Before the Durham Earthday 2008 Festival, Northeast Creek Streamwatch conducted a stream clean-up.
Around two dozen folks pitched in and helped, cleaning along Northeast Creek in Audubon Park and in Parkwood.
Here are the signs of success—what was collected in two hours, including a tire, a windshield, and a bicycle.
Thanks to all of the volunteers who came out to participate.
There were five people at the meeting at the Parkwood Branch Library.
This was brought up at past meetings. The new principal wants class rooms to have gardens, and as part of this Colleen and others are working on funding and building rain barrels for the School. Some members went to a rain barrel making workshop on the March 22. Rain barrels were considered a better option than cisterns. The cost of a barrel depends on the materials, and the cost was estimated at $20 to $90 dollars, while barrels at a store cost $45 dollars or more.
One of our members spoke to about 10 Girl Scouts, around 5th-6th grade in age and a few adults for maybe 15 to 30 minutes and explained where the Creek is and how we test the water. A drawing of a macroinvertebrate by a younger scout or visitor was a part of the presentation.
Testing has be done at Sedwick, Grandale, Sohi, Meridian, and O’Kelly Church Road. There is a lot of life in the water in several places, but also a lot of dissolved oxygen. Because the impoundment dam north of O’Kelly Church Road is open, oxygen levels were down there (since there was not an aerating waterfall over the gates). There was also a lot of silt there. More people were involved in testing this time, starting with a one-hour orientation at the Library before the first testing at Sedwick in early March. In different places there were beavers and large carp and slider turtles.
The cleanup will be from 9-11am on Saturday, April 19th (the date of Earth Day is always April 22nd though) and volunteers can come to the table in front of the Library at any time for directions to the cleanup sites.
There is an NC cleanup on the 8th or 3rd. A member was assigned to find out more information. NC Big Sweep, in which we regularly participate, is in early October.
IBM has invited Northeast Creek Streamwatch to again participate in its employee celebration of Earth Day. We will table and talk to IBM employees and families about Northeast Creek Streamwatch.
The Flea Market will be in the morning (6-11am) on Saturday and the Piedmont Wildlife Center event at Leigh Farm Park (on Leigh Farm Rd., right (north) at the first stoplight west of New Hope Creek (after 751) and before I-40 and Chapel Hill, across from the Quadrangle business park, will be in the afternoon and evening (11-7pm).
Bolin Creek photo exhibit
A member of the New Hope Audubon Society) and a representative from Northeast Creek Streamwatch attended the reception for the exhibit at the Carrboro Town Hall on I think March 14th. The photos show scenes and plants and invertebrates along Bolin Creek in Carrboro and Chapel Hill and they are printed on canvas, so they are like paintings. The exhibit might still be going on and pictures are for sale and flower pictures are posted at www.bolincreek.org. Bolin Creek is a tributary of Little Creek, which flows between Durham and Chapel Hill, to Jordan Lake.
Northeast Creek Streamwatch is organizing a meeting to be held on a Wednesday evening in May or June at the Main Library in Durham about water quality on the upper headwaters of the New Hope River/Jordan Lake.
The City/County Design Review Board (DRB) has approved conservation subdivision status for this development.
This is going through the approval process. It will be good to have participation at the Planning Commission, City Council, and County Commission meeting that consider these amendments to the UDO.
This project has received approval of rezoning. This project lies across several tributaries in the headwaters of the Creek, in a currently mostly rural area.
The Planning Commission voted 7-4 to recommend denial of a commercial rezoning request to allow mixed development of the site. The zoning already allows office development. The project will now go before the City Council.
We discussed some ideas. One plan is a hike to the big tree east of Euclid Road. In May or late April we should see if the yellow wild azaleas on Alston are blooming, in addition to the many red firepinks and white flowering spurge. In April we could look at other spring flowers, such as Atamasco lilies, wood sorrels, and jack-in-the-pulpit. Currently the trout lilies are done flowering, but there are lots of rue anemones near Audubon Park, in addition to spring beauties, bluets, and violets. We could hike north from 54 or around Sohi Road, or to look at beavers or silt problems (there was a report of a plume of silt at the trestle on the Tobacco Trail).
One person conducted this monitoring on March 23rd after 3:35 PM. The usual site is in a low spot southwest of the bridge, but in March I moved for the first time to a spot on the east side under the bridge, where there is riprap and concrete in the water. The weather was clear and mild, with low humidity and warm sun. I heard crows and geese (?), and there were several large and relatively wary slider turtles (possibly one was a snapping turtle) on logs downstream of the bridge. Relatively large carp were jumping up to 3 or 4’ into the air upstream and downstream every few minutes. The water was very silty, a turbulent brownish color through the riffle and yellow in the sun in deeper water. The banks were soft in about 0% of the area and the cover was < or = 60%. The water was about the same as before, possibly slightly less or with more silt deposited in at the former site. There was a large giant water bug or a small turtle downstream on the west side. There was some fibrous dark green – brownish algae, especially on the rocks, with maybe 70-80% or 20-30-50% coverage. There were some lunged snails near shore, but not on the rocks. The air was 59 degrees and the water was 59.
I was surprised that there were not animals, such as crustaceans like water fleas and copepods, in the water column. The DO was tested on the
23rd at 7.6, 7.4, and 7.8 (average 7.6). The BOD bottle was stopped and tested on the 28th, yielding results of 6.4, 6.4, and 6.2 (average 6.3), so the BOD was 1.3. It had a little bit of floating algae and was not completely covered with foil (but ‘algae’ grows when it is covered also, and often in a greater amount at other times of year).
This was measured at 25mL, as 70, <70, and <60 JTU. We need to find out if this is due to silt from RTP or Kit Creek, and if rules are being broken somewhere.
I thought it was < or = 0.3ppm, probably les than 0.3.
Phosphate - >0?, pH 6+, nitrite – white - ~0, nitrate – beige - ~0, chlorine – surprisingly it seemed to be >1 and the pH test on the same strip was more accurate than usual, with a reading of ~8, and copper –0.
Resting the pH was 7.5 and when held in the water. The conductivity was 423 and then 431 held in the water. Conductivity rose by the concrete.
The results were 00:02:74 and (more accurately I thought) 00:08:03 to go 1.’
I walked upstream to find other possible sites. There was a lot of silt in places and the water was brown. There were deer tracks in places, a few bluets and trout lilies with immature seed pods. A stinkpot or mud turtle dove in a small clear beaver pond. There were a few cricket frogs by the bridge and I heard some calling briefly at the bend downstream. There were big mistletoes in a maple fallen over the Creek by the dam, with immature reddish seeds. The impoundment dam was open, so the gate was not providing oxygenation. A sign for Amberly (?) was planted by the bridge and I think vetch, bluets, and wild pansies/field violets were blooming northeast of the bridge along the road. Traffic might have been less than it often is there.
Highway 55 at Meridian Parkway, down the second concrete ditch east of the first building on the south side of the business park. The old site was down the first ditch.
I did this site myself after 5:22 after the Sohi site. I was getting a bit cold without a jacket and the sky was relatively clear with low %. There was less cover than at Sohi, > or = 40% and no soft banks, though there was silt deposited and leaves moved by recent flooding. I think the last rain was a day or two earlier. There was some brownish green algae and I think a snail on the riprap rocks, so the cover was maybe <1%. The water was 12 7/8’ in front of me, 10 < ½ right, and ~ 20 to the left. The air was 51 and later 48 and the water was 50 (but maybe that was also an air temperature).
The DO sample might have been in the new bottle from inside the suitcase that was tested on the 23rd that had results of 7.4 near 7.45, 7.8, and 7.4 (average 7.5). Or maybe it was mixed up with the Grandale DO. The BOD bottle was stopped on the 13th, which was too early. I think the BOD sample was in the old bottle that was tested on March 25th, yielding results of 6.4, 7.0, and 6.8 (average 6.7). If this pairing is correct, the BOD was 0.8.
This was done at 25mL and was < or = 40 JTU twice.
It seemed to be < or = 0.4.
Nitrite – white - ~0, nitrate - ~0, phosphate – pale gray - maybe <5, alkalinity – yellowish - ~0?, copper - ~0, Cl yellow ~0, pH red – 4
pH was 6.8, 6.7 in the water and conductivity was 117, and 118 (?) held in the water.
Some measured speeds were 00:02:43, 00:01:97, and 00:01:49 to go one foot.
A few days later I went back during the day and noticed that pools of flood water by the road were dense with small crustaceans, some larger ones, and a few mayfly nymphs and some guppies.
This site was done by one person on March 2nd after 3:18. The weather was warm, clear, and sunny. I think some frogs and later toads were calling along the power line. A red headed woodpecker was calling and pecking across the Creek. Vines and bushes were becoming green. There were immature
seeds on the red maples. Large areas along the road were cleared on the east side north of the old beaver pond and on the west side between the
power line and the Creek, and uphill from the bridge on that side. Cover might have been < or = to 80% and seemed to be = or less than at Sedwick. There was some brownish algae on the bottom, less than at Sedwick, and <1% coverage, but later I thought it was > or = 30%. The banks were soft only at the edge of the water, where a silt and debris seemed to have been deposited, while the banks were less covered. The water was around the same level as before I think. There were many waterboatmen. The air temperature was 62 and the water was 56. There was a plastic bag (now gone) with deer parts that attracted some beetles and flies and there were some animal droppings in the water. Fish were jumping and before I left I saw a beaver swim by the bridge from the north channel to the south, where there seems to be a burrow.
There was a mix up and I am not sure which samples came from Grandale, Sohi, Highway 55, and maybe Sedwick also, though I think I know which
were BOD samples. I’m sorry and to fix this problem I will number the sample bottles. Maybe the DO was in the new bottle that yielded readings of 9.2, 9.6, and 9.45 (average 9.4) on the 25th. The Grandale BOD bottle was stopped on the 7th. What I thought was the BOD sample was in a new bottle tested March 23rd, yielding readings of 7.4(6), 8.0, and 7.4 (average 7.6). If this pairing is correct, the BOD was 1.8.
I did it at 50 mL and it looked clearer than at Sedwick and slightly brown, with a muddy and musty smell. I added 4 drops, but <3 was enough, so the turbidity was <3 JTU.
It was <0.2, and probably < or = 0.1.
Strips
Nitrite –white - ~0, nitrate – pinkish - ~0, alkalinity – greenish - < or = 80, phosphate – light gray but not pinkish - ~ 15, pH < but near 7, Cl < or = 1, pH brown.
The pH meter was 7.4/7.3 resting and was 7.4 held in the water and later 7.3. Conductivity was 435 then 438 in the water and 437 near the edge.
A piece of dry vegetation went 1’ in 00:05:17 near the center of the channel before the fallen tree downstream, and 00:01:84 between the shore and a board.
This site was done after an orientation meeting at the Parkwood Branch Library at 3pm on March 1st, after 4:47. There were four people at the meeting and three came to the test site. The weather was mostly clear, sunny, with small (?) contrails, and relatively warm with low humidity. There were chorus frogs calling to the north and I think we also heard birds like geese and grackles. Alders or hazelnuts were blooming nearby. The water was clear brown. 65-75+ % cover. There was greenish fuzzy algae in spots, maybe covering <1% of the area. The shade air temperature with our electronic thermometer (the only one we had) was 62 and the water was 52. The water might have been higher than last time, and the island was covered. The banks sank in many places near the water, but not deeply.
We collected dissolved oxygen (DO) and biological oxygen demand (BOD) samples, and it was hard to do it without getting tiny crustaceans, such as two female copepods, in the bottles. On March 9th I tested the samples. The oxygen was 8.6, 9.0, and 8.8 ppm (average 8.8). The BOD bottle was stopped on the 6th and measured as 6.8 ppm twice, on the 9th. This means the BOD was 2 ppm. I will try to calculate some rough percent oxygen saturation values soon, which was recommended by the person in charge of testing New Hope Creek for the New Hope Audubon Society.
We tested with 50mL of water, which looked milky turbid in the tube, without much of a smell. Five units of standard turbidity reagent was too much, so around 4.5 might have been more accurate, so the turbidity was <25 Jackson Turbidity Units (JTU).
The kit is past its expiration date, but we are following the City in using it up. I thought the turbidity was <0.2ppm, or around 0.1, while others thought it was >0.1 or < or = to 0.2.
Phosphate < or = 5, nitrite ~0, nitrate ~0 (pinkish), pH strip < or = 7, but it got bluer, total alkalinity >0, chlorine ~1 and pH 5 (obviously too low, usually the case with this combined strip for chlorine and pH, I assume because it is designed for pool use), and copper ~0.
The pH was 6.8 resting and held out in the water. Conductivity was 178 and then 180 held in the water.
00:08:24 to go 1’ between the island and the bay.
We scooped the net along in the bay where we were testing and along an overhanging bank. We caught 2 water boatsmen, a 3” pumpkinseed sunfish
(accidentally, under the bank), 4 shrimp, 1” dragonfly nymph, >1cm guppy, 4 lunged snails, >1cm damselfly nymph, 1cm crayfish, a beetle, 2 damselfly nymphs, and we saw at least one cricket frog. Another scoop netted a damselfly larva, 3 beetles, and 2 shrimp. Violets were blooming nearby. We might have seen an adult mayfly. There were sticks chewed by beavers and a school of Gambusia (wild guppies or mosquito fish).
Later I went up the easement and found lots of crustaceans (water fleas, copepods, amphipods, and isopods) in the ponds, and 3 1” diving beetles and one of another kind of water beetle in the last pond before the junction behind Radcliff Circle. I couldn’t see the frogs calling in clumps of plants. The pondweed was probably coming up by then or soon after.
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