Potash Brook (Lake Champlain Direct Flow) - Tier 3 Report - Walter Poleman, 10/16/15

Physical Parameters Assessment

Investigator Name(s):

Molly, Amanda, Julia, and Zack

Collection Date & Time:

Friday, October 16, 2015 - 2:30pm

School:

University of Vermont

Watershed:

Lake Champlain Direct & Grand Isle Basins

River:

Potash Brook (Lake Champlain Direct Flow)

Surrounding Development or Land Use:

Park

Residential

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:

76-100%

Average Velocity:

0.09m/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:

44.45

Longitude:

-73.20

Weather

Present:

Showers

Past 48 Hours:

Steady Rain

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:

12.70cm

Turbidity:

0.00NTU

Chemical Assessment

Results:

Temperature Average = 10-12 degrees Celcius

pH average = 8

phosphorous average = 0.2 mg/L

Dissolved Oxygen average = 7.5 mg/L (ppm)

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

Other stable substrate materials

Substrate Habitat Types (Score):

40 to 70% has mix of stable habitat types (6)

Embeddedness:

75 to 100% embedded; rocks cannot be moved (2)

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):

Moderately stable; 5 to 30% eroded or collapsed (3)

Bank Stability (Right Bank):

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

Riparian Vegetation (Left Bank):

< 50% covered by natural vegetation (1)

Riparian Vegetation (Right Bank):

< 50% covered by natural vegetation (1)

Riparian Zone Width (Left Bank):

Width 12 to 18 meters; minimal human impact (3)

Riparian Zone Width (Right Bank):

Width 12 to 18 meters; minimal human impact (3)

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:

16.0

Group II (Moderately Sensitive) Index Value:

9.0

Group III (Tolerant) Index Value:

0.0

Water Quality Score for This Report: