September 2002
Evaluation of 142-mile Creek
Jessica Dreier
Mr. Jordan's Ecology Class
Northern Heights High School, Allen, KS
Our watershed is mostly used as active grazing land and feedlots. There wasn't a lot of trash at the creek. There was a beer can, barbed wire, and a glass. Some if the animals at the creek were frogs, birds, and raccoons. The animals we saw in the creek were frogs and water striders.
The banks were eroding away. On the left bank there was lots of grasses and weeds. The right bank hardly had any grasses because it was so steep and eroded. There were big trees on both sides of the creek. There was no concrete, lawns or big rocks on either side of the creek.
Our persent of oxygen saturation was low. That is probably because there weren't many plants in the water, also the water wasn't moving. The nitrate level was fair. The creek didn't have that much run-off. Phosphate levels were excellent....The pHlevel was also excellent because there is lots of calcium in the rocks by the creek. The turbidity was low. However, that was probably because the water wasn't moving.
Overall I think that the creek was fairly clean and healthy, despite the positive results of coliforms. That is because of the animals that are living by the creek.