LaPlatte River - Tier 2 Report - Mary Fiedler, 05/04/17

Physical Parameters Assessment

Investigator Name(s):

Adam Giles & Class

Collection Date & Time:

Thursday, May 4, 2017 - 8:15am

School:

Shelburne Community School

Watershed:

Lake Champlain Direct & Grand Isle Basins

River:

LaPlatte River

Monitoring Site:

La Platte Near Falls Road

Site Description:

River was surrounded by forest. River was moving very quickly. There were a lot of water bugs. A bridge went over the river. Golf course downstream.

Surrounding Development or Land Use:

Farm

Park

Residential

Forest

Road Along Bank

Do you see any pipes entering into the river?:

Yes

Is there a water treatment plant upstream?:

Canopy Cover:

26-50%

Water Appearance:

Green

Tea-colored

Muddy

Foamy

Water Odor:

Fish

Average Embeddedness:

26-50%

Average Velocity:

0.70m/s

Weather

Present:

Overcast

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:

45.50cm

Chemical Assessment

Average Temperature:

10.00°C

Average pH:

7.00

Average Orthophosphate PO4-3:

0.91mg/L

Average Dissolved Oxygen:

14.00mg/L

Field Notes:

Lots of rain day before testing. Some oxygen tests had a little bit of air bubbles.

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:

Fast – quickly takes objects downstream (2)

Riparian Vegetation:

Mixture of trees, shrubs, and grasses (3)

Riparian Vegetative Zone Width:

Buffer zone is greater than 100 feet (3)

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:

# of Taxa:

PT Group 2 (Moderately Intolerant)

Sowbug:

Scud:

Cranefly Larvae:

Crayfish:

# of Taxa:

PT Group 3 (Fairly Tolerant)

Midges:

# of Taxa:

PT Group 4 (Very Tolerant)

Aquatic Worms:

Blood Midge:

# 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:

28.00