Winooski River - Tier 2 Report - Ralph Hylind, 10/07/15

Physical Parameters Assessment

Investigator Name(s):

CHMS, Polaris team, Ralph Hylind

Collection Date & Time:

Wednesday, October 7, 2015 - 3:30pm

School:

Camel's Hump Middle School

Watershed:

Winooski Basin

River:

Winooski River

Monitoring Site:

Huntington River, Huntington, VT

Site Description:

Huntington River. Across from Audubon Ctr. in Huntington. Hemlock and mixed hardwood forest area.

Surrounding Development or Land Use:

Forest

Do you see any pipes entering into the river?:

Is there a water treatment plant upstream?:

Canopy Cover:

0-25%

Water Appearance:

Clear

Water Odor:

Odorless

Average Embeddedness:

26-50%

Average Velocity:

0.55m/s

Physical Summary:

Sampling: 10/7/15 10:30AM - 12:30 PM on an overcast but dry day. The water was clear and odorless, canopy cover about 25%. The average water depth was 1.5 feet and the river width approx 50 feet.

Exact Location

Latitude:

44.20

Longitude:

-72.59

Weather

Present:

Overcast

Past 48 Hours:

Overcast

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:

120.00NTU

Chemical Assessment

Average Temperature:

12.00°C

Average pH:

6.50

Average Orthophosphate PO4-3:

0.04mg/L

Average Dissolved Oxygen:

5.00mg/L

Stream Habitat Assessment

Streambed Composition:

Mixture of cobbles, gravels, and sand (3)

Streambank Stability:

Moderately stable banks – some areas of erosion visible (1)

Deepest pool is at least:

Chest deep (3)

Velocity:

Moderately fast – slowly takes objects downstream (1)

Riparian Vegetation:

Mixture of trees, shrubs, and grasses (3)

Riparian Vegetative Zone Width:

Buffer zone is between 25 and 50 feet (1)

Streambed Cover

Rock ledges:

Submerged logs, stumps, or tree roots:

Large rocks:

Artificial objects:

Other:

Stream Habitat Quality Score

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

18-22 (Excellent)
11-17 (Good)
6-10 (Fair)
0-5 (Poor)

Stream Habitat Quality Score for This Report:

Biological Assessment

PT Group 1 (Intolerant)

Stonefly Nymph:

Mayfly Nymph:

Caddis Fly Larvae:

Dobsonfly Larvae:

Riffle Beetle:

Water Penny:

Right-Handed Snail:

# of Taxa:

PT Group 2 (Moderately Intolerant)

Damselfly Nymph:

Dragonfly Nymph:

Sowbug:

Scud:

Cranefly Larvae:

Clams/Mussels:

Crayfish:

# of Taxa:

PT Group 3 (Fairly Tolerant)

Midges:

Black Fly Larvae:

Planaria:

Leech:

# of Taxa:

PT Group 4 (Very Tolerant)

Left-Handed Snail:

Aquatic Worms:

Blood Midge:

Rat-Tailed Maggot:

# of Taxa:

Pollution Tolerance Index Rating

Calculated as follows:
4*(# of Taxa in PT Group 1) + 3*(# of Taxa in PT Group 2) + 2*(# of Taxa in PT Group 3) + 1*(# of Taxa in PT Group 4)

23+ (Excellent)
17-22 (Good)
11-16 (Fair)
0-10 (Poor)

PTI Rating for This Report:

23.00