Watching the water quality; Second annual Water Festival holds Clean Water Service Day Friday
Published 5:01 pm Sunday, July 12, 2015
![Maria Anderson of the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center scoops up water from Wolf Creek in Todd Park as Lisa Stundahl and Rachel Wahlert watch Friday afternoon. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com](https://www.austindailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2015/07/0712.WaterFestival1-flipper.jpg)
Maria Anderson of the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center scoops up water from Wolf Creek in Todd Park as Lisa Stundahl and Rachel Wahlert watch Friday afternoon. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Jay C. Hormel Nature Center focused its energy on water this week during the second annual Water Festival.
“It’s gone really well, we had great participation in all of our programs,” Nature Center Director and naturalist Larry Dolphin said.
The Water Festival’s theme, Clean Water, We All Live Downstream, focused on keeping the waterways clean and pollution out of lakes and rivers. About 600 people participated in the week’s festivities, through activities like collecting crayfish, canoeing and kayaking, cleaning garbage out of the water, testing the water quality around Austin and more.
There was also entertainment throughout the week, including artist Peter Mayer and author Chad Pregrake.
![Matt Freechack loads a bicycle into a trailer that a group of volunteers drug out of Mill Pond Friday afternoon, part of the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center’s Water Festival. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com](https://www.austindailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2015/07/0712.WaterFestival3-449x264.jpg)
Matt Freechack loads a bicycle into a trailer that a group of volunteers drug out of Mill Pond Friday afternoon, part of the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center’s Water Festival.
Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Tom Tylutki and his wife, Alice, attended the water-quality testing Friday for the second year, and Tylutki was excited to see if the results were different.
“It’ll be interesting to see what changes, and just to participate again,” he said.
He enjoyed learning what to look for in the samples last year, and hoped to learn what kind of pollutants were in the water. He was also glad to help the Nature Center collect data, and hoped they could use the information gathered in some of their programs. He also hoped the continual testing would help the water quality get better.
“I’m hoping it’s getting better in time with all the projects that are going on,” Tylutki said.
“It all adds up to improving our environment,” he added.
![Hannah Hecimovich, front, and Kayla Josephs sit in the canoe alongside Mill Pond. The duo were part of a group of volunteers who cleaned up the pond Friday as part the Water Festival. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com](https://www.austindailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2015/07/WaterFestival4-449x298.jpg)
Hannah Hecimovich, front, and Kayla Josephs sit in the canoe alongside Mill Pond. The duo were part of a group of volunteers who cleaned up the pond Friday as part the Water Festival. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Dolphin said the festival went well this year, and it will continue in the foreseeable future. He hoped people left with a sense of how important water is.
“How important water is to us, how important clean water is to us,” he said. “And that we need to really think about how we can take care of it better.”
Dolphin also hopes eventually the use of plastic will be cut down, after he found many plastic bags in the water.
“I was pulling a lot of plastic bags out of Mill Pond,” he said.
Much of the plastic Nature Center, it’s got to be all of us,” he said. “And that’s the message, it’s got to be all of us.”
![A group of volunteers stand in front of the trash they pulled out of Mill Pond Friday as part of the Water Festival. Eric JOhnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com](https://www.austindailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2015/07/WaterFestival6-449x315.jpg)
A group of volunteers stand in front of the trash they pulled out of Mill Pond Friday as part of the Water Festival. Eric JOhnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Several waterways were tested in Austin for quality. These are their stories:
The state of Austin’s water
Water quality standards:
Sechi Tube Depth Levels above 25 NTU shows signs of impairment
Phosphate (PO4) Levels over .2 mg/L can cause harmful algal blooms
Nitrate Nitrogen Over 10 ppm are harmful to human and aquatic life
Dissolved Oxygen The general range for fish is from 7-11 mg/L with levels below 2 mg/L causing fish to suffocate. Levels below 5 mg/L can have an effect on aquatic life
E. coli The proposed standard is 126 cfu/ 100 mL, and 1,260 cfu/ 100 mL maximum.
pH A level of 7 is neutral condition, where below is acidic and above is basic
***According to information from James Fett, a watershed technician
Dobbins Creek, Confluence:
Sechi Tube Depth 15 cm
Phosphate (PO4) 0.9 mg/L
Nitrate Nitrogen 15 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 8.6 ppm
Temperature 20 degrees C/ 68 degrees F
E. coli 100 cfu/ 100 mL
pH 8.0
Dobbins Creek, South Branch
Sechi Tube Depth 64 cm
Phosphate (PO4) 0.2 mg/L
Nitrate Nitrogen 8 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 7.7 ppm
Temperature 20 degrees C/ 68 degrees F
E. coli 700 cfu/ 100 mL
pH 8
Dobbins Creek, North Branch
Sechi Tube Depth 39 cm
Phosphate (PO4) .2 mg/L
Nitrate Nitrogen 15 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 7.8 ppm
Temperature 19 degrees C/ 67 degrees F
E. coli 1200 cfu/ 100 mL
pH 7.5
Pond
Sechi Tube Depth >100 cm
Phosphate (PO4) .4 mg/L
Nitrate Nitrogen 2 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 3.4 ppm
Temperature 23 degrees C/ 74 degrees F
E. coli 200 cfu/ 100 mL
pH 7.5
Rose Creek, Larry Dolpin’s House
Sechi Tube Depth 51 cm
Phosphate (PO4) .2 mg/L
Nitrate Nitrogen 12 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 7.6 ppm
Temperature 18 degrees C/ 65 degrees F
E. coli 300 cfu/100mL
pH 7.8
Cedar River, below Austin (Sola Fida)
Sechi Tube Depth 64 cm
Phosphate (PO4) .5 mg/L
Nitrate Nitrogen 14 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 7 ppm
Temperature 19 degrees C/ 68 degrees F
E. coli
pH 8
Turtle Creek, 12th St. SW
Sechi Tube Depth 24 cm
Phosphate (PO4) .4 mg/L
Nitrate Nitrogen 5.5 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 6.5 ppm
Temperature 22 degrees C/ 70 degrees F
E. coli 400 cfu/100mL
pH 8.5
Wolf Creek, Todd Park
Sechi Tube Depth 69 cm
Phosphate (PO4) 0.2 mg/L
Nitrate Nitrogen 12 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 8 ppm
Temperature 23 degrees C/ 74 degrees F
E. coli 400 cfu/mL
pH 8
Spring at Todd Park
Sechi Tube Depth >100 cm
Phosphate (PO4) 0 mg/L
Nitrate Nitrogen 2 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 14 ppm
Temperature 54 degrees F
pH 8
Cedar River, above Austin (off bike trail bridge between interstate and cemetery, near Fourth St. NW)
Sechi Tube Depth 100 cm
Phosphate (PO4) 0.3 mg/L
Nitrate Nitrogen 10 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 9.2 ppm
Temperature 74 degrees F/ 23 degrees C
pH 8.2
Murphy Creek, 21st Ave. NW, Mapleview
Sechi Tube Depth 97 cm
Phosphate (PO4) .2 mg/L
Nitrate Nitrogen 4 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 10.8 ppm
Temperature 70 degrees F/ 22 degrees C
pH 8.5
Tom Oot’s Wetland, Site 1 (Wolf Creek, 560th Ave.)
Sechi Tube Depth 63 cm
Phosphate (PO4) 0.2 mg/L
Nitrate Nitrogen 715 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 9.9 ppm
Temperature 16 degrees C
pH 8
Tom Oot’s Wetland, Site 2 (Wolf Creek, 555th Ave.)
Sechi Tube Depth >100 cm
Phosphate (PO4) 0.2 mg/L
Nitrate Nitrogen 10 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 19 ppm
Temperature 18 degrees C
pH 9
Tom Oot’s Wetland, Site 3 (Wolf Creek, County Hwy 16, across the road from radio station)
Sechi Tube Depth >100 cm
Phosphate (PO4) 0.6 mg/L
Nitrate Nitrogen 10 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 9.8 ppm
Temperature 16 degrees C
pH 8.5