Lime Creek Waterhsed

On Thursday, we were unable to measure water quality at the Lime Creek Watershed because of the storms. The rainfall was recorded to be 0.19inches. The rain continued on Friday morning so we went out in the afternoon following the morning showers and we successfully retrieved all of our samples.  We had expected all of our samples to have been affected by the rainfall, but at all of our sites the water levels were at their very lowest (see the data below.)

Table 1: Data collected on 7/22/11 and 7/14/11 (this week vs. previous week). The labels are explained: DO-dissolved oxygen measured in milligrams per liter; Temp-temperature measured in degrees celsius; pH-measures the acidity of the water samples on a scale of 0-14; Conductivity-measures the ability of water to pass an electrical current, microsiemens per centimeter (µs/cm); Turbidity- measures the intensity of light scattered by particles in the water in nephelometric turbidity units (NTU); DRP- Dissolved Reactive Phosphorous measured in milligrams per liter.

While we were sampling the wind started to pick up and a few of our bottles had fallen over the bridge. Kaycee was willing to get into the stream, good thing the water was very low.

At the next stream we spotted a Northern Western Snake slithering across the surface of the water. We were very cautious that the wind didn't cause anything to enter the stream. Northern Western snakes are very familiar to Iowa for more information see the following link: Northern Western Snakes. 

Later that night, Kaycee and I had attended the Jones County Fair in Monticello, IA (North of Cedar Rapids, IA). During the Lady Antebellum concert it started lightening and thundering. About 20 minutes later the clouds released forceful raindrops. We all felt refreshed by the rain, but then the wind picked up and the rain came down faster. Everyone started to leave, it was a stampede to exit the fair. The grass had turned to mud, branches from the trees had fallen, and the sidewalks were flooded with water. On our way out we had seen at least two people who had fallen. Once we got to the parking lot it was impossible to see anything because the wind blew all of the rain in our faces. We ended up walking around the whole parking lot before finding our car. Some cars got stuck in the mud and needed a tow truck. I was very thankful our car was not stuck in the mud, nor did a tree fall on it. Since everyone was trying to leave the fair cars were backed up, it took us over 30 minutes to leave the fair. We made it back to Coe safely but it was quite an experience in the rain. The town of Monticello, IA had a rainfall of 2.31inches Friday night. Monticello is about 15 miles North of Brandon, IA, where the Lime Creek Watershed is located. The town of Brandon, IA experienced a rainfall of 2.01inches Friday night. I expect the watershed to have high water levels and high amounts of bacteria, turbidity, nitrates and phosphates.