Address the following:

Transcription

1 Address the following: This issue our team investigated was pollution in the form of nitrate runoff. In order to test this, we proposed the question, How does water quality vary in Copeland Creek as we move from its headwaters at Fairfield Osborn Preserve further into Rohnert Park?. This is a really prevalent issue in the world, and more specifically in Rohnert park. Nitrate runoff can greatly contribute to poisonous algae blooms that have recently been an issue in Sonoma County s waterways (Alexander). By testing this, we were hoping to find some contributing factors to nitrate pollution in Rohnert Park s local waterway, Copeland Creek. Chemical pollution, specifically in the form of nitrates, can contribute to many issues in aquatic environments. Nitrates found in some fertilizers, decaying plants/animals, and nitrogen rich soil are typically washed into the surface water by rain. Since nitrates are usually found in streams as a result of runoff, nitrate concentrations in surface water are highest downstream from agricultural or urban areas (Mueller, D.K.). Nitrogen is highly reactive and mobile in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and can cause a phenomenon called Eutrophication, in which algae grows uncontrollably (Alexander, 2007, 41-59). The algae uses up the dissolved oxygen in the water, leading to hypoxia, where dissolved oxygen levels are so low that it cannot support aquatic life. This can progress into anoxia, where there is a complete lack of dissolved oxygen. To conduct our testing we went to 8 different sampling sites. We began at the Headwaters of Fairfield Osborn Preserve and worked our way down Copeland creek ending at the Santa Rosa Laguna Treatment Plant. We sampled within a four hour time span on the same day so that the temperature wouldn t fluctuate within the time we took our measurements. However, due to the rainy weather conditions that day, the temperature remained static. There was no previous rainfall in the weeks prior to when we did our testing, however there was a consistent sprinkle with on and off periods of heavier rainfall throughout testing. We were very fortunate that it happened to rain on the day we tested because it caused additional runoff to flow into the creek, highlighting potential for contamination which we may not have been able to see if it had not rained. The equipment we used was a LabQuest, ph strips, a nitrite test kit, and a GPS. With that equipment we were able to record our measurements of temperature, ph and alkalinity levels, nitrite and nitrate levels, elevation level, as well as the exact GPS coordinates of where we were. We communicated with the people at Fairfield Osborn Preserve in order to get permission to test on their property in order to help make our project successful.

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3 Our 8 sampling sites:

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5 The results of your data collection and analysis, presented in a way that is easy to see and interpret, and the conclusions that you are able to draw from those results

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9 From our findings, we found that all of the testings showed the same trends. For example, the ph levels, alkalinity, nitrite, and nitrate had a consistent reading for site one, two, and three. There was little to no variations in the sites before SSU campus. Once we got into Rohnert Park with site four, five, and six, we noticed that the results in that area declined compared to the previous sites we sampled. Even though the results declined, the samples were fairly close to one another. When we sampled sites seven and eight were taken, we found that those findings were different from the rural area of Rohnert Park. These two sites showed similar results with all of the testings except, alkalinity testing. We found that the drop in ph in Rohnert Park can be a result of excess organic matter or caused by humans. That also explains the high nitrate levels found within Rohnert Park. The alkalinity of the water seems like it is decreased within Rohnert Park, correlating with with decreased levels of ph. We concluded that water qualities are safe but they are questionable within Rohnert Park. In our results, we found that the sites before the SSU campus and sites seven and eight are safe but when Rohnert Park water is compared, the water quality is slightly degraded. For further investigation, we can look at more sites within Rohnert Park communities and see where the contaminant is coming from and seeing how we can maintain a high water quality. References Alexander, R. B., Boyer, E. W., Smith, R. A., Schwarz, G. E., & Moore, R. B. (2007). Nature 403, Retrieved from on April 20, This article is useful because it illustrates the variation in nitrates from the headwater to the downstream water bodies. It provides some examples of what we would expect to see from our own experiment, since they are examining the same thing. Nadeau, T., & Rains, M. C. (2007). Journal of The American Water Resources Association, Retrieved from on April 17, This source was helpful in providing a lot of background information. It helped us determine why we should limit the amount of nitrates in streams and what negative impacts could occur from not maintaining or eradicating sources of nitrogen pollution.it helped us understand the common trends found when looking at variation of nitrates upstream versus downstream. It also provides insight as to where the in stream nitrates came from and how they would leave the stream in nature.

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