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

Physical Parameters Assessment

Investigator Name(s): 

Edmunds Middle School

Collection Date & Time: 

Friday, April 21, 2017 - 9:15am

School: 

Edmunds Middle School

Watershed: 

Winooski Basin

River: 

Potash Brook (Lake Champlain Direct Flow)

Monitoring Site: 

Water District Plant South Burlington

Site Description: 

Lots of runoff from storms, grassy areas, hilly with trees.

Surrounding Development or Land Use: 

Park

Residential

Factory

Road Along Bank

Do you see any pipes entering into the river?: 

Yes

Is there a water treatment plant upstream?: 

No

Canopy Cover: 

0-25%

Water Appearance: 

Cloudy

Green

Tea-colored

Muddy

Foamy

Water Odor: 

Odorless

Average Embeddedness: 

26-50%

Average Velocity: 

1.31m/s

Exact Location

Latitude: 

44.45

Longitude: 

-73.22

Weather

Present: 

Overcast

Past 48 Hours: 

Overcast

Showers

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: 

31.90cm

Turbidity: 

23.00NTU

Chemical Assessment

Average Temperature: 

10.00°C

Average pH: 

7.00

Average Orthophosphate PO4-3: 

0.09mg/L

Average Dissolved Oxygen: 

11.00mg/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: 

Waist deep (2)

Velocity: 

Fast – quickly takes objects downstream (2)

Riparian Vegetation: 

Mixture of trees, shrubs, and grasses (3)

Riparian Vegetative Zone Width: 

Buffer zone is between 50 and 100 feet (2)

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: 

15

Biological Assessment

PT Group 1 (Intolerant)

Stonefly Nymph: 

0

Mayfly Nymph: 

1

Caddis Fly Larvae: 

20

Dobsonfly Larvae: 

6

Riffle Beetle: 

31

Water Penny: 

0

Right-Handed Snail: 

0

# of Taxa: 

4

PT Group 2 (Moderately Intolerant)

Damselfly Nymph: 

2

Dragonfly Nymph: 

0

Sowbug: 

5

Scud: 

2

Cranefly Larvae: 

8

Clams/Mussels: 

0

Crayfish: 

0

# of Taxa: 

4

PT Group 3 (Fairly Tolerant)

Midges: 

10

Black Fly Larvae: 

0

Planaria: 

0

Leech: 

0

# of Taxa: 

1

PT Group 4 (Very Tolerant)

Left-Handed Snail: 

0

Aquatic Worms: 

2

Blood Midge: 

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: 

31.00