Potash Brook (Lake Champlain Direct Flow) - Tier 2 Report - Ashley Eaton, 04/21/17

Physical Parameters Assessment

Investigator Name(s): 

Kunh Class 2 - East Woods Site

Collection Date & Time: 

Friday, April 21, 2017 - 10:00am

School: 

Edmunds Middle School

Watershed: 

Lake Champlain Direct & Grand Isle Basins

River: 

Potash Brook (Lake Champlain Direct Flow)

Monitoring Site: 

East Woods

Site Description: 

Forested park, rocks in water, dirt, trees, rainy, cloudy.

Surrounding Development or Land Use: 

Golf Course

Residential

Forest

Road Along Bank

Do you see any pipes entering into the river?: 

No

Is there a water treatment plant upstream?: 

No

Canopy Cover: 

51-75%

Water Appearance: 

Cloudy

Green

Muddy

Water Odor: 

Rotten Eggs

Sewage

Fish

Average Embeddedness: 

26-50%

Average Velocity: 

0.71m/s

Exact Location

Latitude: 

44.45

Longitude: 

-73.20

Weather

Present: 

Overcast

Past 48 Hours: 

Overcast

Showers

Steady Rain

Heavy 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

Turbidity: 

32.00NTU

Chemical Assessment

Average Temperature: 

7.00°C

Average pH: 

6.60

Average Orthophosphate PO4-3: 

0.09mg/L

Average Dissolved Oxygen: 

8.00mg/L

Stream Habitat Assessment

Streambed Composition: 

Mixture of cobbles, gravels, and sand (3)

Streambank Stability: 

Banks appear stable – no signs of erosion (2)

Deepest pool is at least: 

Knee deep (1)

Velocity: 

Fast – quickly takes objects downstream (2)

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: 

0

Submerged logs, stumps, or tree roots: 

1

Large rocks: 

1

Artificial objects: 

0

Other: 

0

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: 

14

Biological Assessment

PT Group 1 (Intolerant)

Stonefly Nymph: 

13

Mayfly Nymph: 

0

Caddis Fly Larvae: 

4

Dobsonfly Larvae: 

3

Riffle Beetle: 

0

Water Penny: 

0

Right-Handed Snail: 

0

# of Taxa: 

3

PT Group 2 (Moderately Intolerant)

Damselfly Nymph: 

1

Dragonfly Nymph: 

0

Sowbug: 

0

Scud: 

0

Cranefly Larvae: 

1

Clams/Mussels: 

0

Crayfish: 

0

# of Taxa: 

2

PT Group 3 (Fairly Tolerant)

Midges: 

36

Black Fly Larvae: 

0

Planaria: 

0

Leech: 

0

# of Taxa: 

1

PT Group 4 (Very Tolerant)

Left-Handed Snail: 

0

Aquatic Worms: 

0

Blood Midge: 

10

Rat-Tailed Maggot: 

0

# of Taxa: 

1

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: 

21.00