2012 Water Sampling Program
The 2012 water sampling season for the Allen County SWCD, started in May 2012 and continued through the end of September 2012. It was decided to contract with the IPFW Biology Department to collect water samples in the St. Marys, Upper Maumee and St. Joseph watersheds. IPFW has a team of three grad. Students that sampled Tuesday thru Thursday to pull samples from Upper and Middle St. Joseph, St. Marys and the Upper Maumee watersheds. Measurements that were made on-site; included temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and turbidity. The water was then being analyzed for E. Coli, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, TSS, and pesticides. With the growing concern over the Blue-Green Algae in Lake Erie, the Allen County SWCD determined that it would be best to test each site for the level of Dissolved Reactive Phosphorus (DRP), but not every site was sampled every week.
What is DRP?
DRP- stands for Dissolved Reactive Phosphorus and in aquatic systems phosphorus occurs as organic and inorganic, which can either be dissolved in the water or suspended (attached to particles in the water column). Even a slight increase in phosphorus level, under the right conditions, can set off a whole chain of undesirable events in a stream including accelerated plant growth, algae blooms, low dissolved oxygen, and the death of certain fish, invertebrates, and other aquatic animals.