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2012 Shell Creek Watershed

Research Group

Advisors: Mark Seier, Karen Malmkar, and Kylie Sweeter

Researchers: Alisha Dunlap, Ciera Afrank, Kendra Nelson,

Darienne Pokorny, Jason Kaufman, Demi Edgell, Jacob Haase, John O’Brien, Brock

Donelson, Billy O’Brien, Megan Nelson, Brooke Pieke, Alex

Wiese, Garrett Flamme, Parker Wallin, Sadie Wallin, Brett

Weinman

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(with Township-Range Labels)

Shell Creek and Loseke-Taylor Creek Watersheds

Lower Platte North Natural Resources District

6South Branch

North Branch

3

6Above Newman Grove

Below Newman Grove

4

6

Below Lindsay

West Platte Center

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W.Q.I.

• The Water Quality Index was developed by the National Sanitation Foundation as a standard system to compare different bodies of water.

• To determine the WQI, a series of nine tests were performed. These tests were: dissolved oxygen, fecal coliform, pH, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), temperature, total phosphate, nitrates, turbidity, and total solids. We also did a water discharge test which we use to measure the flow of the creek in cubic feet per second.

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• After the tests are completed, the WQI for each section of the creek can be computed.

• To formulate the WQI, we first computed Q-values.

• We multiply this number by a weighting factor, which provides a measure of the relative importance of each test to overall water quality.

• The water quality index ranges from zero to 100.

- 0 - 25 is very bad - 25 - 50 is bad - 50 - 70 is medium - 70 - 90 is good- 90 - 100 is excellent

• The bio-indicator tests are not part of the W.Q.I., but do give us a water quality rating.

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Sample W.Q.I. Curve Chart

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Sample W.Q.I. Form

Test Results Q-valueWeighting

FactorT o t a l

DO % sat. 0.17 Fecal Coliform col/100 mL 0.16

pH units 0.11 BOD mg/L 0.11

Temperature change in C 0.1 Total Phosphate mg/L 0.1

Nitrates mg/L 0.1 Turbidity JTU 0.08

Total Solids mg/L 0.07

Overall Water Quality Index ___

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May June July August0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

2012 PrecipitationIn

ch

es

Date

10

May 22 June 25, 26 July 9, 10 August 26.3

6.6

6.9

7.2

7.5

7.8

8.1

8.4

pH

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

pH

Level

11May 22 June 25, 26 July 9, 10 August 2

-4

-3

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

4

Change in Water Temperature

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

Deg

rees C

elc

ius

The higher the change, the worse the water quality.

12May 22 June 25, 26 July 9,10 August 2

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Total Solids

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

mg

/LThe higher the concentration, the worse the water

quality.

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Fecal Coliform

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May 22 June 25, 26

July 9, 10 August 20

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

Fecal Coliform

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

Colo

nie

s/1

00

mL

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2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

Fecal Coliform

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

Colo

nie

s/1

00

mL

In 2006 Site 1- 21,418Site 5- 17,800

In 2010Site 1- 11,387Site 3- 6,837Site 6- 2,313

In 2012 Site 6- 4,000

16May 22 June 25, 26 July 9, 10 August 2

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Flow

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

Cu

bic

Feet

Per

Secon

d

17May 22 June 25, 26 July 9,10 August 2

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

Turbidity

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

JTU

's

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May 22 June 25, 26 July 9, 10 August 20

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Dissolved Oxygen

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

% S

atu

rati

on

19May 22 June 25, 26 July 9,10 August 2

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

5 Day Biological Oxygen Demand

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

PP

M

The higher the change, the worse the water quality.

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May 22 June 25, 26 July 9, 10 August 20

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Nitrates

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

PP

M

21

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Nitrates

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

PP

M

22

May 22 June 25, 26 July 9, 10 August 20

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

Phosphates

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

PP

M

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Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Site 6 Site 545

50

55

60

65

70

WQI Averages by Site

2003 Averages 2004 Averages 2005 Averages 2006 Averages2007 Averages 2008 Averages 2009 Averages 2010 Average2011 Average 2012 Averages

WQ

I Medium

Bad

Good

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2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 201245

50

55

60

65

70

Total WQI Averages by Year

WQI

WQ

I

Good

Bad

Medium

25Total Rainfall Inches

Discharge CFS Nitrates PPM pH 0

5

10

15

20

25

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2003 - 2012 Chemical Test Average Comparisons

2003 Averages

2004 Averages

2005 Averages

2006 Averages

2007 Averages

2008 Averages

2009 Averages

2010 Average

2011 Average

2012 Averages

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Phosphates ppm B.O.D. ppm Change in Temp. Celcius

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

2003 - 2012 Chemical Test Average Compar-isons

2003 Averages2004 Averages2005 Averages2006 Averages2007 Averages2008 Averages2009 Averages2010 Average2011 Average2012 Averages

27D.O. % Sat. Turbidity JTU Fecal Coliform

Colonies/100 mL

Total Solids mg/L

0

200

400

600

800

1000

12002003 - 2012 Chemical Test Average Comparisons

2003 Averages

2004 Averages

2005 Averages

2006 Averages

2007 Averages

2008 Averages

2009 Averages

2010 Average

2011 Average

2012 Averages

~ 2010 Fecal ColiformAverage 3,648 Col/100 mL

~ 2006 Fecal Coliform Average 8,058 Col/100 mL

Chemical Test Conclusions

• Nitrates down this year (lowest in 6 years)

• Total solids on a downward trend since 2004

• BOD has been decreasing since 2003• Overall water quality improved over

last few years• Correlation between rainfall and WQI

(2009 and 2012)28

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Macro Invertebrates

Tolerant

Somewhat SensitiveSensit

ive

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Beaver-Shell Creek Comparison2012

pH Nitrates Phos-phates

B.O.D0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Beaver CreekShell Creek

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Beaver-Shell Creek Comparison2012

Turbidity Fecal Col-iform

Total Solids

D.O. % Sat.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Beaver Creek

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Beaver-Shell Creek WQI Comparison

Summer Average 08

Summer Average 09

Summer Average 10

Summer Average 11

Summer Average 12

May June July August0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Beaver Creek Average WQI

Shell Creek Average WQI

WQ

I

Good

Medium

Bad

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Student Scientists in Action

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Water Samplin

g

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WE LOVESHELL CREEK

WATERSHED!

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Website

• http://www.newman.esu8.org/ • Click “Activities”

• Click “Watershed Project”• Click “Watershed Homepage”

• You can see our data and further information concerning this project,

including pictures.

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Thank You To:• Lower Platte North Natural

Resource District

• PrairieLand RC&D

• Dan Gillespie

• Natural Resource Conservation Service

• Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality

• Shell Creek Watershed

Improvement Group

• Chris Poole

• Area Land Owners

• United States Geographical Survey

• University of Nebraska Extension Service

• Newman Grove Public Schools

• NE Loves PS (pictures)

The End