Developed by: R. Axler and C. Hagley Updated: Tischer Creek: Washburn Edison Middle School This slide show is adapted from slides used on 5/29/03 to introduce.

Developed by: R. Axler and C. Hagley Updated:

Tischer Creek: Washburn Edison Middle School

• This slide show is adapted from slides used on 5/29/03 to introduce the website and discuss data collected by the 8th grade science class at Washburn Edison Middle School.

• It is viewable on-line via either the Netscape or Internet Explorer browsers and may be saved as a Powerpoint (.ppt) file for instructional use by educators.

• There are Notes attached to some of the slides that provide additional information.

[R.Axler 6/19/03; revised C.Hagley 7/8/03]


National Water Quality Monitoring “Day,” Oct 2002, and then beyond…



What’s the biggest, nastiest, costliest, most difficult to fix problem facing our streams ?


It’s not litter…

although trash and garbage add to the problem


It’s not exotic species


It’s no longer pipes from factories and sewage treatment plants that dump toxins,

carcinogens, and….


….nutrients.

Algae bloomsAlgae blooms


It’s not from disease-causing microorganisms (pathogens),

although these can be a problem and are certainly linked to “it”


It’s not floods…

although they are more likely to occur because of “this” problem

1972 Brewery Cr @ 6th St and 6th Ave East


* USEPA

Many of the pollutants described contribute to Nonpoint Source Pollution

Polluted Runoff(Nonpoint Source Pollution)

The #1 water quality problem in the U.S.*


The stuff that washes in is either…

Dissolved –

• You usually can’t see it

• You are measuring EC25 to estimate total dissolved substances

• distilled water is ~ 0 uS/cm

• Lake Superior is ~ 90 uS/cm

• Tischer Creek has been ~ 150 to ~ 3000 uS/cm

• EC25 is a great indicator of road salt

• Road salt is a good indicator of how quickly pollutants can wash into streams

$50 hand-held


….or it’s

Particulate –

• Water gets cloudy (“turbid”)

• You use a transparency tube to estimate turbidity

• We use turbidity sensorsTurbidity increases due to

•high water from rainstorms

•snowmelt runoff


Automated stream water quality and stage height (flow) sensors



High chloride can be toxic to fish….

• But first you need to understand how chloride levels relate to electrical conductivity, the measurement that we collect on our streams.

Brook trout


How to estimate chloride from electrical conductivity (EC25) data


The first snowstorm of the season as seen by www.duluthstreams.org from October 21-22, 2002

Tischer Cr.Tischer Cr. Chester Cr.Chester Cr. Kingsbury Cr.Kingsbury Cr.

Higher chloride level = higher electrical conductivityHigher chloride level = higher electrical conductivity

(Look for(Look for darker blue darker blue to to magentamagenta))


…and then the 2nd snow on November 13, 2002

Drivers beware Cold weather and a heavy dusting of snow Wednesday afternoon contributed to a rash of traffic accidents in and around the Twin Ports. Between 12:40 and 3 p.m., 65 accidents were reported in Duluth and 5 more in Superior, according to the Duluth and Superior police. ...The black ice conditions forced the temporary closure of several hilly roads in Duluth, including parts of Mesaba Avenue, until sand and salt trucks could ... Source: Duluth News-Tribune (MN)


Duluth, MN – Second Snow November 13, 2002

Road Salt


National Water Quality Monitoring “Day” Oct 2002 and then beyond…



0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

Transparency Tube (cm)

Tu

rbid

ity

(NT

U)

Turbidity Transparency(lab NTU) (cm)

4.0 352.3 1202.5 12022.5 4334.7 402.4 80

135.2 729.2 106.1 1001.8 1201.2 1201.3 103

Tischer @ Washburn (Oct-Nov 02 & Apr-May 03)

Here’s your transparency tube data plotted against turbidity


Here’s your transparency and turbidity data vs our automated sensors downstream

MAY 19 – RAIN!

• The creek “came up” (stage height increased)

• The water “clouded up” (turbidity increased)

10

cmMAY 20 – NO RAIN

• The creek “came down” (stage height decreased)

• Water cleared (turbidity down)

10

0 c

m

• Washburn turbidity tube – only 10 cm!

• Washburn turbidity tube – now 100 cm


Invertebrate Stream Quality Indices

• Varying degrees of sensitivity to water quality

• Easy to collect and identify

• A key resource to be protected (fish food)

• Specific pollutants are expensive to measure

• Chemical changes are “flashy” – you might miss the peak levels, but the bugs won’t

• Which ones are you going to measure?


Many types of Invertebrate IndicesMany types of Invertebrate Indices

Washburn-Edison used a Stream Quality Assessment

I (3 pts): Dobsonfly, Caddisfly, Stonefly, Mayfly …

II (2 pts): Dragonfly, Damselfly, Crayfish, Scud, beetles, clams …

III (1 pts): Blackfly larvae, Midge larvae, worms, leeches, snails (left)…


Stream Quality Assessment Index

Tally the number of major groups seen (such as Caddisflies or clams)

Score by tolerance: I = Sensitive = 3 points II = Semi-sensitive = 2 points III = Tolerant = 1 point

Sum the points to characterize water quality:Sum the points to characterize water quality:

>> 23 23 Excellent Excellent 11-1611-16 FairFair

17-22 17-22 Good Good << 10 10 PoorPoor


Summary of Class Data – 7 groups

Washburn-Tischer Cr Invertebrate Index

0

10

20

30

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Group #

SQ

A o

r P

TI

Mean Score: 21

GOOD

Range: 13-25

Median: 23

Mode: 23


Washburn Edison

Tischer Cr

Map–based data: from a Geographic Information (GIS) System

Other DuluthStreams Data - Check out the GIS Utility

You can zoom in and overlay streams, roads, land uses, etc.


The rest of these slides are leftover from other talks and may be useful to teachers

for introducing the website


Duluth has 42 named streams High density for size of urban area

DuluthStreams “Rationale”


12 are designated trout streams


Stormwater issues

Like many urban streams across the country, Duluth streams face a number of environmental threats related to stormwater runoff


Goal of DuluthStreams

Enhance public understanding of aquatic ecosystems and their connections to watershed land use to provide both economic and environmental sustainability

www.duluthstreams.org

But with a focus on collecting and presenting real-time data

Developed by: R. Axler and C. Hagley Updated: Tischer Creek: Washburn Edison Middle School This slide show is adapted from slides used on 5/29/03 to introduce.

Documents

problem slide

handheld slide

th ave east slide

water quality problem

high water

particulate water

uscm tischer creek

high chloride