East Fork of Clarks River, Calloway Co. KY
April 1996

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Jointly the Calloway County High School Environmental Research Team andCCHS-CCMS Bridgers participated in Monitoring Week by monitoring three sitesin Calloway County on Friday, April 26. The partly sunny weather was atreat for the young teen scientists as they monitored the East Fork ofClark's River upstream and downstream of Murray, KY.

Bee Creek

Bee Creek was the first site tested. The CCHS-CCMS Bridgersincluded: Michael Bennett, Summers Brawley, Russell Sweatman, Laurie Witte,Mechelle Woodall, Angela Dodd, Becky Hicks, Oliver Driz, Josh Mitchell,Veronica Ramsey, Rebecca Wilson, Melissa Baird, Andrea Conner, KristineHokans, Andrew Falwell, Susan Darnell (CCMS science teacher) Trent Bates andStephanie Wyatt (CCHS science teachers). At this site we observed that mostof the vegetation had been removed along the stream bank due to theconstruction of a new bridge. We also saw tire tracks which might be due tothe construction. We noticed several animal tracks and agreed this was awater source for several animals in the area. Two bags of trash werecollected around the stream and road banks at this site. A tire and hub capwere the most noticeable forms of pollution in this site. The airtemperature was 22 degrees Celsius.

Bee Creek, Downstream of Murray 8:45 a.m.(cst)pH:                     7.1 suChloride:               30 mg/LDetergents:             NoneIron:                   .75 mg/LPhenols:                less than .1 mg/LNitrate:                1.0 mg/LDissolved Oxygen:       9.2 mg/LTemperature:            15.1 degrees CelsiusSettleable Solids:      Less than .5 ml/L

Down Stream of Murray

Our second site was located downstream of Murray behind WigginsFurniture. The next researchers added to our Water Watch group included:Maranda Allbritten, Anne Michael, Emily Thomas, Jamie Sanders, Jennifer Gay,Laurie Jo Parker, Thomas Holcomb, Marcie Williams and Derek vanderMolen.These students will be testing water in Belize in the summer of 1996. Theteam noticed the level of water was lower than previously observed. Thewater was not as clean as expected. The pollution included a car bumper, carmotor, air conditioner and 12 previously filleted crappie. The groupcollected 7 shiners and 1 logperch. The biological survey indicated that thestream was in good condition. Also there were fewer riffles than previouslyobserved. The air temperature was 20.4 degrees Celsius. In addition, ourteam planted approximately 20 pine trees at this site.

East Fork of Clarks River, Downstream of Murray at Wiggin's Furniture 10:45a.m.pH:                     7.3 suChloride:               30 mg/LDetergents:             noneIron:                   .75 mg/LPhenols:                less than .1 mg/LNitrate:                2.0 mg/LDissolved Oxygen:       9.2 mg/LTemperature:            16.8 degrees CelsiusSettleable Solids:      less than .5 ml/L

Upstream of Murray

Our final site was located upstream of Murray at Martin's Chapel.Our expanding Water Watch team was joined by other students who have aspecial interest in water monitoring projects. Our new water testersincluded Brian Williams, Derek Crouch, Randy Brown, Brad Rowland, JasonBogard, Rob Jones, Chris Reinwald, Marshall Tucker, Shannon Russeau, OpalCopeland, Kristy Perry, Jeremy Lueck, (Tiffany Durard and Kathy Hargrove)Special Education Teachers. The level of the water appeared to be lower andwe noticed fewer ripples at this site. The biological survey indicated thestream was in good condition. The group collected and returned 12 shiners,1 tadpole, 1 frog, 1 toad and etc. The team picked up 2 full trash bags.The air temperature was 19 degrees Celsius.

East Fork of Clarks River, Upstream of Murray at Martin Chapel Road 1:00 p.m.pH:                     6.5 suChloride:               30 mg/LDetergents:             noneIron:                   1.2 mg/LPhenols:                less than .1 mg/LNitrate:                3.5 mg/LDissolved Oxygen:       7.0 mg/LTemperature:            18 degrees CelsiusSettleable Solids:      less than .5 ml/L
In conclusion, our environmental research team had a very successfulday. We taught 20 new students how to monitor our local streams and hopethat they will join us in Keeping Kentucky's Water Clean. We finallycollected some fish in our new seine that we purchased with our $100 grant.The Pocket Pal pH Meter was very useful. We were alarmed about the lowerdissolved oxygen readings, but we quickly recalled the rain and storm we hadexperienced the previous night. John Mark Potts, extension in WatershedManagement, helped in our Monitoring Day activity. The weather was warmerand the gale force winds only swirled when we were taking our grouppictures. We are looking forward to our May testing day to contribute datato the community's understanding of our rivers

Sincerely,
Calloway County High School Environmental Research Team

We would like to thank the following individuals for their support ofour environmental projects.