Site 7Sage W., Myah P., Erik O., Emma G.

Overall Health of the Mullet RiverThe overall health of the river is okay because of some

contributing factors like Biological Oxygen Demand, Dissolved Oxygen, and Temperature. The dissolved oxygen levels can get very high, along with very low. Early in the morning, we get high results because it is very bright from the sun (helping algae create oxygen with photosynthesis), but the temperature of the river hasn’t increased yet. The cold temperature of the river allows it to hold more oxygen, leading to higher dissolved oxygen levels. At this time, the Biological oxygen demand percent is very low because there is so much oxygen, and no organisms that use that much oxygen. But then later in the day when the river temperature warms up, the river can’t hold as much oxygen as when it was cold. Then the biological oxygen demand percent goes up and the dissolved oxygen level goes down which doesn’t allow most fish to live there because they need more oxygen.

Riparian HealthThe riparian zone isn’t very big on both sides of the

river at our siteThis results in little toxins and fertilizers being

sifted out of the run- off waterThe riparian zone could be improved and will be in

our planThe plants and trees in the riparian zone are mostly

native to this part of Wisconsin so that helps it absorb more toxins from getting in the river because native plants are better for riparian zones.

Our riparian zone is relatively healthy but could use some work.

Organisms at site 7We found leeches, bloodworms, and pouch snails

who are all very tolerant to pollutants and don’t need much oxygen.

We also found lots of orb and gilled snails along with scuds who are semi- tolerant of pollutants who still don’t need much oxygen

Lastly we found a couple dragonfly larva and damselfly larvae who are semi- sensitive to pollutants

Since we only found these organisms at this site (no organisms that are sensitive to pollutants like stonefly larva), we know that only these organisms can survive here because of the polluted and low oxygen in the water. Other organisms like trout can’t live here because of these reasons.

This is a good way to see the health of the river

TemperatureThe temperature of the river can affect

the amount of oxygen in the river because the molecules move less when they are cold, and they move more when they are warm. When they move less, they are more tightly packed, leaving more room for oxygen. This is the opposite for warm water. The temperature of the river was around 19.5 degrees Celsius on average, and that would mean the oxygen would be low because the warmer temperature of the river isn’t leaving room for oxygen.

Biological Oxygen DemandThe BOD is the amount of oxygen organisms in the

river need to survive compared to the amount of oxygen that is in the river. When we tested for BOD, we found that 100% of the oxygen in the river was being used. This isn’t good because that means that all of the oxygen is being used, so there isn’t more oxygen for more organisms to grow and survive. This may be due to the fact that the season we are in doesn’t allow for much oxygen in the water. It may also be due to the fact that the river has a warm temperature, which leads to not having room for oxygen molecules. The biological oxygen demand is not good.

Dissolved Oxygen LevelsDissolved Oxygen: The level of oxygen molecules in the

waterWhere it comes from: photosynthesis of aquatic pants, and

wind and waves The Test: we take a sample of river water and put 20ml of

it in a cup. Then we take an ampoule and beak the tip in the water and whatever color the water turns determines the amount of oxygen in the water by looking at the chart

Dissolved Oxygen Levels Cont.0-89% is not healthy, there is not enough

oxygen to keep all life stable, and that can be from over population of animals, or under population of plants.

90-99% is a healthy range, it is a good balance between consumption and production

100+ means there’s too many plants and not enough fish using the oxygen, which is also unhealthy because that leads to eutrophicationOur tests came back with varying results, and since the river needs to provide for organisms the entire time (when it oxygen levels are high and low), we have to go with the lowest result which was 45%

Dredge, take out Dams and BayscapeFirst we need to plug springs, then dredge out

the sediment from the bottom of the river to make river rocky bottom

Then we plan to take out all of the dams through the river to make the water flow faster and colder

We also want to Bayscape all of the new land created from the lake draining and where the river got skinnier to help absorb some of the harmful bacteria and toxins from leeching into the river

Bayscape with native plants for highest efficiency of taking out toxins and such

BayscapingPlanting native plants on sides of river in riparrian zone that

were originally here before people reconstructed the sides of the river

BayScaping is a low-cost alternative to traditional landscaping that utilizes turf grass and ornamental plants that need much less much less maintenance and cost than a grass lawn,

BayScaping:can eliminate the need for mowing, pruning, irrigation and

fertilization is 50-80% less costly than conventional landscapeshas a better survival rate than turf and ornamental plants is creative, unique and aesthetically pleasing

Main reason for Bayscaping is to improve riparrian zone to keep toxins and bacteria out of the river

Pros of that planThe bottom of the river will be cleaned of all the muck from

dredgingStop eutrophication because of the fast flowing waterIt will be deeper which will allow us to swim in itBetter view of a waterfall instead of the damThe river will thin and there’ll be more space for a riparian

zone, improving the health of the riverIt will be good for fishing because it will have more oxygenThe people living on the lake wouldn’t lose land for

bayscaping because the bayscaping would only occur in the place where the lake used to be

Bayscaping looks really goodIt is better to have a skinny lake that you can swim in than a

river/ that is really wide, stinky, mucky, and ugly that you can’t do anything with

Cons with back- upCons Back- up

People that live on the lake would lose property value because they don’t live next to the lake anymore

They wouldn’t lose to much value because there isn’t very much value in living next to a really crappy lake. They would also still live next to a river, it would just be smaller. In Traverse City Michigan, they took out four dams and the property value decreased by one percent every year along the ex- lake. The values could increase too.

It would be really expensive to do our plan ($7 million for dredging, $60,000 for taking out dams, and $50, 000 for getting all of the Bayscaping done).

After a survey of the city, the results came back saying that people really don’t care how much it costs. The people liked dredging the most and that was the most expensive.

The people would have to walk a while to get to their river instead of living right next to a lake.

They are getting exercise and they are walking along a path through a Bayscaping area that is really pretty and nice to look at.

It will take time to dredge and time for the plants in the Bayscape area to grow.

It’s only one year every 50 years for a better river and you have to start somewhere with the ripperarian zone.

Lake LeotaThe people of Evansville wanted to dredge up

their lake because the sediment had built up a lot

Lake Leota used to look like the Mullet Lake before Lake Leota was dredged

After Lake Leota had been dredged, the turbidity and overall health of the lake got better

If we dredge the Mullet Lake and river, the lake and river will become like Lake Leota

Bayscaping in Casco BayIn the 1980’s the turbidity of the water was

very poor because of all of the pollutants from run- off that wasn’t taken out from the water because of their bad ripperarian zone

Then in the 1990’s they introduced Bayscaping there and now the bay is really clear and the health has improved greatly because the ripperarian zone absorbed more pollutants

Since it worked for Casco Bay I think it could work here too.

Work Cited PageHampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center. (n.d.).

Bayscaping With Native Plants. Retrieved June 3, 2013, from Virginia Tech Invent The Future: http://www.arec.vaes.vt.edu/hampton-roads/gardens/bayscape-garden/index.html

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. (2013, May 24). Bayscape. Retrieved June 3, 2013, from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayscape

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. (2013, May 31). Eutrophication. Retrieved June 3, 2013, from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutrophication

The District Department of Envionment. RiverSmart Homes- BayScaping. 1 May 2013 <http://green.dc.gov/service/riversmart-homes-bayscaping>.

All DownStream. Dam Removal and Waterfront Property on the Boardman River. 4 January 2011. 1 May 2013 <http://alldownstream.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/dam-removal-and-waterfront-property-on-the-boardman-river-traverse-city-mi/>.