Effects of the Acton Lake Dam on Water Quality in Four Mile Creek

This topic submitted by Amanda Gibson, Whitney Smith, Abby Workman ( smithwa@muohio.edu ) on 2/13/03. [ Rivers Team: Amanda Gibson, Whitney Smith, Abby Workman-Section: Garrison/Green]

1. Introduction
a. Our group will be exploring the effects of damming on water quality in rivers, looking at how it affects water and soil (along the banks) chemistry, biodiversity (plant/animal life), and human use (recreational, agricultural, etc.). We will be using Acton Lake and the stretches of Four Mile Creek above and below the lake to test our hypothesis. Our hypothesis is that water in the reservoir and downstream will be of lower quality than water upstream.

b. We plan to prove that water quality is poorer below a dam, and that this has adverse effects on water chemistry, biodiversity, and human use.

c. Our project ties directly to the course. We will be looking at the effects of human engineering on the environment, as well as different aspects of water quality (chemistry, biodiversity, etc.).

2. Relevance of your Research Question
a. Unfortunately we do not have the books we are using. However, they are on reserve for us at King Library and will be picked up over the holiday weekend. In our next posting, annotations/literature review will be included with the bibliography.

City of Oxford, Ohio water quality investigation. Columbus, Ohio: Burgess & Niple, 1989.

Seven Mile Creek watershed : a non-point source profile. Cincinnati, Ohio: Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments. 1985.

Boyd, Claude E. Water quality: an introduction. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers. 2000.

Camargo, Julio A. and Neal J. Voelz. “Biotic and Abiotic Changes Along the Recovery Gradient of Two Impounded Rivers with Different Impoundment Use.” ???? (1996): 143-158.

Fried, Gabriela and Alfred WŸest. “Disrupting biogeochemical cycles – Consequences of damming.” Aquatic Sciences 64 (2002): 55-65.

Graf, William L. “Damage Control: Restoring the Physical Integrity of America’s Rivers.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 91(1) (2001): 1-27.

Mngomezulu, M. Michael. A descriptive study of water quality trends in the Great Miami subbasin, Ohio, 1979-1992. 1994.

Novotny, Vladimir. “Integrated Water Quality Management.” Water Science Technology 33 No 4-5 (1996): 1-7. 1996.

Renn, Charles Easterday. A study of water quality Chestertown, Maryland. LaMotte Chemical Products. 1968.

Spang, John F. A study of nitrogen compounds in Four Mile Creek near Oxford, Ohio. 1971.

Spieker, Andrew Maute. Ground-water hydrology and geology of the lower Great Miami River Valley, Ohio. U.S. Govt. Printing Office. 1968.

Waite, Thomas D Principles of water. Orlando, Fla: Academic Press. 1984.

Ward, Robert C. “Development and use of water quality criteria and standards in the United States.” Regional Environmental Change 2 (2001): 66-72.

http://www.miamiconservancy.org/Great_Miami_River_Watershed/What_Is_A_Watershed/Images/Lower%20Great%20Infographic.pdf

http://www.unep.or.jp/ietc/Publications/Short_Series/LakeReservoirs-1/5.asp

http://www.cleanwateract.org/pages/b9.htm

http://www2.privatei.com/~uscold/

http://www.ies.wisc.edu/research/wrm00/educqual.htm

b. Although our experimentation is limited to Four Mile Creek and the Acton Lake dam, it can be applied to dams all over the world. Some of our research involves studies of the effects of other dams, and assuming our hypothesis is correct, it will correlate with these other studies. Evidence from our study and from these other studies could reasonably be applied to any damming project on earth.

3. Interdisciplinary Approach (including cultural, social and scientific perspectives)
Cultural: We plan to take pictures of the area we are testing, and to make a collage of these pictures which hopefully will help to clarify the points made by our research and tests.

Social: To create the social aspect of our project, we will be looking at how the creek is used above and below the dam, as well as how Acton Lake is used, and whether this might affect the quality of the water. We will be interviewing people who have lived most/all of their lives near the creek to get a more historical perspective on water use.

Scientific: We will be testing water chemistry, biodiversity, effects on humans, etc. to make up the scientific aspect of our project.

4. A Specific Research Design
In regard to water chemistry, we will be measuring sediment load, hardness, dissolved oxygen, and essentially whatever else we can find a kit for (will add to this statement at such time as we find out what testing kits are at our disposal). Soil along the banks above and below the dam will also be tested, and information regarding these tests will be included in our final project report. We will also be testing the biodiversity by using the “fish zapper” to stun fish so we can count the different species above and below the dam and by comparing types of plants found along the bank below the dam to those found above. We will research human activity and water usage in different areas, and include descriptions of physical characteristics of the creek and the land around it. Social and cultural aspects will be included through photography, research into recreation and other human use of the water, and personal interviews. We have not yet created an interview format, but will be doing so soon. Finally, we will research the history both through our interviews and via the internet and published resources.

5. Materials and Methods
a. We currently know that we will be using the “fish zapper,” as well as the HACH kit and any other kits for testing water and soil chemistry. We also hope to find a digital camera, which will allow us to include pictures in our report, as well as collage them more easily. (Barring a digital camera, we will use the best-quality camera we can find.)

b. The group has decided that “we will work together in a loving and equal partnership, similar to marriage, but without the sex/offspring, and minus the potential for separation/divorce.” Basically, we will share the work as equally as possible and support each other in every way throughout the project. As for our specific ecosystem co-research team, our theory is that we will stay out of their way if they will stay out of ours, but we will also be perfectly willing to cooperate in any way which will make their job and ours easier.

c. Statistics regarding water/soil chemistry and biodiversity will be included. We will be using Statview to interpret our results.

d. Any pertinent data sheets will be entered in our final report.

e. Potential Rough Timeline
Week 7: heavy research using books and internet sources
Week 8: scout out testing areas, begin conducting interviews
Week 9: continue with interview, begin water/soil chemistry testing
Week 10: continue with interviews and testing
Week 11: begin testing biodiversity (hopefully weather will be warmer now)
Week 12: continue testing, etc.
Week 13: “ “ “
Week 14: finish up with testing, do Statview and interpret results

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