Potash Brook (Lake Champlain Direct Flow) - Tier 3 Report - Walter Poleman, 10/13/15

Physical Parameters Assessment

Investigator Name(s):

Tuesday Lab NR01

Collection Date & Time:

Tuesday, October 13, 2015 - 2:30pm

School:

University of Vermont

Watershed:

Lake Champlain Direct & Grand Isle Basins

River:

Potash Brook (Lake Champlain Direct Flow)

Site Description:

East Woods section of Potash Brook

Surrounding Development or Land Use:

Forest

Do you see any pipes entering into the river?:

Is there a water treatment plant upstream?:

Canopy Cover:

51-75%

Water Appearance:

Clear

Water Odor:

Odorless

Average Embeddedness:

0-25%

Average Velocity:

0.15m/s

Exact Location

This will be used to locate your collection site on our interactive map. You can use this tool if you need help finding the coordinates.

Latitude:

44.26

Longitude:

-73.13

Weather

Present:

Showers

Past 48 Hours:

Showers

Average Transparency/Turbidity

No Impact: >60 cm - 17cm = 0-50 ntu
Possible Impact: 17 - 8cm = 65-150 ntu
Impacted: 8 - < 6 cm = >150 ntu

Height of Water Column:

120.00cm

Turbidity:

20.00NTU

Chemical Assessment

Introduction:

Materials and Methods:

Results:

Temperature: 12.3 degrees Celcius

pH: 7.8

Phosphorus: 0.163 mg/L

Dissolved Oxygen: 8 mg/L

Discussion:

Stream Habitat Assessment

Good Habitat: Score of 80 to 60 ----- Fair Habitat: Score of 59 to 40 ----- Poor Habitat: Score of 39 to 0

Substrate Habitat Types:

Cobble or larger rocks

Substrate Habitat Types (Score):

20 to 40% has mix of stable habitat types (4)

Embeddedness:

0 to 25% embedded; rocks easy to move (8)

Sediment Deposition:

5 to 30% of riverbed effected by new deposition (6)

Velocity / Depth Types:

Slow & shallow

Velocity / Depth Types (Score):

1 velocity/depth type present (2)

Channel Flow Status:

Water fills > 75% of channel; < 25% of substrate exposed (6)

Channel Alteration:

Alteration minimal; river with natural pattern (4)

Frequency of Riffles:

Occurrence of riffles common (3)

Bank Stability (Left Bank):

Somewhat unstable; 30 to 60% eroded or collapsed (2)

Bank Stability (Right Bank):

Somewhat unstable; 30 to 60% eroded or collapsed (2)

Riparian Vegetation (Left Bank):

> 90% covered by natural vegetation (4)

Riparian Vegetation (Right Bank):

> 90% covered by natural vegetation (4)

Riparian Zone Width (Left Bank):

Width > 18 meters; no human impact (4)

Riparian Zone Width (Right Bank):

Width > 18 meters; no human impact (4)

Stream Habitat Quality Score

Calculated by adding all of the points from the above fields.

60-80 (Good)
40-59 (Fair)
0-39 (Poor)

Stream Habitat Quality Score for This Report:

Biological Assessment

The Water Quality Score is calculated by adding together the the Index Values calculated for each Sensitivity Group on the field sheet.

40+ (Excellent)
30-39 (Good)
20-29 (Fair)
0-19 (Poor)

Group I (Sensitive) Index Value:

12.0

Group II (Moderately Sensitive) Index Value:

9.0

Group III (Tolerant) Index Value:

2.0

Water Quality Score for This Report: