Effects of the Acton Lake Dam on Water Quality in Four Mile

Creek

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Amanda Gibson, Whitney Smith, Abby Workman

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ALL FOR THE ARTS

An old covered bridge spansa lazy stretch of the creek.Above and just out of sight,cars go by, ignoring the beautyfound only a few yards away.A path, narrow and slippery,leads down to the pebblesat the edge of the water.Sun catches in overhanging trees,hides beyond the bridge,the shadows wrappingthe green, calm waterin unending twilight.

The lake spreads on all sides,blue-green, deep, secretive.Another path leads to its edge,narrow again, but with almost-stepsworn into dirt and rock.A tiny beach hides belowa vertical drop, peppered with rocks.The lake bottom is visible,but only for a moment,disappearing beneaththe reflective surface,a mirror of the clouds.

No path through these trees,just underbrush and sand,a slope of small stones, water.Swift-running, bubbling,confined by close-set banks,the stream glints silverand diamonds of sunlightfrom riffles and ripples.Leaves and small branchescatch in little swirls and eddies,pause, swim away,carried by the creek’s laughter.

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IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE

Car exhaust dulls the air and water.Cigarette butts and other trash dot the creek.Silt lines the rocks below the surface,green-brown.Soft light, dimmed by an old bridge,falls on soft water,lacking minerals that are held back by the dam.The water is cold,temperature changed by that same constructwhich softens the water.

Up close, the water of the lake is brown,sediments built up behind a wallof earth and concrete.Fish, caught and broken and thrown away,or poisoned by human pollution,flop, die, decompose along the bank.Boats, cars, agriculture,everything is trapped here,a reservoir of human desecration,rumored as “the lake of death.”

The water flows past banks eroded by current and time,aiming for the lake,carrying sediment that will be left behindwhen the waters sweep over the dam.The water-level falls,the banks are undercut,stones and trash once swept alongby a current surprisingly fastare exposed to air and exhaustuntil the level rises again.Warmer here above the dam,more natural waters, healthier.A few more fish, biodiversitymade apparent in water by fish,seen in the plants along the banksthat still stand on un-eroded soil.

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THE PEOPLE SPEAK

“Let me show you what I caught!”the little girl cries to usas we stumble down the path.We flinch as she walks into the water,proudly displays one tiny, unhealthy fish,but her face shines with pride,so we smile, congratulate.“We come here every Saturday with our daddy,”her little sister proclaims.“He won’t let us eat the fish though.”Helen tells us,“I raised my children in Dartown.The creek was their summer home.It never hurt them any.”

An old man peers outfrom beneath the brim of a battered fishing hat,twitches his line in the water,says “I been fishing here for decades.They take out this dam,get rid of this lake, what am Igonna do with my time then?Been eating these fish for years,taste fine to me.”The ranger tells us,“Maybe the lake isn’t clean,but it’s better than before.Swimming isn’t a great ideabut the children like to wade,once the water warms up a bit.Cindy remembers the 80s,tells us how dirty it was then.“I ain’t been back since ’83,wouldn’t want to really.Do a lot of people go there now?”

Children wave from the bank,show us fish as they would a trophy.I ask one, “Do you like it in this creek?”“My mom, she doesn’t like me to get muddy,so my dad brings me. It’s fun if I can get dirty.In summer, he lets me get all wet every weekend.”We laugh, and his father smiles.“Yeah, they like it here,”he tells us.“At least this water looks better than the lake.”And the common refrain follows:“It hasn’t hurt them yet.”

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Introduction

When the first explorers set foot in the wilds of the North American continent, they

were met with a lush and verdant landscape. To their eyes, this was paradise on earth,

unspoiled wilderness after the ravaged hills and valleys of the European continent. New

and previously unimagined birds called from the trees, strange animals skulked through

the tangled underbrush, and behemoth fish leaped and gamboled in the rushing torrents of

mighty rivers. The rivers. These rivers were a new breed to the early explorers. Vast

and unpolluted, they churned a sluggishly warm liquid brown, foaming through broad

canyons and under the sheltering branches of ancient trees. In clean-cut channels they

ran fast and strong; clearly cold they boiled and bashed their way to the seas.

The explorers marveled at what they saw. In tones of awe they wrote home of their

miraculous discovery. It was Paradise on Earth, the lost Eden, and it was theirs. In the

true spirit of European progress, they moved in.

The verdant forests and the ancient trees succumbed to the sharp-toothed saw, their

rich home soil claimed for cattle and for produce. The explorers eagerly carved their

home from their treasured wilderness. Yet perhaps the greatest damage was done, not to

the trees nor to the quiet land, but to the unassuming waters rolling by. Monuments of

cool, impassive concrete have cleaved the mighty rushing waters of the past. The rivers

have been dammed for human use and safety. Water is funneled off for agriculture and

harnessed for electricity. The concrete walls separate the flood-plain inhabitants from the

ravages of floods. These dams have corrupted the water flow and often adversely

affected the surrounding landscape. They change the face of the river in ways both large

and small, though the effects are often hidden from the casual observer.

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“Early in the summer of 1956, the 1,200-foot earth fill dam across Four Mile Creek

was completed, and the following year Acton Lake was impounded. Shortly thereafter

Hueston Woods was dedicated as a state park.” (Hueston Woods) For this project, our

group chose to look specifically at the Acton Lake Dam and its effects on water quality

both above and below the dam, as well as the human response to the structure. Based on

our class work and outside research, we hypothesized that the water quality would be best

above the dam, mediocre in the lake itself, and worst below the dam. We also theorized

that the people who lived near and used the lake would be largely ignorant of the actual

health of the dammed waterway, and would see it as something attractive and beneficial.

We chose this topic because we have spent a great deal of time debating the

benefits versus the detriments of damming in class. Many of the articles and books we

have read discussed the adverse effects that damming has on the health of the waterway

and the surrounding lands, animals, and people. However, it is one thing to read about

something in a book and quite another to experience and see it in person. We therefore

wanted to test the theories we had read to see how and if they applied in the “real world.”

We planned to test our hypothesis in a variety of ways, from the scientific (both

natural and social) to the artistic. Through the natural sciences we conducted several

tests of water hardness, nitrate levels, and temperature. These specific tests were chosen

because, based on our readings in class, they were three of the most likely to show

significant and reliable results. We interviewed several people to get their takes on the

dam and the health of the water from a socially scientific angle, and we allowed ourselves

to respond creatively to the stimulus of the dam and the waterway, reflecting through

poetry the effect the dam had on us as human beings. Conscious of the saying “a picture

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is worth a thousand words,” we also took many digital images which we used to illustrate

visually concepts of water clarity and other markers of stream health.

By performing these tests and personal reflections, we intend to finish the project

with a complete and multi-dimensional view of the Acton Lake Dam and its affects on

the Four Mile Creek waterway. Simply studying one of the angles, be it scientific or

artistic, could never convey the full impact of the dam. In order to comprehend its

influence on the land and people of the surrounding area, one must study it from as many

of the involved perspectives. This is what we have attempted to do throughout this

project. We hope that, by studying the dam in an interdisciplinary way, we can gain a

better understanding and analysis of exactly what it means to Four Mile Creek.

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Research and Relevance

“Water is the universal solvent” (Renn, 1) With water come life, sustenance, war,

peace, and every thing in between. Humans have to have water to survive anything.

Water gives us life. In this community, our life comes from the Four Mile Creek

watershed and the surrounding watersheds. With Four Mile Creek, we get our drinking

water, irrigation, recreation, biodiversity, aesthetics, dead fish and many other pollutants.

According to Bouwer :

Most of the projected global population increases will take place in Third World Countries that already suffer from water, food, and health problems. Increasingly, agricultural water management must be coordinated with, and integrated into, the overall water management of the region. Sustainability, public health, and environmental protection are key factors. More storage of water behind dams and especially in aquifers via artificial recharge is necessary to save water in times of water surplus for use in times of water shortage. Municipal wastewater can be an important water resource but its use must be carefully planned and regulated to prevent adverse health effects and, in the case of irrigation, undue contamination of groundwater.. Water short countries can save water by importing most of their food and electric power from other countries with more water, so that in essence they also get the water that was necessary to produce these commodities and, hence, is virtually embedded in the commodities. This ‘virtual’ water tends to be a lot cheaper for the receiving country than developing its own water resources. Local water can then be used for purposes with higher social or economic returns or saved for the future. (Bouwer, Herman)

Looking at it from a different approach,

Virtually every river in the lower 48 states is regulated by dams, locks or diversions. The river entering the reservoir behind a dam is not the same as the river in the reservoir or downstream from the dam. Its flows can vary wildly, depending on whether the dam is operated for the benefits of cheap electricity, navigation, recreation, flood prevention, or water storage for irrigation. Seasonal fluctuations can be "reshaped" by dams. Dammed rivers also see changes in channel shape and habitat. Native aquatic species can suffer and die. Upstream from dams, reservoirs flood riverine habitat, displacing some species. Over time, reservoirs fill with sediment, causing new flooding problems. Temperatures in slackwater reservoirs can violate water quality standards. Passing through or over a dam structure stresses fish in several ways. Downstream, rivers can experience an increase in algae and nutrients, and a decrease in dissolved oxygen. Decreased

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sediment loads can increase the amount of light passing through the water, further altering the biotic system. (Jean A. Hamilla)

These two approaches shows just how varied research is on the usage of dams.

Some people want use dams as a source of economy, and as a way to create “new, better

lifestyles.” In the second approach Hamilla shows the dangers of dams and what can

really happen if one creates too many of them. Our whole project is based on these two

main thoughts: How good is a dam for humanity? And how bad is it?

Total hardness is measured in milligrams per liter (mg/L). According to Boyd,

50mg/l is considered soft water. 50 mg/l-150 mg/l is considered an ok amount of total

hardness in water. But as this amount rises, people must use more soap to create their

precious suds because as the total hardness rises, the harder is it to create suds. At the

200-300 mg/l, cities are required to soften water for their citizens. With our project, we

tested total hardness to show the varying differences below, at and below the lake. We

know that Oxford water is softened and wanted to see about how hard the water really is.

When testing Nitrogen, one must consider the different types of nitrogen that are

present in naturally occurring. Natural water contains, dissolved N2, ammonium ion

(NH+4), dissolved ammonia (NH3) and nitrate ion (NO3-), nitrite ion (NO2-), and

organic nitrogen compounds. (Spang 1) In this area it is usually found in three forms:

Ammonia (NH), Nitrite (NO2) and Nitrate ( NO3) (Spieker, A30) With having all these

different concentrations of nitrate/nitrogen, one would think they are a good thing. Well,

yes and no.

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In nature, nitrate/nitrogen is a nutrient and important component of living

organism, but some of its compounds also can be toxic to aquatic life. Its

concentrations and dynamics have a large influence on the structure and function

of aquatic ecosystems, and nitrogen is an important variable in considerations of

water pollution. (Boyd, 190)

It usually can regulate itself until humans come along. With our irrigation, fertilizers,

farming, industrial use, etc, we screw up Mother Nature and therefore making

nitrate/nitrogen a harmful substance in large concentrations. Even though, one might say

nitrate/nitrogen is harmful in large concentrations, the large concentrations are actually

quite small. In unpolluted waters, a reading of .25 mg/l is considered normal, while in

polluted waters a reading of 1 mg/l is considered polluted. In highly polluted waters a

reading up to 10 mg/l may be found.

. The Kjeldahl method is the traditional method that is used for testing

nitrate/nitrogen. Testing done on Four Mile Creek in 1968 and in 1989 both used this

traditional method.

With this method a sample is digested in Sulfuric acid and all organic

nitrogen is converted to ammonium. The digest is then made alkaline and the

ammonium is distilled off as ammonia and captured for measurement.

Subtraction of ammonia nitrogen from Kjeldahl nitrogen provides a good estimate

of organic nitrogen in a sample. (Boyd, 189)

Being that we are amateurs at testing nitrogen, we only had the opportunity of using the

supplied Hack kit for testing nitrogen.

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Even with nitrogen/nitrate being a good nutrient for a water system, it can also be

toxic in many cases.

Nitrate can be absorbed from the water by fish and other organisms. In the

blood of fish, nitrite reacts with hemoglobin to form methemoglobin.

Methemoglobin does not combine with oxygen like hemoglobin; so high nitrite

concentrations in water can result in functional anemia known as

methemoglobinemia. Blood that contains significant methemoglobin is brown,

so the common name for nitrite toxicity in fish is “brown flood disease.” Nitrite

can also bind hemocyanin in crustacean blood to lower the ability of blood to

transport oxygen. (Boyd, 191)

With this the nitrite gets transported through the gill by lamellar chloride cells. These

cells can’t tell the difference between chloride and nitrite, therefore causing the fish to

have too high of a nitrite concentration in their system, giving them methemoglobinemia.

In waters of low dissolved oxygen and many other factor, it is extremely hard to

determine what a true safe level is for fish to thrive.

With reading about methemoglobinemia, we started wondering if the dead fish

problem of Acton lake could be due to this disease. We found some higher levels of

nitrogen/nitrate concentrations and therefore think this could be part of the problem of the

dead fish.

From watching the video on the Colorado River, we learned that in theory,

temperature should fall as the water goes from above dam, through the dam, and below

the dam. Research done on the Great Miami River Valley showed that on average, the

temperature in this area basically follows the weather patterns. When it is cold in

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Southern Ohio, the water temperature is around .56 degrees Celsius. During the summer

months, the water temperature as been known to soar as high as 32 degrees Celsius.

(Spieker)

“The People Speak” was our response to the multiple interviews we did on people

who have lived, live, work(ed), and play(ed) on the Four Mile Creek watershed. Below

is a synopsis of each interview.

Helen SpicerMs. Spicer grew up on Four Mile Creek outside of Hamilton, Ohio on State Route 177.

She is the oldest of six children. Being the oldest, she spent many summers, taking the

younger children down the to creek to play. She remembers wading in the water

watching the “Twins” as she calls her younger twin brothers. She always had to watch

them closely since she said they were so ornery.

After leaving the Hamilton area to go to college, she returned after she married. Her and

her husband, settled outside of Darrtown on Hogue road. There she raised two children

on Four Mile Creek. The creek ran behind their house she told us. Both of her children

spent many summers out near the creek, wading, trying to catch fish and frogs, etc. She

told us she had really fond memories playing with her children there before they moved

north and she had to have lung surgery.

Cindy LittleJohn(Ms. Littlejohn was not comfortable giving her real name)

Cindy spent the early years of her childhood on Four Mile Creek. She never returned to

Four Mile Creek until she came to Miami University in the late 1970’s on a Basketball

scholarship. She got to know Lake Acton very well from spending countless hours

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running through Hueston Woods to condition for basketball practice. She told us that

during her years here at Miami, Lake Acton was a source of jokes. Everybody joked

about how polluted it was and how that if one would swim in it, they would become

extremely sick. After graduating, she left the area and hasn’t visited Hueston Woods

since.

Virgi StoneVirgi is a “towny” in all sense of the word. She grew up in Oxford, left for a while and

now has returned to the area to care for her mother. She laughed at our reference to being

a “towny” and thought it was fitting for her. Virgi told us about her late teenage years

growing up around Hueston woods. She told us that she remembered there being a

“octopus” in Lake Acton, that was used to clean it. Virgi wasn’t sure if it was still used

to clean the lake. In our research, we weren’t able to verify the use of the “octopus”.

Fisherman(He didn’t want us to use his name)

On one of our sampling trips, we spoke to an older gentleman fishing on the banks of

Lake Acton. We asked him why he liked fishing on the lake and if he knew of the

pollution problem Lake Acton has. He responded that, “I been fishing here for decades.

They take out this dam, get rid of this lake, what am I gonna do with my time then? Been

eating these fish for years, taste fine to me.” After that he turned away and focused back

on his line.

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Little Girls at Black Bridge

We were under the Black Bridge getting water samples. While we were gathering, two

girls came running towards us from down the bank. One was about 5, the other girl about

8. We asked them what they were doing and they showed us the one measly, sick fish

they had caught. They were all excited about their fish and we asked them if they were

going to eat them. The both said no, that their daddy wouldn’t let them because it could

make them sick.

Naturalist at Hueston WoodsInterview done with Biodiversity Group (Wolfe/Blaisdell)

We spoke with Chris Smith on April 26th, 2003 with Meagan Leigh, Les Arms, and Diane

Jones. He spoke to us about how the dam was put in during the late 1940’s and the early

1950’s. He also told us that part of Hueston woods is part of the only virgin timber in the

state. Besides that he spoke of how they rarely use the lake, usually they just take

canoeing excursions out to the beaver dam.

3rd graders from Marshall Elementary

Amanda helped with a Pweep event at Pfeiffer park. She spent four hours

walking up and down Collin’s Run, showing groups of 8-10 3rd graders about life,

pollution, etc, on Collin’s Run.

Most of the children had been to the park before. Those who hadn’t had at least

been to another creek similar to Collin’s Run. Amanda told the children how Collin’s

Run, runs into Four Mile Creek all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. After

explaining that, she showed them how the river runs in varying difference. Where they

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were at, there was a semi-deep pool that had minnows in it, while upstream the water ran

swiftly down stream. She also showed the children many different spots where there was

pollution. The whole point of this trip was for children to be more educated about the

environment and how they can help save it. The children reactions were from awe that

their play area would have pollution to those who wanted to save the Earth in one day.

Can all of the information we gathered throughout this study be applied to other,

perhaps larger, creeks and rivers? Is it at all relevant to “The Big Picture?” We’d like to

think so. Perhaps our results, and how they compare to what we found in our research,

will shed a little light on these queries.

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Testing Methods

Gathering the Samples

1. Borrow someone’s car.2. Argue over who gets to drive said car.3. Head to the Black Bridge.4. Fill and label water vials, take temperature, splash around for a few minutes.5. Head toward Hueston Woods.6. Pause to stare at Izaak Walton League sign. (http://www.iwla.org/ for info, it really does apply).7. Continue to Acton Lake.8. Avoid dead fish.9. See step 4, minus splashing.10. Continue to above-dam test site.11. Trek through woods.12. See step 4, with a lot of splashing to clean sand off feet.13. Go home and shower.

Hardness of Water

1. Put 5 ml of water in testing tube2. Added 2 drops of buffer solution, mixed buffer and water solutions.3. Added 1 drop of red solution mixed it with water solution, changing the solution red.4. Added drop by drop third solution that mixed with solution two until the water turned blue, indicating the hardness of water.5. Rinsed testing tube.6. Repeated for each testing sample

Nitrogen Testing

1. Put Nitrogen disk in Nitrogen reader.2. Pour 5ml of water into testing tube one.3. Add dry packet number one.4. Put cap on and shake for 30 seconds.5. Pour solution into testing tube two.6. Add dry packet number two.7. Put on cap and shake for 30 seconds or until solution turns red.8. Put testing tube two into Nitrogen reader.9. Hold up to light.10. Move Nitrogen disk until the disk matches the testing tube.11. Repeat for each testing sample.

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Talking to the People

1. Randomly run into families fishing.2. Talk to them, especially the children.3. Make sure they don’t mind being included in a project.4. Run into someone at church who has lived here their whole life.5. Talk to them.6. See step 3.7. Find a park employee.8. Talk to them.9. See step 3.10. Go back through and realize that most people would not let us have their names. Great. But at least we got the interviews.

Taking the Pictures

1. Borrow a digital camera.2. Argue over who gets to use said camera.3. Take a lot of pictures (most of which do not turn out).4. Send Whitney to hang out over a 40-foot drop with someone else’s digital camera.5. Pay nominal fee to owner of camera to upload and email pictures.

Writing the Poems

1. Stare at pictures.2. Stare at data and results.3. Stare at interviews.

4. Write poems using items in steps 1-3.

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DataHardness (mg/L)          

Day (Test) 1 (a) 1 (b) 2 (a) 2 (b) 3 (a) 3 (b)

Below Dam 460 380 460 520 480 500

Acton Lake 500 520 500 480 500 540

Above Dam 580 520 540 520 580 560

Hardness (mg/L) (Averages)  

Day 1 2 3

Below Dam 420 490 490

Acton Lake 510 490 520

Above Dam 550 530 570

Nitrate (mg/L)          

Day (Test) 1 (a) 1 (b) 2 (a) 2 (b) 3 (a) 3 (b)

Below Dam <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 0 <0.1 0

Acton Lake 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2

Above Dam 0.1 <0.1 0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1

Nitrate (mg/L) (Averages)  

Day 1 2 3

Below Dam 0.05 0.025 0.025

Acton Lake 0.15 0.15 0.2

Above Dam 0.075 0.075 0.05

Temperature (°C)    

Day 1 2 3

Below Dam 13 14 15.5

Acton Lake 13.5 15 16

Above Dam 14.5 15 18.5

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Results/Analysis

**Note: Site 1 is below dam, Site 2 is Acton Lake, Site 3 is above dam

Hardness

The first table on page 18 shows the results of both tests each day for hardness.

The second shows the same, with the tests for each day averaged. The statistics and

charts for our results are on page 19.

According to the mean numbers given, it would appear that the water is hardest

above the dam and softest below the dam. It would make sense, as the dam holds back

sediment and minerals, that the water would be softer below the dam. However, the fact

that it is not as hard in the lake as above it is slightly confusing, as one might imagine that

minerals would be trapped in the reservoir.

The “Univariate Line Chart” is a visual representation of the averages of each

day’s test results. The “Cell Line” and “Cell Bar” charts are for the mean numbers

mentioned above. The line chart in particular shows the differences in hardness between

the three sites.

Nitrate

The third and fourth tables on page 18 pertain to the tests of nitrate levels. Results

of “<0.1” were reinterpreted as .05 for use in the fourth table and the statistics and charts.

Said statistics and charts are on page 20.

While these numbers may seem low, they are higher than in most other parts of

the world. These high nitrate levels are mainly due to farm runoff. The highest nitrate

levels are in the lake, and the lowest are below the dam. It would appear that the dam

holds back much of the nitrate, hence the high levels found in the reservoir.

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On all three charts, it is easy to see the dramatic differences in levels, particularly

when comparing Site 2 to the other two testing sites.

Temperature

The fifth table on page 18 and the charts and statistics on page 21 apply to our

temperature measurements. (As the temperature remained the same when we tested twice

each day, we decided not to include the two-test table.)

As expected, the mean numbers indicate that the temperature was lowest below

the dam, and significantly higher in the creek above the reservoir. This difference is most

easily seen in the “Cell Line” and “Univariate Line” charts.

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A Few Final Thoughts

Amanda Gibson

Even though for the past three semesters we have had to do group projects for NS,

this project was different. In the past, we had free reign on what we wanted to do but this

time around we were forced concentrate on Four Mile Creek and its watersheds, making

this project in the end more intense. With over sixty students focusing on one small

watershed, many different projects were created to look at Four Mile Creek.

With our project, we chose to look at the pollution aspect of Four Mile Creek,

Acton Lake and the water quality above, at and below Acton Lake. It felt with at least

with our project, we were really “scientists”. We got to find our testing sights, collect

the samples, test them and interpret the results. In the past, we also did this but with Four

Mile Creek, it made it more real. There isn’t a lot of information on Four Mile Creek

readily available; one must dig to find it. So with having to dig to find information and

creating a new inquiry on Four Mile Creek, it felt like we were explorers.

At times, our group dynamics were intense. This semester seemingly has been

long and hard for everybody and at times it showed. With our schedules being so varied

and hard to work around, we were forced to split the duties and only meet when we had

something important to work on. Because of this, Abby and Whitney collected most of

the samples except for the last samples; I was able to go with Whitney to gather them.

Since they gathered most of the samples, I was in charge of testing them. Testing the

samples was tedious sometimes but at the same time, I was the first to view the results

and know how polluted the water was.

Another neat aspect of the project was the interviews. Being able to talk

to people who had lived, worked and played on Four Mile Creek, made the project come

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alive. It made it real. All in all, this project was different differed from the past projects

but was still the same as past projects. It was enjoyable to learn more about Four Mile

Creek since we live, work and play on it and I’m glad I had the chance to learn more

about this watershed.

Whitney Smith

Never in my experience with group projects have emotions run so high. It seemed

like we were either having a great time or wanting to kill each other, with very little in

between. In general, I had fun working on it, but there were also those beautiful moments

when I was ready to quit school specifically due to this one thing.

One of the biggest reasons I looked forward to this project was that I’d get to play

in the water. After coming home with soaked pants and shoes, swearing I was catching

pneumonia, I was no longer so enamored with the idea, and the day I had to walk into

Acton Lake up to my knees, I was fairly sure I would grow and extra limb before the

week was out.

Despite some crazy circumstances and odd set-backs, I realize now just exactly

how much I learned from the project, not only about water quality, but about people

along the creek, my group members, and myself. Everything about water quality you can

find in the rest of this report, along with all the things I learned from the people we talked

to. My group members and I have gone from loving to hating and back again, and I think

we are all the closer for it. And myself… I’ve discovered that when it comes down to it, I

would much rather be one of those people recreating without knowing what’s going on

with the water.

Still, the way we went about the learning was fun, especially because we weren’t

confined only to science as we were in our NS classes. It was nice to be able to play with

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a camera, write poetry, and help little kids fish, and yet be working on this project at the

same time.

Abby Workman

I had a lot more fun than I anticipated working on this project. After years of doing

science projects, it was very difficult for me to work on a project that combined not only

science, but also the humanities and social sciences. I had to force my mind to remember

that I could not focus solely on the science. However, once I managed to get into the

spirit of the project, I found it to be very interesting. Just being out at the test sites was a

great experience. I really enjoyed being able to walk around near the water and enjoy

nature. It was very relaxing, in a way, to be collecting samples in the middle of the day;

it was as if, for a few minutes, all the stresses of school melted away.

One of the reasons I was most interested in doing this project was in order to discern how

much the materials we had read in class really applied to the real world. Beyond the

scientific connections, which were fairly easy to make, I began to feel the truth of the

cultural connections. All the articles on the Hudson River School and the religious

aspects of the river, the idea of paradise, and the ties of the human soul to the river

suddenly made a lot of sense. I think this was the most valuable experience I took from

the course and from this project. Beyond the scientific aspects, I was encouraged to look

at a river as a tool and a treasure, as secular and as sacred. In short, I was not confined to

one view of the river, but exposed to several and told to find my own way to the truth.

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Bibliography

City of Oxford, Ohio water quality investigation. Columbus, Ohio: Burgess & Niple, 1989.Water quality studies (“area planning studies) for Oxford, OH, January of 1989.

Seven Mile Creek watershed : a non-point source profile. Cincinnati, Ohio: Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments. 1985.A look at water quality and water pollution in Butler County, OH, focusing specifically on the Seven Mile Creek watershed.

Boyd, Claude E. Water quality: an introduction. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers. 2000.Gives an introduction to water quality, covering topics relevant to our study such as dissolved oxygen, hardness, and water quality regulations.

Camargo, Julio A. and Neal J. Voelz. “Biotic and Abiotic Changes Along the Recovery Gradient of Two Impounded Rivers with Different Impoundment Use.” ???? (1996): 143-158.Effects of damming on the macroinvertibrates of the ColoradoRiver (Granby Dam) and the Durat—n River in Spain (Burgomillodo Dam), particularly in regard to downstream changes in water quality.

Fried, Gabriela and Alfred WŸest. “Disrupting biogeochemicl cycles – Consequences of damming.” Aquatic Sciences 64 (2002): 55-65.Effects of damming on rivers, and why these effects might be overlooked. Effects include biogeochemical cycles, nutrient balance, and thermal conditions.

Graf, William L. “Damage Control: Restoring the Physical Integrity of America’s Rivers.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 91(1) (2001): 1-27.Discusses the restoration of the natural physical integrity of rivers whose ecosystems have been damaged due to damming, and focuses on economic, cultural, and environmental aspects.

Mngomezulu, M. Michael. A descriptive study of water quality trends in the Great Miami subbasin, Ohio, 1979-1992. 1994.Looks at water quality trends in the Miami River Basin over the course of 13 years (79-92).

Novotny, Vladimir. “Integrated Water Quality Management.” Water Science Technology 33 No 4-5 (1996): 1-7. 1996.Discussion of water quality management using the Use Attainability Analysis (UAA), which is a combination of water body assessment, total maximum daily load process (natural vs. man-made problems), and socio-economic analysis.

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Spang, John F. A study of nitrogen compounds in Four Mile Creek near Oxford, Ohio. 1971.As stated in the title, it is a look at nitrogen compounds in Four Mile Creek, relevant to our study in that it is about our specific creek of study and is regarding water chemistry.

Spieker, Andrew Maute. Ground-water hydrology and geology of the lower Great Miami River Valley, Ohio. U.S. Govt. Printing Office. 1968.Provides information on geological aspects of the Miami River Valley, as will as information on ground-water.

Waite, Thomas D Principles of water quality. Orlando, Fla: Academic Press. 1984.Discusses water resources, water quality, and water quality management.

Ward, Robert C. “Development and use of water quality criteria and standards in the United States.” Regional Environmental Change 2 (2001): 66-72. Definitions of water quality criteria and standards developed over the course of the last century, as well as a call for new methods of water quality management.

http://www.miamiconservancy.org/Great_Miami_River_Watershed/What_Is_A_Watershed/Images/Lower%20Great%20Infographic.pdfA quick look at the biological health of the lower Great Miami River watershed.

http://www.unep.or.jp/ietc/Publications/Short_Series/LakeReservoirs-1/5.aspDiscusses water quality and the differences between lakes and reservoirs, and between deep and shallow water bodies, as well as downstream effects of damming.

http://www.cleanwateract.org/pages/b9.htmExplains application of the Clean Water Act to damming projects.

http://www2.privatei.com/~uscold/Homepage of the United States Society on Dams, “dedicated to advancing the technology of dam engineering, construction, operation, maintenance and dam safety; to fostering socially and environmentally responsible water resources projects; and to promoting awareness of the role of dams in the beneficial and sustainable development of the nation's water resources.”

http://www.ies.wisc.edu/research/wrm00/educqual.htmA guide to deciding whether to repair or remove a dam which has been damaged, looking at water quality, biology, timing, etc.

http://biology.usgs.gov/cro/98bor-4.htmLooks at water quality in western river reservoirs, particularly the Lower Colorado River reservoirs.

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http://www.soton.ac.uk/~engenvir/environment/alternative/hydropower/hydchan.htmLooks at effects of dams on both water quality and on operation of downstream power plants.

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/parks/huestonw.htmDNR homepage for Hueston Woods State Park, including brief history of the Acton Lake Dam and general information on recreation in the area.