RE: The Effects of Road Salt on the Waterways of the Bee Branch - Grade 12 - 2020 SRS - 2020 SRS

Project Title: The Effects of Road Salt on the Waterways of the Bee Branch
School Name: Wahlert Catholic High School
Teacher Name: Korrin Schriver
Student Name: Emily Kasal
Grade Level: 12
Project Description: This report investigates the effect of road salt on water quality in the Bee Branch in Dubuque, IA.  The researcher specifically tracts the changes in conductivity and chloride ion concentration in the waterways of the Bee Branch during spring melt to determine if there are changes in these levels during this time.
Abstract: Road salt has a negative effect on bodies of water all around the United States. To see how road salt affects the water in Dubuque’s Bee Branch, a study was done by collecting water samples and testing the chloride and salinity/conductivity levels in three points along the Bee Branch. It was discovered that during this winter, the salinity and chloride levels did not change a lot. They increased as the snow melted but did not reach any dangerous levels.
Atmosphere Protocols: Water quality (Conductivity)
Language:  English

Hi Emily, my name is John Farver and I am a Geology Professor at Bowling Green State University and I have done alot of research on water quality. Your study is a very interesting one and roadsalt runoff is an important issue for many cities. There are a couple of things you might want to consider. First, I notice on Table 1 that for each date and location you report two conductivity values, are these replicates? If so, why is there such a large difference in the two values for the upper branch on 1/28/20? Also, on figure 1 it appears you plot only the first conductivity value reported in table 1 for each loacation and date, is that correct? and if so, you should explain this to the readers. In your introduction you indicate 800ppm is the upper safe concentration for chlorine, how does this correspond to the conductivity values you report? What would an unsafe conductivity value be? I agree that collecting samples throughout the year especially after large rainfall/runoff events would be very useful. I hope you will continue your research into water quality issues. 

Hello, Emily! My name is Larisa Schelkin, I am a GLOBE Partner, GLOBE GISN member and a proud GLOBE educator (https://www.globe.gov/web/larisa.schelkin/home). I am a retired petroleum engineer and an engineering R&D specialist. I now work with K-12 educators in a local non-profit Global STEM Education Center (www.globalstemcenter.org) in Massachusetts.
I greatly appreciate the topic you dedicated your research project to and also your passion for protecting the environment. I agree, that if we do nothing about this (and many other) environmental issue(s), it will "leave aquatic life and their environment at dangerous salt and chloride levels along with low oxygen levels". We need to conduct more research and share our findings with all concerned citizens (which should be all of us). Your project poster is well-organized; you collected and analyzed the GLOBE data and used GLOBE protocol. It was interesting to learn about some cities "using new methods such as beet juice or running hot water through pipes under roads" (Valleau, 2017). I applaud your point of view as a responsible “citizen scientist” and a “concerned environmental advocate”; thank you for sharing your thoughts on how to increase the awareness on these environmental issues. I would like to encourage you to continue your research! Great job!

Hi Emily -
My name is Shan Zuidema, and I'm a Research Scienist and PhD Candidate at the University of New Hampshire.  I use computer simulation models to understand how we rely on, value, and affect watersheds and riverine ecosystems. 

Thanks for sharing your work looking at the chloride chemistry of the watershed surrounding Dubuque during the spring snowmelt period of 2020.  I agree with your conclusion of the meteorological controls on when melting occured and how that might be associated with chloride concentrations.  Some of your main conclusions are that concentrations didn't change dramatically, but I guess I don't know if I completely agree.  Conductivity increased 600% at one site, 200% at another, and declined at another.  Again you interpretations of the mechanisms (when melting happened and how that mobilized salt) seem totally reasonable - and that is more important than the actual magnitude of the changes.  I see you chose three different types of water body to sample, do you think that the differences in observations at each site is related to the type of water body sampled?  One thing to take a look at for next time - Table 1 shows two sub-columns for each date sampled - but its not clear from either column headings or the caption what the two sub-columns refer to.  Is one conductivity and one chloride?  Thanks again and keep it up!

 - S