Potash Brook (Lake Champlain Direct Flow) - Tier 3 Report - Walter Poleman, 10/11/16

Physical Parameters Assessment

Investigator Name(s):

NR1 Thomas,Seth,Dayton

Collection Date & Time:

Tuesday, October 11, 2016 - 4:30pm

School:

University of Vermont

Watershed:

Lake Champlain Direct & Grand Isle Basins

River:

Potash Brook (Lake Champlain Direct Flow)

Monitoring Site:

East Woods

Surrounding Development or Land Use:

Residential

Forest

Road Along Bank

Do you see any pipes entering into the river?:

Is there a water treatment plant upstream?:

Canopy Cover:

26-50%

Water Appearance:

Clear

Water Odor:

Odorless

Average Embeddedness:

26-50%

Average Velocity:

65.95m/s

Exact Location

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Latitude:

44.45

Longitude:

-73.20

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:

300.00cm

Turbidity:

120.00NTU

Chemical Assessment

Introduction:

The students were curious about the dissolved oxygen and the phosphorus levels in the stream.

Materials and Methods:

We used two fields kits to measure both DO and PO4

Results:

The dissolved oxygen was 12 mg/L and the phosphorus averaged to .080848 mg/L

Discussion:

The stream is chemically sound with respect to dissolved oxygen and phosphorus, the levels were fairly low because of a lack of rain which reduces run off which could explain the normal readings in a disturbed area.

Stream Habitat Assessment

Good Habitat: Score of 80 to 60 ----- Fair Habitat: Score of 59 to 40 ----- Poor Habitat: Score of 39 to 0

Substrate Habitat Types:

Cobble or larger rocks

Substrate Habitat Types (Score):

40 to 70% has mix of stable habitat types (6)

Embeddedness:

0 to 25% embedded; rocks easy to move (8)

Sediment Deposition:

5 to 30% of riverbed effected by new deposition (6)

Velocity / Depth Types:

Slow & shallow

Velocity / Depth Types (Score):

2 velocity/depth types present (4)

Channel Flow Status:

Water fills > 75% of channel; < 25% of substrate exposed (6)

Channel Alteration:

Alteration minimal; river with natural pattern (4)

Frequency of Riffles:

Generally all flat water or shallow riffles (1)

Bank Stability (Left Bank):

Unstable; 60 to 100% eroded or collapsed (1)

Bank Stability (Right Bank):

Moderately stable; 5 to 30% eroded or collapsed (3)

Riparian Vegetation (Left Bank):

50 to 70% covered by natural vegetation (2)

Riparian Vegetation (Right Bank):

> 90% covered by natural vegetation (4)

Riparian Zone Width (Left Bank):

Width 12 to 18 meters; minimal human impact (3)

Riparian Zone Width (Right Bank):

Width 12 to 18 meters; minimal human impact (3)

Stream Habitat Quality Score

Calculated by adding all of the points from the above fields.

60-80 (Good)
40-59 (Fair)
0-39 (Poor)

Stream Habitat Quality Score for This Report:

Biological Assessment

The Water Quality Score is calculated by adding together the the Index Values calculated for each Sensitivity Group on the field sheet.

40+ (Excellent)
30-39 (Good)
20-29 (Fair)
0-19 (Poor)

Group I (Sensitive) Index Value:

24.0

Group II (Moderately Sensitive) Index Value:

21.0

Group III (Tolerant) Index Value:

45.0

Water Quality Score for This Report: