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2010 Shell Creek Watershed Study

Advisors – Mark Seier, Suzy Goedeken, & Karen MalmkarResearchers –Katie O’Brien, Jake Kaufman, Mark O’Brien, Aubrey Strong, Audrey Wondercheck, Greg Roberg, Lila Wondercheck, Kendra Nelson, Ciera Afrank, Alisha Dunlap, Joan O’Brien, Ashley Potmesil, Darienne Pokorny, Jason Kaufman, Demi Edgell, Billy O’Brien, Alex Wiese

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(with Township-Range Labels)

Shell Creek and Loseke-Taylor Creek Watersheds

Lower Platte North Natural Resources District

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4

Site 1South Branch of the Shell

Creek

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6

6

Site 2North Branch of the Shell

Creek

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6

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Site 3Above Newman Grove

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6

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Site 4Below Newman Grove

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6

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Site 6By Lindsay

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6

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Site 5Near Platte Center

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6

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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

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

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2010 Precipitation

Rainfall

Inch

es

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May 25 June 16 July 26-27

August 5

6.3

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

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May25 June 16 July 26-27 August 5

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

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.

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May 25 June 16 July 26-27 August 50

200

400

600

800

1000

1200 Total Solids

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

mg

/L

The higher the concentration, the worse the water quality.

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Fecal Coliform

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May 25 June 16 July 26-27 August 50

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000Fecal Coliform

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

colo

nie

s/1

00

mL

Site 1- 44,800Site 3- 25,200Site 6- 7,200

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2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600Fecal Coliform

Site 1Site 2Site 3Site 4

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

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May 25 June 16 July 26-27 August 50

10

20

30

40

50

60Flow

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

Cu

bic

feet

per

secon

d*Flow was not measured in June for sites 3, 4, 5, and 6 due to high waters.

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May 25 June 16 July 26-27 August 50

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400Turbidity

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

JTU

's

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May 25 June 16 July 26-27 August 50

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

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May 25 June 16 July 26-27 August 50

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

45 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 25 June 16 July 26-27 August 50

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Nitrates

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 6

Site 5

Date

pp

m

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2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Nitrates

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 5

Site 6

Date

pp

m

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May 25 June 16 July 26-27 August 50

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5Phosphates

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 Average

WQ

I Medium

Bad

Good

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2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 201045

50

55

60

65

70

Total WQI Averages by Year

WQI

WQ

I

Good

Bad

Medium

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May June July August45

50

55

60

65

70

WQI Averages by Date

2003 Averages 2004 Averages 2005 Averages

2006 Averages 2007 Averages 2008 Averages

2009 Averages 2010 Average

Month

WQ

I

Bad

Medium

Good

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Total Rainfall Inches

Discharge CFS Nitrates ppm pH 0

5

10

15

20

25

302003 - 2010 Chemical Test Average Compar-

isons2003 Averages

2004 Averages

2005 Averages

2006 Averages

2007 Averages

2008 Averages

2009 Averages

2010 Average

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

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

32003 - 2010 Chemical Test Average Comparisons

2003 Averages

2004 Averages

2005 Averages

2006 Averages

2007 Averages

2008 Averages

2009 Averages

2010 Average

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D.O. % Sat. Turbidity JTU Fecal Coliform Colonies/100

mL

Total Solids mg/L

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

2003 - 2010 Chemical Test Average Comparisons

2003 Averages

2004 Averages

2005 Averages

2006 Averages

2007 Averages

2008 Averages

2009 Averages

2010 Average

*2010 Fecal ColiformAverage 3,648 col/100 mL

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

Chemical Test Conclusions

• Phosphates were high in June.• Fecal Coliform was a problem at

certain times.• Nitrates increased over the summer.• Nitrates levels increasing in the Shell

Creek.• Some of the results may be due to

high rainfall.

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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

May-10 Jun-10 Jul-10 Aug-10 Sum-mer

Aver-age 10

Sum-mer

Aver-age 09

Sum-mer

Aver-age 08

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Beaver Creek Average WQI

Shell Creek Average WQIWQI

Good

Medium

Bad

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Beaver-Shell Creek Comparison2010

pH Nitrates Phos-phates

B.O.D0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

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Beaver CreekShell Creek

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Beaver-Shell Creek Comparison2010

Turbidity Fecal Col-iform

Total Solids

D.O. % Sat.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

Beaver CreekShell Creek

462010 Flood Study

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Flood StudyDate and Time

Width (ft)

Avg. Depth (ft)

Flow (cfs)

Total Solids(mg/L)

Nitrates(ppm)

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

6/8/10 110 7.6 1430 7210 18.04 38611.9 1158.4

6/10/10 125 9.6 3996 6410 10.34 95959.4 2878.8

6/12/10 130 11.1 4416 2510 3.3 41517.9 1245.5

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

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Water Testing

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Chemical Tests

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WE LOVESHELL CREEKWATERSHED!

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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

• 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