Purpose: As a class we will moniter local
rivers for the Colrado Division of Wildlife. We moniter
for many Physical, Biological
and Chemical aspects that we will discuss later.
Why; We
help the CDOW with these tests, it saves them money and allows
us to do real world science with a prupose.
How:
Once a month we will test chemically for dissolved oxygen, alkalinity,
hardness and pH. We also collect metals samples
that are sent to the CDOW fort Collins lab where they are tested
for heavy metals like zinc and mercury. Twice a year
we also collect nutrient samples that we send in. In the fall
we did a macroinvertabrate collection to use a a base for our
data. We made hypothesis as to what our water quality was, more
later.
Where:
We have 7 stations that we sample. On the Yampa River which is
our main body of water in the area, we sample 2
places. Above town at the golf course and below town at the intake
for the electrical generating plant. On Fortification
Creek, a major stream from the north, we sample above and below
town also. 14 miles south of Craig we sample the
Williams Fork river, this is a major river that drains the Northern
Flat Tops. West of Craig, 50 miles, we sample the
Little Snake River. This river meanders down from the north side
of the Bears Ears Volcanic District after a short trip
thru Wyoming it runs through what is called Powder Wash Country.
Our last river we sample is the Green River, this
river starts outside of Pinedale WY and flows down for a short
trip in Colorado. It is tested below Flaming Gorge Dam
at a place called swinging bridge.
Our Location: Craig is a small town locate
in Nortwestern Colorado. We are the only Middle school in the
County, Moffat. Craig is
an agricultural area with coal mining and an electrical power
plant. Upstream is Steamboat Springs (45 mile)a well
known ski area. Down stream is Dinosaur National Monument
and the Green River. We are located along the
Colorado Plateau. We are semi mountainns, and semi desert.
We are going thru the most extreme drought in history.
Our river has dropped to 5 CFS in the last month. The Yampa
River (Ute for Bear) Our river starts in the Flat Tops
which are Tertiary Volcanic Flows. It flows thru the small
towns of Yampa and Oak Creek before hitting the only large
dam on the river, Stage Coach. We have been told that the
Yampa is the only large river in the west that does not have
a MAJOR dam on it, Stage Coach is on the upper river and is pretty
small. Then the river meanders down the Yampa
River Valley thru Steamboat, Milner, Hayden and then Craig. The
last town on the river is the small rnching town of
Maybell. The river then cuts thru some major mountains forming
Cross Mountain Canyo,Great Raft and kayaking, then
into Yampa Canyon, another great trip buy raft, toEcho Park where
the river joins the Green River.
How we test:
Dissolved Oxygen- We use a standard winkler titration. If emergency's
come up we use a hach test.
pH- we use a temperature compesated beckman meter.
Hardness- We use a EDTA titration
Alkalinity-This is two parted, 1 is is a phenophalein titration,
this is a pH meter check also, this is only done if
pH is above 8.3. When we add the phenophalein if it turns pink
pH is + 8.3 and we test.
second test is a sulfuric acid titration
Conductivity- Is done sometimes with an Oaktron TDS meter.
Metals- We fix with a nitric acid solution and send in.
Nutrients-Fixed and sent in to DOW
Sample Collection- Is done in low water month's with composite
samples, across the river. High water we must
do grab samples as well as in the winter thru the ice.
QA/QC-
Tested yearly by CDOW to assure we meat their standards
Recieve unknows to be tested with results sent in.
Blanks and Dupes- collected every fifth sample. This tests our
methods of collectio for metals as well as the
CDOW spectrometer in Fort Collins
Our BUGS trip:
In easrly september of this year we went to the Yampa River to
collect macroinvertabrates. We identified them
and using numerous source determined what type of water they were
suited for. Our conclusion was that the
Yampa River is a very clean river as we found over 80% of our
bugs were not tolerant to pollution. We will use
this as our hypothesis for the rest of the year as we test the
river with chemical methods to determine the quality.
Physical data: For physical data we do erosion studies. Photo surveys, Meander ratio, stream ordet and flow rates.
Interested?
Contact us at riverwatch@moffatsd.org
Our data: Coming soon
Other links Riverwatch web site
http://wildlife.state.co.us/riverwatch/