1

2014 Shell Creek Watershed Research Group

Advisors: Mark Seier, Kylie Sweeter, and Danielle Amen

Researchers: Mariely Estrada, Parker Wallin, Sadie Wallin, Marcela Estrada, Esmeralda Arreguin, Celine Dunlap,

Destiny Johnson, Joe O’Brien, Nolan Wondercheck, Steven Arreguin, Will Dyer, Andy King, Mya Donelson, Hannah Haase, Jacob Potmesil, Kyle Stone, Jacob Haase, and

Brooke Pieke.

2

(with Township-Range Labels)

Shell Creek and Loseke-Taylor Creek Watersheds

Lower Platte North Natural Resources District

6South Branch

North Branch

3

6Above Newman Grove

Below Newman Grove

4

6

Below Lindsay

West Platte Center

5

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.

6

• 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.

7

Sample W.Q.I. Curve Chart

8

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 ___

9

May June July August0

2

4

6

8

10

12

2014 PrecipitationIn

ch

es

Date

10

May 30 June 10 July 18 August 76.3

6.6

6.9

7.2

7.5

7.8

8.1

8.4

pH

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Date

pH

Level

11

May 30 June 10 July 18 August 7-3

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

4

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.

12May 30 June 10 July 18 August 7

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

Total Solids

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

mg

/LThe higher the concentration, the worse the water

quality.

13

Fecal Coliform

14

May 30 June 10 July 18 August 7100

1000

Fecal Coliform

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Date

Colo

nie

s/1

00

mL

1520

0320

0420

0520

0620

0720

0820

0920

1020

1120

1220

1320

1410

100

1000

10000

100000

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

Fecal Coliform

16May 30 June 10 July 18 August 7

0

5

10

15

20

25Flow

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

Cu

bic

Feet

Per

Secon

d

17May 30 June 10 July 18 August 7

0

50

100

150

200

250

300Turbidity

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

JTU

's

18

May 30 June 10 July 18 August 740

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

Dissolved Oxygen

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Date

% S

atu

rati

on

19May 30 June 10 July 18 August 7

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

5 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.

20

May 30 June 10 July 18 August 70

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

21

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 20140

10

20

30

40

50

60

Nitrates

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

PPM

22

May 30 June 10 July 18 August 70

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2Phosphates

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

PP

M

23

Medium

Bad

Good

Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Site 6 Site 530

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

2003 Averages 2004 Averages 2005 Averages

2006 Averages 2007 Averages 2008 Averages

2009 Averages 2010 Averages 2011 Averages

2012 Averages 2013 Averages 2014 Averages

WQI Averages by Site

24

Good

Bad

Medium

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70WQI Averages by Year

WQI

25

Total Rain-fall Inches

Discharge CFS

Nitrates PPM

pH 0

5

10

15

20

25

302003-2014 Chemical Test Average

Comparison 2003 Averages

2004 Averages

2005 Averages

2006 Averages

2007 Averages

2008 Averages

2009 Averages

2010 Averages

2011 Averages

2012 Averages

2013 Averages

2014 Average

26

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

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

2003-2014 Chemical Test Average Comparison 2003 Av-

erages2004 Av-erages2005 Av-erages2006 Av-erages2007 Av-erages2008 Av-erages2009 Av-erages2010 Av-erages

27

D.O. % Sat. Turbidity JTU Fecal Coliform Colonies/100 mL

Total Solids mg/L

10

100

1000

10000 2003 Av-erages2004 Av-erages2005 Av-erages2006 Av-erages2007 Av-erages2008 Av-erages2009 Av-erages2010 Av-erages

2003-2014 Chemical Test Average Comparisons

Chemical Test Conclusions

• The Dissolved Oxygen numbers look considerably better. (possibly due to new equipment)

• The fecal coliform count is still very erratic.

• The overall WQI is at its best since 2003.

• Nitrates, Phosphates, and Fecal Coliform all correlate with the amount of rainfall.

• Sites 1, 5, and 6 are the most erratic sites while sites 2, 3, and 4 are the most consistent.

28

29

Macro Invertebrates

Tolerant

Somewhat SensitiveSensit

ive

30

Beaver-Shell Creek Comparison2014

pH Nitrates Phos-phates

B.O.D0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Beaver CreekShell Creek

31

Beaver-Shell Creek Comparison2014

Turbidity Fecal Col-iform

Total Solids

D.O. % Sat.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Beaver Creek

Shell Creek Fecal Coliform- 2,481.25

32

Beaver-Shell Creek WQI Comparison

Good

Medium

Bad

/08

/09

/10

/11

/12

/13

/14

May

June Ju

ly

Augu

st0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Beaver Creek Av-erage WQI

Shell Creek Average WQI

33

34

35

36

Superhero's Saving the Planet One stream at a time!

37

Website

• Go to http://www.newman.esu8.org/ • Click the “Shell Creek Watershed”

icon on the right hand column• You can access our data and further

information concerning this project, including pictures

38

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

The End