ng shell creek data powerpoint 2011

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2011 Shell Creek Watershed

Research Group

Advisors: Mark Seier and Karen Malmkar

Researchers: Audrey Wondercheck, Mark O’Brien,

Alisha Dunlap, Caitlin Bennett, Joan O’Brien, Lila Wondercheck,

Ciera Afrank, Kendra Nelson, Liz Backhaus, Darienne

Pokorny, Jason Kaufman, Demi Edgell, Jacob Haase, John

O’Brien, Brock Donelson, Billy O’Brien, Megan Nelson, Brooke

Pieke, Alex Wiese

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(with Township-Range Labels)

Shell Creek and Loseke-Taylor Creek Watersheds

Lower Platte North Natural Resources District

6South Branch

North Branch

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6Above Newman Grove

Below Newman Grove

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6

Below Lindsay

West Platte Center

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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 are not part of the W.Q.I., but do 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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May June July August0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

2011 Precipitation

Rainfall

Inch

es

10

May 26,27

June 23 July 20 August 4

6.3

6.6

6.9

7.2

7.5

7.8

8.1

8.4

pH

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

pH

Level

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May 26, 27 June 23 July 20 August 4

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

Change in Water Temperature

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

Deg

rees C

elc

ius

The higher the change, the worse the water quality.

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May 26, 27 June 23 July 20 August 40

500

1000

1500

2000

2500Total Solids

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

mg

/L

The higher the concentration, the worse the water quality.

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Fecal Coliform

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May 26, 27

June 23 July 20 August 40

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500Fecal Coliform

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

colo

nie

s/1

00

mL

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2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 20110

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600Fecal Coliform

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

colo

nie

s/1

00

mL

In 2006 Site 1- 21,418Site 5- 17,800

In 2010Site 1- 11,387Site 3- 6,837Site 6- 2,313

16May 26, 27 June 23 July 20 August 4

0

20

40

60

80

100

120Flow

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

Cu

bic

feet

per

secon

d*Flow was not measured for May Sites 3,4,5,6

17May 26, 27 June 23 July 10 August 4

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200Turbidity

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

JTU

's

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May 26, 27 June 23 July 20 August 40

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Dissolved Oxygen

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

% S

atu

rati

on

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May 26, 27 June 23 July 20 August 40

1

2

3

4

5

65 Day Biological Oxygen Demand

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

pp

m

The higher the change, the worse the water quality.

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May 26, 27 June 23 July 20 August 40

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Nitrates

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

pp

m

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2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Nitrates

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

pp

m

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May 26, 27 June 23 July 20 August 40

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

Phosphates

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

pp

m

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Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Site 6 Site 545

50

55

60

65

70

WQI Averages by Site

2003 Averages 2004 Averages 2005 Averages 2006 Averages2007 Averages 2008 Averages 2009 Averages 2010 Average2011 Average

WQ

I Medium

Bad

Good

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2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 201145

50

55

60

65

70

Total WQI Averages by Year

WQI

WQ

I

Good

Bad

Medium

25Total Rainfall Inches

Discharge CFS Nitrates ppm pH 0

5

10

15

20

25

302003 - 2011 Chemical Test Average Comparisons

2003 Averages

2004 Averages

2005 Averages

2006 Averages

2007 Averages

2008 Averages

2009 Averages

2010 Average

2011 Average

26Phosphates ppm B.O.D. ppm Change in Temp. Celcius

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

2003 - 2011 Chemical Test Average Comparisons

2003 Averages

2004 Averages

2005 Averages

2006 Averages

2007 Averages

2008 Averages

2009 Averages

2010 Average

2011 Average

27D.O. % Sat. Turbidity JTU Fecal Coliform

Colonies/100 mL

Total Solids mg/L

0

200

400

600

800

1000

12002003 - 2011 Chemical Test Average Comparisons

2003 Averages

2004 Averages

2005 Averages

2006 Averages

2007 Averages

2008 Averages

2009 Averages

2010 Average

2011 Average

*2010 Fecal ColiformAverage 3,648 col/100 mL

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

Chemical Test Conclusions

• Upstream sites have a decreasing WQI, while lower stream sites have an increasing WQI.

• Flow and Nitrate are continuing to follow each other.

• May phosphate levels are high.• Nitrates overall are stabilizing.

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Macro Invertebrates

TolerantSomewhat Sensitive

Sensitive

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Beaver-Shell Creek Comparison2011

pH Nitrates Phos-phates

B.O.D0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Beaver Creek

Shell Creek

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Beaver-Shell Creek Comparison2011

Turbidity Fecal Col-iform

Total Solids

D.O. % Sat.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Beaver Creek

Shell Creek

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Beaver-Shell Creek WQI Comparison

May June July August Summer Average

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Summer Average

10

Summer Average

09

Summer Average

08

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Beaver Creek Average WQI

Shell Creek Average WQI

WQI

Good

Medium

Bad

332010 Flood Study

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Date Site pHTemp. Chan.

Total Solids

mg/L

Fecal Coliform

Flow CFS

Turbidity JTU's

Dissolved Oxygen % Saturation

Dissolved Oxygen

ppm5 day BOD Nitrates Phosphates

WQI number WQI Rating

6/22

Site 1 8 0.2 410 750 5.4 171.77 36% 3.8 0 40.92 1.44 44.71 Bad

Site 2 7.5 1 390 2800 2.93 399.02 12% 0.2 0 9.68 0.2 35.05 Bad

Site 3 7.3 0.2 670 350 8.96 379.2 10% 1 0 12.5 0.19 52.53 Medium

Site 4 7.9 1.1 670 750 28.44 410 18% 1.7 0.7 4.62 1.23 48.94 Bad

Site 6 7.9 0 1600 200 43.89 406 14% 0.1 0 2.83 2.8 48.97 Bad

Site 5 7.8 0.3 1660 400 81.2 1076 11% 1.4 0 2.82 1.56 51.03 Medium

6/23

Site 1 8.1 0.1 540 550 5.78 66.7 64% 6.7 0 26.22 0.84 63.11 Medium

Site 2 7.7 1.9 590 550 2.34 114.2 47% 4.5 0 10.56 0.69 57.66 Medium

Site 3 7.8 -0.2 730 300 17.3 139.81 48% 4.6 0 32.65 0.56 56.66 Medium

Site 4 7.8 0.3 630 400 11.16 177 65% 6.2 0.7 11.66 1 56.3 Medium

Site 6 7.7 2 600 300 30.42 245 53% 5.2 0 9.6 1.27 53.9 Medium

Site 5 7.8 0.2 670 800 101.89 358 62% 6.2 0 11.04 1.19 54.31 Medium

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Date Site pHTemp. Chang.

Total Solids

mg/L

Fecal Coliform

FlowCFS

Turbidity JTU's

Dissolved Oxygen % Saturation

Dissolved Oxygen

ppm5 DayBOD Nitrates Phosphates

WQI number WQI Rating

7/20

Site 1 7.9 1.5 620 50 1.97 89.5 50% 4.3 0.7 38.02 0.81 53.86 Medium

Site 2 7.8 2.1 650 0 2.32 86.4 39% 3.3 0 33.79 0.65 60.87 Medium

Site 3 8.2 0 580 150 6.89 52.17 55% 4.6 0.3 29.04 0.76 54.77 Medium

Site 4 7.7 0.2 660 10016.0997 67 50% 4.1 0.1 21.47 0.87 59.07 Medium

Site 6 8.3 0.2 640 200 50.41 61 63% 5.4 2.8 22.704 1.09 52.37 Medium

Site 5 8 0.3 400 150 11.283 52 63% 5.4 3 20.5 1.12 54.21 Medium

7/21

Site 1 7.9N/A 430 400N/A 70.91 23% 3.5 0.7 26.576 1.19 42.87 Bad

Site 2 7.9N/A 440 50N/A 120.09 16% 2.5 0 12.32 0.55 46.93 Bad

Site 3 7.9N/A 540 50N/A 217.27 14% 2.3 0.3 12.012 0.47 47.16 Bad

Site 4 7.6N/A 2510 400N/A 235.4 0% 0 0 0 2.25 42.64 Bad

Site 6 8.2N/A 1320 200N/A 760.84 0% 0 3 5.02 2.25 41.03 Bad

Site 5 7.5N/A 4170 150N/A 271.56 0% 0 2.8 13.16 0.96 38.38 Bad

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Student Scientists in Action

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Water Samplin

g

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WE LOVESHELL CREEKWATERSHED!

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Website

• http://www.newman.esu8.org/ • Click “Activities”

• Click “Watershed Project”• Click “Watershed Homepage”

• You can see our data and further information concerning this project,

including pictures.

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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

• Area Land Owners

• United States Geographical Survey

• University of Nebraska Extension Service

• Newman Grove Public Schools

NE Loves PS (pictures)

The End