Otter Creek - Rachel Valcour, 09/11/13

General Info

Investigator Name(s): 

Barstwo 8th graders

Collection Date & Time: 

Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - 8:30am

Present: 

Clear/Sunny

School: 

Barstow Memorial School

Watershed: 

Otter/Lewis Basin

River: 

Otter Creek

Monitoring Site: 

East Creek

Latitude: 

43.701203

Longitude: 

-72.953746

Physical Assessment

Embeddedness: 

51-75%

Relative Flow Patterns: 

Slow-Shallow

Fast-Shallow

Water Odor: 

Odorless

Water Appearance: 

Clear

Surrounding Development or Land Use: 

Residential

Is there a water treatment plant upstream?: 

No

Do you see any pipes entering into the river?: 

No

Appox. Channel Width: 

15.28ft

Avg. Depth: 

0.66ft

Current Velocity: 

1.02ft/sec

River Bottom Composition

Bedrock: 

0%

Boulders: 

0%

Cobble: 

90%

Sand, Silt, Clay: 

5%

Organic Matter (leaves, fallen twigs): 

5%

Algal Growth

Bottom covered by algae: 

15%

Bank Vegetation

Left bank: 

10%

Right bank: 

0%

Riparian Vegetation Zone

Left bank: 

2ft

Right bank: 

10ft

Overhead Canopy

Canopy Cover: 

100%

Turbidity

Trial 1: 

120NTU

Trial 2: 

120NTU

Avg. Turbidity: 

120NTU

Biotic Assessment

PT Group 1 (Intolerant)

Enter the number of each observed

Stonefly Nymph: 

6

Mayfly Nymph: 

1

Caddis Fly Larvae: 

8

Dobsonfly Larvae: 

1

Riffle Beetle: 

0

Water Penny: 

0

Right-Handed Snail: 

0

PT Group 2 (Moderately Intolerant)

Enter the number of each observed

Damselfly Nymph: 

1

Dragonfly Nymph: 

0

Sowbug: 

0

Scud: 

0

Cranefly Larvae: 

19

Clams/Mussels: 

0

Crayfish: 

1

PT Group 3 (Fairly Tolerant)

Enter the number of each observed

Midges: 

0

Black Fly Larvae: 

0

Planaria: 

0

Leech: 

0

PT Group 4 (Very Tolerant)

Enter the number of each observed

Left-Handed Snail: 

0

Aquatic Worms: 

1

Blood Midge: 

2

Rat-Tailed Maggot: 

0

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: 

23.0

Chemical Assessment

Temperature

Avg. Temp.: 

17°F

pH

Avg. pH: 

6.3

Orthophosphate PO4-3: 

0.05mg/L

Dissolved Oxygen: 

10mg/L