Nancy Vuong Water Quality of Strawberry Creek May 9 2005 Monitoring the water quality of Strawberry Creek CA comparative study on different sites to address health issues Nancy Vuong Abstract Strawberry Creek runs through the University of California Berkeley and in the past it was degraded due to urban and campus development This project looked at changes in water quality starting from the upper North Fork through the Berkeley campus and into western Berkeley From November 2004 to February 2005 measurements of pH conductivity turbidity dissolved oxygen water temperature nitrate chlorine and E coli were taken at four location along Strawberry Creek to determine the effects of precipitation and location of each site In this research parameter such as nitrate turbidity and E coli were also used to address human health concerns The pH was unaffected by precipitation and sites Turbidity levels at all sites exceeded the EPA standard on both rainy and non rainy days On non rainy days Nitrate levels at most sites were below the EPA standard The data showed that there were a correlation between turbidity and nitrate Nitrate levels were highly correlated with dissolved oxygen There were higher levels of E coli on rainy days than on non rainy days E coli levels starting at Site 2 showed an increasing trend downstream on non rainy days Chlorine Total remained in a steady range on both rainy and non rainy days but higher levels at Site 3 due to pipe leakage of drinking water Most parameters were affected by precipitation and significantly differ in most sites which resulted in certain areas being more polluted and more unsafe for human usage p 1 Nancy Vuong Water Quality of Strawberry Creek May 9 2005 Introduction Streams are common in most urban communities in the United States Most streams are occupied by a variety of human activities and interactions SWRCB 2000 These interactions affect the chemical and biological characteristics of the stream such as pH phosphate nitrate chlorine and E coli Water Quality Associates 1992 Contaminated water may contain harmful chemicals or pathogens which may affect people who drink wash or play in the polluted streams Polluted substances include toxic chemical released from automobiles inorganic nutrients from fertilizers and other various human activities that may negatively affect water quality in Strawberry Creek which may become hazardous to human health EPA 2005 Strawberry Creek runs through the campus of University of California and the city of Berkeley In the past this creek was degraded due to urban and campus development such as improper disposal of oil and other materials deposited into the storm drainage system High bacteria counts from animal feces sewage and chemical contamination led to poor water quality decreased aquatic and terrestrial organisms and the destruction of stream banks Charbonneau and Resh 1992 In 1987 UC Berkeley developed the Environmental Health and Safety program EH S and the EH S developed a management plan to restore the creek which upgraded the sewage system and installed new pipes Charbonneau 1987 The EH S objectives are to identify both point and non point sources develop creek and watershed mitigation strategies and monitor the water quality that runs through the campus to comply with the Clean Water Act Charbonneau 1987 The law states that recreational water must meet standard state water quality criteria EPA 2005 The improvements decreased the major pollutant faecal coliform bacteria in the South Fork but the North Fork remained unimproved because of its urban location upstream Charbonneau 1987 Several past studies by Carlson Frazier Cheung and Charbonneau focused on the portion of Strawberry Creek that runs through campus measuring pH dissolved oxygen and coliform bacteria Carlson 1971 concluded that the pH of the creek was high Frazier 1983 noted that the dissolved oxygen levels were within the limits set by the Regional Water Quality Control Board RWQCB Cheung 1986 found that levels of pH and dissolved oxygen met the RWQCB standards but there were high levels of coliform concentration Charbonneau 1987 showed that coliform bacteria remained high in the North Fork compared to the South Fork in the Berkeley campus Chemical monitoring of Strawberry Creek would provide information on p 2 Nancy Vuong Water Quality of Strawberry Creek May 9 2005 pollutants that are entering from non point sources such as storm sewers Riley 1998 Not only can creek monitoring help determine if the water quality standards are being violated but it can also help identify the source of the pollution Riley 1998 There were many water quality research done on the campus portion of Strawberry Creek but fewer has been done off campus personal comment from Prof Berry Factors that may affect the water quality are precipitation and location Precipitation increases flow rate which carries more contaminants in the water as it flows downstream The downstream water is affected by the accumulation of upstream pollutants Since the City of Berkeley lack a water management plan I hypothesize that the water quality of Strawberry Creek s North Fork located on campus is different compared to the section that runs off campus on both rainy and non rainy days no precipitation In addition the creek water located off and on campus may not be suitable for human contact and consumption The purpose of this research is to assess water quality at different locations along the North Fork of Strawberry Creek In this study the following eight parameters will be measured pH conductivity turbidity dissolved oxygen water temperature nitrate chlorine total and Escherichia coli E coli Levels of turbidity dissolved oxygen nitrate chlorine total and E coli are the main parameters that will be used to test the water suitability for human contact High levels of nitrate and E coli are indicative of urban run off irrigation or sewage pipe leakage The results of all parameters are observed to determine the effectiveness of the campus water quality management compare to off campus This study reveals the effects of location and precipitation along with human health concerns Methods The headwaters of Strawberry Creek are located in Strawberry Canyon on the east side of the Berkeley campus 37 52 N 122 15 W in Alameda County California Upon reaching the urban area the creek is naturally separated into North and South Forks For the research four different sites were chosen along the
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