Winooski River - Tier 2 Report - Dan Hamilton, 09/27/17

Physical Parameters Assessment

Investigator Name(s): 

Dan's middle school class

Collection Date & Time: 

Wednesday, September 27, 2017 - 9:00am

School: 

Camel's Hump Middle School

Watershed: 

Lake Champlain Direct & Grand Isle Basins

River: 

Winooski River

Site Description: 

no canopy cover, train tracks, forest nearby and farms, very long river

Surrounding Development or Land Use: 

Farm

Forest

Crops

Road Along Bank

Do you see any pipes entering into the river?: 

No

Is there a water treatment plant upstream?: 

No

Canopy Cover: 

0-25%

Water Appearance: 

Clear

Water Odor: 

Odorless

Fish

Average Embeddedness: 

26-50%

Average Velocity: 

36.00m/s

Physical Summary: 

healthy because the water was clear with a thick riparian buffer of a flood plain forest

Exact Location

Latitude: 

44.41

Longitude: 

-72.99

Weather

Present: 

Clear/Sunny

Past 48 Hours: 

Clear/Sunny

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: 

127.00cm

Chemical Assessment

Average Temperature: 

21.00°C

Average pH: 

6.80

Average Orthophosphate PO4-3: 

0.10mg/L

Average Dissolved Oxygen: 

10.00mg/L

Field Notes: 

good oxygen levels and ph but slightly high temp and PO4-3

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: 

Slow – hardly any flow (0)

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: 

0

Submerged logs, stumps, or tree roots: 

1

Large rocks: 

0

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: 

1

Mayfly Nymph: 

11

Caddis Fly Larvae: 

1

Dobsonfly Larvae: 

2

Riffle Beetle: 

1

Water Penny: 

4

Right-Handed Snail: 

0

# of Taxa: 

6

PT Group 2 (Moderately Intolerant)

Damselfly Nymph: 

7

Dragonfly Nymph: 

1

Sowbug: 

1

Scud: 

1

Cranefly Larvae: 

0

Clams/Mussels: 

0

Crayfish: 

4

# of Taxa: 

5

PT Group 3 (Fairly Tolerant)

Midges: 

1

Black Fly Larvae: 

0

Planaria: 

0

Leech: 

0

# of Taxa: 

1

PT Group 4 (Very Tolerant)

Left-Handed Snail: 

0

Aquatic Worms: 

3

Blood Midge: 

1

Rat-Tailed Maggot: 

8

# of Taxa: 

3

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: 

44.00

Other Biological Indicators

Rusty Crayfish