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1
2012 Shell Creek Watershed
Research Group
Advisors: Mark Seier, Karen Malmkar, and Kylie Sweeter
Researchers: Alisha Dunlap, Ciera Afrank, Kendra Nelson,
Darienne Pokorny, Jason Kaufman, Demi Edgell, Jacob Haase, John O’Brien, Brock
Donelson, Billy O’Brien, Megan Nelson, Brooke Pieke, Alex
Wiese, Garrett Flamme, Parker Wallin, Sadie Wallin, Brett
Weinman
2
(with Township-Range Labels)
Shell Creek and Loseke-Taylor Creek Watersheds
Lower Platte North Natural Resources District
6South Branch
North Branch
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.
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 ___
10
May 22 June 25, 26 July 9, 10 August 26.3
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
11May 22 June 25, 26 July 9, 10 August 2
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
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 22 June 25, 26 July 9,10 August 2
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
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.
14
May 22 June 25, 26
July 9, 10 August 20
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
Fecal Coliform
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3
Site 4
Site 6
Site 5
Date
Colo
nie
s/1
00
mL
15
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
Fecal 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
In 2012 Site 6- 4,000
16May 22 June 25, 26 July 9, 10 August 2
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Flow
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3
Site 4
Site 6
Site 5
Date
Cu
bic
Feet
Per
Secon
d
17May 22 June 25, 26 July 9,10 August 2
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Turbidity
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3
Site 4
Site 6
Site 5
Date
JTU
's
18
May 22 June 25, 26 July 9, 10 August 20
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
19May 22 June 25, 26 July 9,10 August 2
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
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 22 June 25, 26 July 9, 10 August 20
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
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Nitrates
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3
Site 4
Site 6
Site 5
Date
PP
M
22
May 22 June 25, 26 July 9, 10 August 20
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
Phosphates
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3
Site 4
Site 6
Site 5
Date
PP
M
23
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 2012 Averages
WQ
I Medium
Bad
Good
24
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 201245
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
30
2003 - 2012 Chemical Test Average Comparisons
2003 Averages
2004 Averages
2005 Averages
2006 Averages
2007 Averages
2008 Averages
2009 Averages
2010 Average
2011 Average
2012 Averages
26
Phosphates ppm B.O.D. ppm Change in Temp. Celcius
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
2003 - 2012 Chemical Test Average Compar-isons
2003 Averages2004 Averages2005 Averages2006 Averages2007 Averages2008 Averages2009 Averages2010 Average2011 Average2012 Averages
27D.O. % Sat. Turbidity JTU Fecal Coliform
Colonies/100 mL
Total Solids mg/L
0
200
400
600
800
1000
12002003 - 2012 Chemical Test Average Comparisons
2003 Averages
2004 Averages
2005 Averages
2006 Averages
2007 Averages
2008 Averages
2009 Averages
2010 Average
2011 Average
2012 Averages
~ 2010 Fecal ColiformAverage 3,648 Col/100 mL
~ 2006 Fecal Coliform Average 8,058 Col/100 mL
Chemical Test Conclusions
• Nitrates down this year (lowest in 6 years)
• Total solids on a downward trend since 2004
• BOD has been decreasing since 2003• Overall water quality improved over
last few years• Correlation between rainfall and WQI
(2009 and 2012)28
30
Beaver-Shell Creek Comparison2012
pH Nitrates Phos-phates
B.O.D0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Beaver CreekShell Creek
31
Beaver-Shell Creek Comparison2012
Turbidity Fecal Col-iform
Total Solids
D.O. % Sat.
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Beaver Creek
32
Beaver-Shell Creek WQI Comparison
Summer Average 08
Summer Average 09
Summer Average 10
Summer Average 11
Summer Average 12
May June July August0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Beaver Creek Average WQI
Shell Creek Average WQI
WQ
I
Good
Medium
Bad
38
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.
39
Thank You To:• Lower Platte North Natural
Resource District
• PrairieLand RC&D
• Dan Gillespie
• 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