Otter Creek - Alice Leeds, 05/08/14

General Info

Investigator Name(s): 

thirty 5/6 students

Collection Date & Time: 

Thursday, May 8, 2014 - 9:00am

Present: 

Clear/Sunny

School: 

Lincoln Community School

Watershed: 

Otter/Lewis Basin

River: 

Otter Creek

Monitoring Site: 

New Haven River near school

Latitude: 

44.097838

Longitude: 

-72.985950

Physical Assessment

Embeddedness: 

0-25%

Relative Flow Patterns: 

Fast-Shallow

Water Odor: 

Odorless

Water Appearance: 

Clear

Surrounding Development or Land Use: 

Farm

Park

Residential

Is there a water treatment plant upstream?: 

No

Do you see any pipes entering into the river?: 

No

Appox. Channel Width: 

31.00ft

Avg. Depth: 

1.70ft

Current Velocity: 

3.36ft/sec

River Bottom Composition

Bedrock: 

1%

Boulders: 

12%

Cobble: 

70%

Sand, Silt, Clay: 

16%

Organic Matter (leaves, fallen twigs): 

1%

Algal Growth

Bottom covered by algae: 

1%

Bank Vegetation

Left bank: 

72%

Right bank: 

48%

Riparian Vegetation Zone

Left bank: 

28ft

Right bank: 

52ft

Overhead Canopy

Canopy Cover: 

42%

Turbidity

Trial 1: 

60NTU

Trial 2: 

60NTU

Avg. Turbidity: 

60NTU

Biotic Assessment

PT Group 1 (Intolerant)

Enter the number of each observed

Stonefly Nymph: 

11

Mayfly Nymph: 

6

Caddis Fly Larvae: 

3

Dobsonfly Larvae: 

0

Riffle Beetle: 

0

Water Penny: 

0

Right-Handed Snail: 

0

PT Group 2 (Moderately Intolerant)

Enter the number of each observed

Damselfly Nymph: 

3

Dragonfly Nymph: 

4

Sowbug: 

0

Scud: 

0

Cranefly Larvae: 

1

Clams/Mussels: 

0

Crayfish: 

0

PT Group 3 (Fairly Tolerant)

Enter the number of each observed

Midges: 

0

Black Fly Larvae: 

0

Planaria: 

0

Leech: 

0

PT Group 4 (Very Tolerant)

Enter the number of each observed

Left-Handed Snail: 

0

Aquatic Worms: 

0

Blood Midge: 

0

Rat-Tailed Maggot: 

0

Pollution Tolerance Index Rating

= 4*(Total # in PT Group 1) + 3*(Total # in PT Group 2) + 2*(Total # in PT Group 3) + 1*(Total # in PT Group 4)

23+ (Excellent)
17-22 (Good)
11-16 (Fair)
10 > (Poor)

PT Index Rating: 

20.0

Chemical Assessment

Temperature

Trial 1: 

47°F

Trial 2: 

41°F

Avg. Temp.: 

44°F

pH

Trial 1: 

7.0

Trial 2: 

7.0

Avg. pH: 

7.0

Orthophosphate PO4-3: 

0.03mg/L

Dissolved Oxygen: 

10mg/L