1

2

2008 Shell Creek Watershed Study

Advisors – Mark Seier & Suzy Goedeken

Researchers – Sheila O’Brien, Brett Roberg, Jessica Boschen, Sean Farrier, Ann O’Brien, Lynzee Pieke, Mandy Anderson, Alyshia Nelson, Jordan Nelson, Jesse Knust, Luke Gasper, Darrek Schmidt, Jonathon Dohmen, Tim Wiese, Olivia Wiese, Jake Kaufman, Katie O’Brien, Mark O’Brien, April Ramaekers, Aubrey Strong, Audrey Wondercheck, Greg Roberg

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(with Township-Range Labels)

Shell Creek and Loseke-Taylor Creek Watersheds

Lower Platte North Natural Resources District

6

4

Site 1

5

Site 2

6

Site 3

7

Site 4

8

Site 6

9

Site 5

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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 weren’t part of W.Q.I., but did 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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2008 Precipitation

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

May June July August

Inch

es

Rainfall

15

pH

6.3

6.6

6.9

7.2

7.5

7.8

8.1

8.4

June 3 June 17& 18

July 23&24

August 5

Date

pH

Level

Site 1Site 2Site 3Site 4Site 5Site 6

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Change in Water Temperature

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

June 3 June 17 &18

July 23 &24

August 5

Date

Degre

es

Celc

ius Site 1

Site 2Site 3Site 4Site 5Site 6

The higher the change, the worse the water quality.

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Total Solids

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

June 3 June 17 &18

July 23 &24

August 5

Date

mg/L

Site 1Site 2Site 3Site 4Site 5Site 6

The higher the concentration, the worse the water quality.

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Fecal Coliform

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Fecal Coliform

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

June 3 June 17 &18

July 23 &24

August 5

Date

colo

nie

s/100 m

L Site 1Site 2Site 3Site 4Site 5Site 6

20

Flow

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

June 3 June 17 &18

July 23 &24

August 5

Date

Cubic

feet

per

seco

nd

Site 1Site 2Site 3Site 4Site 5Site 6

21

Turbidity

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

June 3 June 17 &18

July 23 &24

August 5

Date

JTU

's

Site 1Site 2Site 3Site 4Site 5Site 6

22

Dissolved Oxygen

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

June 3 June 17 &18

July 23 &24

August 5

Date

% S

atu

rati

on Site 1

Site 2Site 3Site 4Site 5Site 6

23

5 Day Biological Oxygen Demand

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

June 3 June 17 &18

July 23 &24

August 5

Date

ppm

Site 1Site 2Site 3Site 4Site 5Site 6

The higher the change, the worse the water quality.

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Nitrates

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

June 3 June 17 &18

July 23 &24

August 5

Date

ppm

Site 1Site 2Site 3Site 4Site 5Site 6

25

Phosphates

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

June 3 June 17&18

July 23 &24

August 5

Date

ppm

Site 1Site 2Site 3Site 4Site 5Site 6

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WQI Averages by Site

45

50

55

60

65

70

Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Site 6 Site 5

WQ

I

2003 Averages 2004 Averages 2005 Averages

2006 Averages 2007 Averages 2008 Averages

Medium

Bad

Good

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WQI Averages by Date

45

50

55

60

65

70

May June July August

Month

WQ

I

2003 Averages 2004 Averages 2005 Averages

2006 Averages 2007 Averages 2008 Averages

Bad

Medium

Good

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2003 - 2008 Chemical Test Average Comparisons

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Disch

arge pH

Nitrat

es

Phosphat

es

B.O.D

.

Change

in T

emp.

Chemical Test

2003 Averages

2004 Averages

2005 Averages

2006 Averages

2007 Averages

2008 Averages

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2003 - 2008 Chemical Test Average Comparisons

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

D.O. % Sat. Turbidity Fecal Coliform Total Solids

Chemical Test

2003 Averages

2004 Averages

2005 Averages

2006 Averages

2007 Averages

2008 Averages

*2006 Fecal Coliform Average 8,058 col/100 mL

Chemical Test Conclusions

• Fecal coliform readings still very sporadic

• Dissolved Oxygen still very low• Nitrates very high this year• Overall water quality lower this year

probably due to increased nitrates• Discharge up this year but turbidity

is down

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Macro Invertebrates

TolerantSomewhat Sensitive

Sensitive

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Sample Bio-Indicator Data Form

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Beaver-Shell Creek WQI Comparison

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

WQI

EarlyJune

Late June July August SummerAverage

Beaver CreekAverage WQIShell CreekAverage WQI

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Beaver-Shell Creek Comparison

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

pH Nitrates Phosphates B.O.D

Beaver CreekShell Creek

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Beaver-Shell Creek Comparison

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Turbidity FecalColiform

Total Solids D.O. % Sat.

Beaver CreekShell Creek

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2008 Flood Study

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2008 Flood StudyDate and Time

Width (ft)

Avg. Depth (ft)

Flow (cfs)

Total Solids(mg/L)

SolidDischarge (lbs/min)

SolidDischarge (tons/hr)

5/30/07 110 8.42 2243 9300 78145 2344

6/8/08 130 8.98 4328 8950 145138 4354

X cu ft

60 sec 28.32 L X mg 1 g 1 lb 1 ton 60 min

1 sec 1 min 1 cu ft 1 L 100 mg 453.6 g 2000 lb 1 hr

38Water Testi

ng

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Chemical

Tests

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Website

• http://newman.esu8.org/project.html

OR• http://newman.esu8.org/

• Click “Our Students”• Click “Student Projects”

• Click “Watershed Project”• 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

• Natural Resource Conservation Service

• Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality

• Shell Creek Watershed

Improvement Group

• Chris Poole

• Phil Chvala

• Area Land Owners

• United States Geographical Survey

• University of Nebraska Extension Service

• Newman Grove Public Schools

The End