Thank you Aleecia, A great question, I have never thought about taking water samples somewhere within Canal street Canals contributing watershed to see what exactly may be polluting this Canal (flowing through the culvert system to discharge). I am concerned that something like this would not be an option. The culvert system is underground (although I am not certain on how far down) and therefore it may not be feasible. The watershed is also compromised of streets, houses, yards making it an urban area, I am not sure monitoring water quality anywhere else would help determine the total and overall amount of pollution associated with the watershed. The discharge point is associated with the storm drain, collecting untreated street runoff from the entire watershed (170.6 acres), and is possibly the most efficient way of determining what anthropogenic (not natural or originating in human activity) pollution is being released into this basin or body of water, discharging into the Indian River Lagoon (IRL). The discharge point of Canal Street Canal is known as a point source discharge, collecting non-point source untreated pollution which can originate from many different places within communities along with the help of some rain, "runoff" is collected and and sent down the storm drains, into the storm drain system, or in my case the 5x8 box culvert running on the south side of canal street and out at discharge point. Also, I am specifically focusing on the nutrients within the canal such as nitrogen and phosphorus. When measuring nutrients from collected water samples, I use methods and instruments (in the lab) which are focusing on Total Inorganic Phosphate and Total Inorganic Nitrogen, which allows a better understanding that the measurement readings are relating to nutrients that are more than likely being discharged into the following body of water (basin shaped canal). I am excited that you were interested in water quality monitoring points associated with the canal storm drain system. I have been interested in monitoring further points as well although focusing in the water basin. I would like to initiate a transect within this canal basin. When talking about water quality parameters I have been specifically focusing on the discharge point, which I have discussed is an imperative point in determining the effects of the storm drains on the contributing water environment/habitat. The Canal Street Canal extends from the East end of Canal Street where the street ends and the discharge point of the storm drain lies. The canal is ~81.5 meters wide and ~129 meters long flowing East into the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) North.
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| Canal Street Canal basin discharge point on the left where road cuts off IRL on the right at the end of the Canal basin. |
So, I have a adequate amount of data and information on the water quality at discharge point. The basin however is extensive and therefore due to tidal flow as well as biovolume within the canal I am not certain of the overall health of this body of water. Biovolume is the term to define cells within a unit amount of water, specifically here being phytoplankton and other photosynthetic organisms, especially algae that thrive on nutrients such as nitrogen. Which leads me back to the purpose and definition of a transect. A transect is something like a line from discharge point of the canal to the East or the end of the basin partner of the IRL. For example, the Canal basin is ~129 meters long and therefore if I wanted to monitor six points within the canal, I would want to stop and collect water samples as well as measure other factors such as oxygen,salinity and pH at every ~21.5 meters. (Note: this is just an example of a possible transect within the canal and not my actual plan). Transect research has just begun, Questions or suggestions are significantly appreciated!
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