Spring Creek

Water level was low. Moss on the rocks.

The water level was much lower than on my previous visit. There were small fish visible, they were probably carp. Also saw ducks. The water looked clear until the spill way under the bridge. There was water pouring out of a drainage pipe under the bridge. The water appeared very muddy. Not sure where it was coming from because we have not had rain for several days. This sampling was an extra one I did since the chloride monitoring is wrapping up at the end of the month. While I was there, I picked up trash just because I could. This will be something extra that I do every time from now on. I also found out that the creek name is Yeargin, not Spring as I mistakenly have identified it as. It was interesting that the chloride PPM was as high as it was. We have not had snow for months and I expected a much lower count.

Several parking lots in the immediate area have drains that empty into the creek so I expected a high count. During the summer I have not seen many animals in this creek, now I know one possible explanation.

In the prior three weeks the city had applied a ton of salt due the snowfall we received. The snow is mostly melted now and most of the salt has washed off the roads due to sustained rains.

The water level was higher due to excessive rain over the last couple of days.

This was my first sampling. Per the instructions provided I used two test strips. Both of them show identical results.