comparisons

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Chemical Test

2003 Averages

2004 Averages

2005 Averages

2006 Averages

2007 Averages

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2003 to 2007 Chemical Test Average Comparisons

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

D.O. % Sat. Turbidity Fecal Coliform Total Solids

Chemical Test

2003 Averages

2004 Averages

2005 Averages

2006 Averages

2007 Averages

*2006 Fecal Coliform Average 8,058 col/100 mL

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Macro Invertebrates

TolerantSomewhat Sensitive

Sensitive

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Sample Bio-Indicator Data Form

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Bio-Indicator Ratings

0

2

4

6

8

10

12


Month

Ratin

gs

site 1site 2site 3site 4site 5site 6

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0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Ave

rage N

um

ber

of Fi

sh

Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Site 6 Site 5

Fathead Minnow

Sand Shiner

Red Shiner

River Shiner

Black Bullhead

Yellow Bullhead

Green Sunfish

Carp

Fish Study

58.51 WQI

58.28 WQI

61.06 WQI

50.4 WQI

47.0 WQI

55.24 WQI

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2007 Flood Study

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2007 Flood StudyDate and Time

Width (ft)

Avg. Depth

(ft)

Flow (cfs)

Fecal Colifor

m

Total Solids(mg/L)

NO3

(ppm)

SolidDischarg

e (lbs/min)

SolidDischarg

e (tons/hr)

5/303:08 AM

110 8.42 2243 200 9300 0 78145 2344

5/30 8:00 AM

84 7.38 1451 0 5160 2.31 27876 836

X cu ft

60 sec

28.32 L X mg 1 g 1 lb 1 ton 60 min

1 sec 1 min 1 cu ft 1 L 100 mg 453.6 g 2000 lb 1 hr

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Bio-

Indicators

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Chemical

Tests

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Website

• http://newman.esu8.org/project.html

OR• http://newman.esu8.org/

• Click “Our Students”• Click “Student Projects”

• Click “Watershed Project”• You can see our data and further information concerning this project,

including pictures.

http://newman.esu8.org/

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Thank You To:• Lower Platte North Natural Resource District

• PrairieLand RC&D

• Natural Resource Conservation Service

• Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality

• Shell Creek Watershed Improvement Group

• Chris Poole

• Phil Chvala

• Area Land Owners

The End

ng shell creek data powerpoint 2007

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