1

2013 Shell Creek Watershed Research Group

Advisors: Mark Seier, Kylie Sweeter, and Danielle Amen

Researchers: Demi Edgell, Jacob Haase, John O’Brien, Billy O’Brien, Megan Nelson, Brooke Pieke, Brett Weinman, Alex

Wiese, Mariely Estrada, Garrett Flamme, Parker Wallin, Sadie Wallin, Esmeralda Arreguin, Celine Dunlap, Destiny

Johnson, Joe O’Brien, and Nolan Wondercheck

2

(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

5

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.

6

• 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.

7

Sample W.Q.I. Curve Chart

8

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 ___

9

May June July August0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

2013 PrecipitationIn

ch

es

Date

10

May 24 June 26/27 July 16/17 August 26.3

6.6

6.9

7.2

7.5

7.8

8.1

8.4

pH

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Date

pH

Level

11

May 24 June 26 July 16/17 August 2-3

-2.5

-2

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

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 24 June 26/27 July 16/17 August 2

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

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.

13

Fecal Coliform

14

May 24 June 26/27 July 16/17 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

Site 5- 5,400Site 6- 28,000

15

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 20130

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800Fecal 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

In 2013Site 4- 1,887.5Site 5- 8,100Site 6- 2,662.5

16May 22 June 26/27 July 16/17 August 2

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9Flow

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

Cu

bic

Feet

Per

Secon

d

17May 24 June 26/27 July 16/17 August 2

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200Turbidity

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

JTU

's

18

May 24 June 26/27 July 16/17 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 24 June 26/27 July 16/17 August 2

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

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.

20

May 24 June 26/27 July 16/17 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

2013

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 24 June 26/27 July 16/17 August 20

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5Phosphates

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

PP

M

23

Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Site 6 Site 530

35

40

45

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 2013 Average

WQ

I

Medium

Bad

Good

24

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 201335

40

45

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

30

2003 - 2013 Chemical Test Average Comparisons

2003 Averages

2004 Averages

2005 Averages

2006 Averages

2007 Averages

2008 Averages

2009 Averages

2010 Averages

2011 Averages

2012 Averages

2013 Averages

26

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

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

2003 - 2013 Chemical Test Average Compar-isons

2003 Averages

2004 Averages

2005 Averages

2006 Averages

2007 Averages

2008 Averages

2009 Averages

2010 Average

2011 Average

2012 Averages

2013 Averages

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

Colonies/100 mL

Total Solids mg/L

0

200

400

600

800

1000

12002003 - 2013 Chemical Test Average Comparisons

2003 Averages

2004 Averages

2005 Averages

2006 Averages

2007 Averages

2008 Averages

2009 Averages

2010 Averages

2011 Averages

2012 Averages

2013 Averages

~ 2010 Fecal ColiformAverage 3,648 Col/100 mL

~ 2013 Fecal Coliform Av-erage 2,481 Col/100 mL

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

Chemical Test Conclusions

• Nitrates have decreased or remained the same in the past year with the exception of Site 3

• Significant increase in fecal count in comparison to 2012 data

• Overall water quality decreased since 2012 testing

• Correlation between rainfall and WQI (2009 and 2013)

28

29

Macro Invertebrates

Tolerant

Somewhat SensitiveSensit

ive

30

Beaver-Shell Creek Comparison2013

pH Nitrates Phos-phates

B.O.D0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Beaver CreekShell Creek

31

Beaver-Shell Creek Comparison2013

Turbidity Fecal Col-iform

Total Solids

D.O. % Sat.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Beaver Creek

Shell Creek Fecal Coliform- 2,481.25

32

Beaver-Shell Creek WQI Comparison

Summer Average 08

Summer Average 09

Summer Average 10

Summer Average 11

Summer Average 12

Summer Average 13

May June July August0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Beaver Creek Average WQI

Shell Creek Average WQI

WQ

I

Good

Medium

Bad

33

34

35

36

37

38

Website

• Go to http://www.newman.esu8.org/ • Click the “Shell Creek Watershed”

icon on the right hand column• You can access our data and further

information concerning this project, including pictures

39

Thank You To:• Lower Platte North Natural

Resource District

• PrairieLand RC&D

• 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

The End