February 2011 monitoring

February 13 – the perfect day to be outside. It was 21 C (70 F), sunny and breezy. The water temp was a chilly 11 degrees C (52 F). Not too surprising, since a few days ago we hit the (so far) yearly low of 16 F (-8 C). And the week before that, we stayed below freezing for 72 hours…and had 2″ of snow.

As expected given the cold water, the dissolved oxygen was a healthy 9.7. The stream flow is normal – the crossing rocks just above the sample pool area are covered, as are the bottoms of the Metric Bridge column supports. And the waterfall upstream of the bridge is gurgling away.

There is no surface algae yet, but we did note some underwater strings up to about 2-3 ft long a couple of hundred feet upstream from the bridge.

Despite no recent rain, the storm drain discharge continues to be healthy. Thankfully the e-coli is much lower, down to the “acceptable” (or at least expected) level for an urban stream.

There is one new thing: on the south bank between the bridge and sample site someone built some new “berms” (see the photos). Our best guess is these will be part of the hike and bike trail extension. Stay tuned.

sample site

sample site & downstream-new berms for hike & bike trail?

site & south bank from under bridge

sample site & south bank from north bank

stream and south bank from north side

trail crossing area

low water under bridge

downstream view of under bridge

under bridge & upstream

upstream side of bridge and a shopping cart (?)

storm drain outlet

storm drain discharge

downstream of waterfall

waterfall area

waterfall

dpwnstream from waterfall

upstream of waterfall

upstream view from near waterfall

upstream algae underwater

upstream of waterfall