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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
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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
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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
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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