Potash Brook (Lake Champlain Direct Flow) - Don Fox, 05/30/13

General Info

Investigator Name(s): 

Fox/Renaissance Students

Collection Date & Time: 

Thursday, May 30, 2013 - 10:00am

Present: 

Clear/Sunny

School: 

Edmunds Middle School

Watershed: 

Lake Champlain Direct & Grand Isle Basins

River: 

Potash Brook (Lake Champlain Direct Flow)

Monitoring Site: 

Potash Brook - CWD Site

Latitude: 

44.445454

Longitude: 

-73.214307

Physical Assessment

Embeddedness: 

0-25%

Water Odor: 

Odorless

Water Appearance: 

Tea-colored

Clear

Is there a water treatment plant upstream?: 

No

Do you see any pipes entering into the river?: 

No

Appox. Channel Width: 

22.50ft

Avg. Depth: 

1.00ft

Current Velocity: 

1.10ft/sec

River Bottom Composition

Bedrock: 

0%

Boulders: 

20%

Cobble: 

40%

Sand, Silt, Clay: 

35%

Organic Matter (leaves, fallen twigs): 

5%

Algal Growth

Bottom covered by algae: 

3%

Bank Vegetation

Left bank: 

80%

Right bank: 

50%

Riparian Vegetation Zone

Left bank: 

0ft

Right bank: 

0ft

Overhead Canopy

Canopy Cover: 

40%

Biotic Assessment

PT Group 1 (Intolerant)

Enter the number of each observed

Stonefly Nymph: 

12

Caddis Fly Larvae: 

2

Dobsonfly Larvae: 

1

Riffle Beetle: 

1

PT Group 2 (Moderately Intolerant)

Enter the number of each observed

Dragonfly Nymph: 

2

Cranefly Larvae: 

1

Crayfish: 

4

PT Group 4 (Very Tolerant)

Enter the number of each observed

Aquatic Worms: 

1

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: 

26.0

Chemical Assessment

pH

Trial 1: 

6.2

Trial 2: 

5.5

Orthophosphate PO4-3: 

0.08mg/L