Human And Environmental Interactions Of The Salem Creek Watershed

By the end of this report you should have a better perception on the geological landscape of Silver Creek Wetland Complex, and further in-depth knowledge on what stewardship responsibilities fall on you and your relationship with the land you use.

The mill creek watershed is 166 square miles with 450,000 people. The main sources of water are rivers, aquifers, and rainwater. The major body of water is the Ohio River. The land around it is hilly.The Mill Creek lies at the heart, soul, and industrial center of Greater Cincinnati. This 28-mile stream begins in Liberty Township, travels through 34 communities, and flows into the Ohio River just west of downtown Cincinnati. The Mill Creek Watershed has withstood two centuries of urbanization and is poised for a comeback. The Mill Creek drew settlers over 200 years ago looking for rich, fertile farmland and water power to support industry, ultimately building Cincinnati into a prosperous industrial powerhouse.

Our class has concluded that the conodoguinet creek is not polluted. If we test the Conodoguinet Creek for signs of pollution, then the creek will be polluted. That was my hypothesis for the creek, but it was wrong. There are many creatures that are pollution sensitive, which means they can’t survive in pollution. We found many of these creatures in the stream. Also, we have tested the creek for pollutants and other chemicals. Lastly, acid rain is a problem, so we tested the rocks for neutralizing acid. Here are some reasons why we think the creek is not polluted.

“Only communities located downstream in a watershed need to be concerned about how the water resources are managed in the watershed.”

Through our research we aimed to determine if there were any differences in water quality of both the north and south forks of Strawberry Creek. As time progresses and the environment changes it is important to keep track of how certain species are being impacted by these features, and how they cope with change. We hypothesized that due to the lack of pollution, the south fork will promote a greater diversity of macroinvertebrates. This was due to the fact that there was less runoff and trash that could be introduced to the water in the south fork, than there was in the north fork. We gathered data by analyzing the different organisms living in both forks. We collected a total of fifty vials composed of five organisms from each fork, and inspected them under microscopic view. After gathering data and identifying the different kinds of organisms living in the different forks we assessed whether the organisms from the samples could live in high or low resolution water. We also took a t-test to assess the probability of these differences being due to relevant factors or by chance. Our major findings suggest that organisms in the south fork showed a higher demand to living in cleaner water indicating that our hypothesis was correct.

Impervious surfaces are a problem because they don’t let the water seep through. The water travels over top these surfaces because they are solid. Paved roads, sidewalks, patios, and roofs are all impervious. This is harmful because the storm water builds up speed on impervious surfaces and can cause flooding. They also alter the amount of precipitation

Since it is October, an ideal month to take a step into the world of witchcraft, the whole city is decorated for Halloween. This time of the year is when tourists come and really have a feel for Salem and its past. Salem today flourishes rich in culture and has transformed into a whole new perspective. Its history of coming truly alive during halloween really speaks to tourists. Although the times during the actual Salem Witch Trials were a time where punishments meant death if there were any encounters with witchcraft, it is now embraced and taken on. The whole concept of witch craft now, is an art from and there are actual practicing witches, of course, friendly practice witches. There are numerous historical buildings to visit including the House of Seven Gables, the Pickering House, the Salem Witch Village, the Witch House, and tons more. These eye openers really put emphasis on life back then and are way to visually see the Salem's society. Celebrating halloween in Salem is one of the most ideal places to spend because of its alluring past. Thought in a more educative and incentive way, Salem thrives culturally despite its crucial

Did you ever wonder how things you do everyday effect the Chesapeake Bay watershed and Its tributaries? Well, It turns out to be not so good. One of the main causes for the Bay’s bad health are nutrients which are caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorus in the air and water. Plants and animals need nutrients to survive but when too many nutrients are in the water they fuel the growth of algae blooms and create conditions that are harmful for aquatic creatures.

The issue is the idea of the second airport being constructed at Badgerys’s Creek. This affects the environment of Badgerys’s Creek greatly as it can destroy such a beautiful site.

In the 1960s Lake Claremont was a rubbish tip until the council built a golf course. In 2009 the golf course was closed after a referendum. The Town of Claremont (TOC) made a management plan to return the area to native bush. Lake Claremont in is located right between Claremont and Swanbourne and is a seasonal lake. It hosts a large variety of flora and fauna. There are approximately 70 hectares in the areas around Lake Claremont. Lake Claremont is a conservation category wasteland and a designated Bush Forever site. One of the biggest issues that Lake Claremont is dealing with is the destruction of habitat. The Friends of Lake Claremont have said that “Prior to European settlement the lake was a

Storm water is a great danger to the environment because it does not receive any treatment before entering waterways. A storm can overload the system, causing it to reach its max capacity. The water treatment plant is then forced to let the overflowing, untreated, water dump into the river. This leads to an almost opaque water, like that found in the Puget Sound. There is an average of 900 billion gallons of untreated sewage water entering larger bodies of water each year in the United States (Barnett). The rain that falls on surfaces drains into bodies of water through storm water collection systems, usually, without treatment. There is a strong relationship between concrete thickness and imperviousness in residential areas, leading researchers to believe that roads create impervious surfaces. When rain down the streets and rooftops, it absorbs all the harmful materials from those surfaces and flows into the major bays and the Puget Sound. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the remodeling of the aging water system would cost between $300 billion to $1 trillion over the next 20 years (Barnett).

Prior to examining the specific geographical features of Plaster Creek, it is important to understand what a creek is. There are many different ideas of what a creek is. In order to gain a factual understanding of what a creek essentially is, the dictionary definition of, “a natural stream of water normally smaller than and often tributary to a river” can be examined (Merrian-Webster). In addition to this, National Geographic defines a creed as simply, “any body of flowing fluid” (National Geographic). Creeks can vary greatly in size and are shaped by its surrounding geography.

East Turkey Creek is located in southeast Arizona in the Chiricahua Mountains along the New Mexico border. The Chiricahua Mountain Range is one of the largest Sky Islands in the Sky Island region of the United States with a total area greater than 140,000 ha and elevations ranging from approximately 1,100 to 2975 m. East Turkey Creek is located on the eastern side of the Chiricahua Mountain Range and flows northeast from its spring source in Rustler Park towards the town of Paradise, AZ before fully infiltrating. Stream flow near the source is perennial, whereas most of the stream is characterized by intermittency, usually drying up to remnant pools in late May or June. The flow itself is driven in part by spring source and in part by early spring snowmelt, with peak flows occurring in July and August during the monsoon season. The nearest climate station is in Paradise, AZ. The average minimum temperature is -4.2°C and occurs in January. The average maximum temperature is 31.2°C, occurring in June. Mean annual precipitation is 486 mm (Western Regional Climate Center, Period of Record Monthly Climate Summary, www.wrcc.dri-edu).

The Chesapeake Bay Watershed is considered of national high importance due to its 64,000 square miles and 17.4 million people inhabitants. However, this has not been sufficient to improve the health of the ecosystem over the last 25 years. The primary reasons for this lack of improvement are the lack of knowledge and information of the people living on the watershed, the multistate composition of the watershed and the broad range of activities that the watershed supports.

The largest source of contamination is runoff from land. Toxic runoff can be sewage, rainwater flowing over exposed topsoil, flooding or agricultural runoff. Rain can cause runoff of chemicals or waste that can seep into creeks, rivers and other waterways that lead to the ocean. Some of the chemicals found could be antibiotics or waste from animals, pesticides from crops or from pollutants, originating in the air, which have settled on land and washed away. Unless a solution to pollution runoff is found, this type of contamination will continue indefinitely and contribute to the deterioration of the ecosystem in the