You are the Riverkeeper. Concerned citizens created
your job because they worried about maintaining the water quality on the
"Anywhere River". Your responsibilities include: monitoring water quality
by interpreting data and contacting appropriate agencies when problems are found.
Commercial fishermen are worried about the declining
fish populations along the coast of North Carolina. The fishermen
suspect that estuary conditions are negatively impacting these populations;
as estuaries are sites where freshwater runoff, ocean water, atmosphere,
and land intersect. The fisherman have notified you about their concerns
and have asked you to investigate this problem. You will report your findings
to them, and take or suggest appropriate action.
In response
to the fisherman's request, you have data collected at three sites along
the river. ( See attached map for location of data collection and the data
sheet collected from each site.)
Through research,
determine factors that alter the expected status of dissolved
oxygen, pH, phosphates,
temperature,
salinity,
nitrates,
and fecal coliform bacteria counts
for normal ocean and freshwater and how changes in these parameters impact
living organisms. Given the water
quality parameters of healthy freshwater and healthy ocean water, analyze
the data sheet from the test site (supplied by your teacher) to determine
where water quality is questionable and conditions might exist that would
contribute to declining fish populations. Investigate
possible causes for the questionable water quality data and formulate appropriate
solutions.
You also need
to run the STELLA Model which has
been set up so you can see how turbulence
and sewage load affect the amount
of dissolved oxygen. Open the model and study the relationships and answer
the following questions:
1. What role does photosynthesis
have with regard to the DO in the river?
2. What does oxygen by aeration
mean?
3. Use the slider bar on your model to changethe
wind
speed and run the graph. What is the relationship between the turbulence
and the DO?
4. Use the slider bar to on your model to change the
sewage load and run the graph.What
is the relationship between sewage load and DO?
5. Why do you only change one slider bar at a time?
6.Why does the DO change with the time of day?
Submit your
data interpretation chart and your answers to theSTELLA
model questions for evaluation at least 2 weeks prior to submitting the
two letters described below:
Write two
letters:
1. An informative letter to the fishermen reporting
your interpretation of the data in terms of
a) Possible sites
that might be sources of water quality pollution
c) possible action
that might be influential in fixing the problem
2. A persuasive letter to an appropriate agency convincing
it to address the situation.
Evaluation of your task will be based on correct
interpretation of the data, an effective, possible causes and solutions
for the water quality problems, and a well, informative letter to the fisherman
and a persuasive letter to an appropriate agency encouraging them to address
the situation.
STUDENT DATA SHOWING NORMAL CONDITIONS OF HEALTHY FRESHWATER AND
OCEAN WATER
(Data
provided courtesy of Susan Lovelace, North Carolina Estuarine Research
Reserve-a cooperative program the N.C. Department of Environment, health,
and Natural Resources/Division of Coastal Management and the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration)
|
Parameters Established for Healthy Water Quality
|
Freshwater
|
Ocean Water
|
|
TEMPERATURE(Average
for Month of Dec. inC)
|
8.6
|
13.3
|
|
SALINITY inppt
|
0 ppt
|
35ppt
|
|
DO mg/L
|
7.0 mg/L
|
11.0 mg/L
|
|
pH
|
7.0
|
8.0
|
|
NITROGEN ppt
|
Very little
|
Very little
|
|
FECAL COLIFORMS
|
<14
|
<14
|
|
PHOSPHATES ppt
|
very little
|
very little
|
TEMPLATE FOR STUDENT DATA INTERPRETATION
(Data
interpretation chart needs to be submitted at least 2 weeks prior to submission
of two written letters.Instructor
may opt to provide students with feedback concerning data interpretation
of their particular data sheet.)
|
SITES
WHERE WATER QUALITY PROBLEMS EXIST
|
WATER
QUALITY PROBLEMS
|
POSSIBLE
CAUSES OF PROBLEMS
|
RESEARCH
REFERENCES
|
Site #1
|
|
|
|
|
Site
#2
|
|
|
|
|
Site
#3
|
|
|
|
CONCLUSION:
|
