Water Quality Field Report: First State National Park Brandywine‐Piedmont Watershed 2015‐2016
Date
2017-05
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Abstract
Several chemical, nutrient, and biological indicators can help determine water quality and ecosystem health. As a newly designated national park, students at the University of Delaware found it important to monitor, record, and analyze several parameters including temperature, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, bacteria, nutrients, and metals to determine the general health of tributaries flowing through the Brandywine-Piedmont watershed in Delaware’s First State National Historic Park. Using probes and lab facilities from the City of Wilmington and the University of Delaware, data was gathered from 12 sites throughout the watershed several times over a period of nine months. Students analyzed data according to parameter, date, and statistical averages. When compared to standards, the results showed little to no nutrient and chemical impairments, but there were some indications of chemical and bacterial concern in sites adjacent to agricultural and commercialized areas, indicative of runoff pollution or other non-point sources. It is the researcher’s hope that the newly designated First State National Historic Park will act as a natural water quality improvement system or that the National Park Service will proceed with further investigations in order to prevent the degradation of the water quality in the watershed as indicated by this preliminary research.