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Uhs Creek Quality

Decent Essays

The water quality of the UHS creek was found to be excellent, however, not all creeks have excellent water quality (42). One way humans have negatively impacted water quality is through sewage and garbage runoff. When sewage and garbage runs off into creeks and streams and other water sources, it raises the nitrogen and phosphorous levels of the water, which harms the animals and possibly humans if we consume it. Another way is through point pollution, such as a factory getting rid of excess chemicals by throwing them into a water source, and therefore hurting the water quality and the ecosystem of the water source. (http://www.creekfreaks.net/sources-pollution-point-and-nonpoint) One natural way of helping stream/creek health is by not mowing the riparian zone (area around the banks of a creek). This allows the riparian zone to grow back, which helps filter storm runoff, like chemicals and trash that hurt the water quality of a stream. It also provides a habitat for many animals. It also saves money, because people/cities don’t have to mow as much. On the other hand, having a riparian zone doesn’t look as good. Also, they take up a lot of space, with one source saying it should be about 25 feet wide. (http://www.creekfreaks.net/sources-pollution-point-and-nonpoint) …show more content…

The Sand Wand removes harmful fine sediments, restoring the stream to its natural state. Another pro is that it leaves the larger sediments in place to leave part of the creek bed intact. This also restores spawning habitats, helping organisms in the stream to reproduce. A con of that is that could cause overpopulation of the stream. One other con is that this would take lots of time, as a person has to manually move the Wand all over the streambed. Also, they are altering the bed of the stream by removing things, which could harm the stream.

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