INTRODUCTORY COURSE PROJECTS AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR WATER QUALITY MONITORING AND EDUCATION

Rice County, located in southern Minnesota, is among the fastest growing counties in the state. It also contains numerous rivers and lakes that are designated as wild and scenic. At the moment, pollutants threaten several of the lakes and streams, especially non-point source pollution from agricultural practices. As more land in the county is developed, the sources of pollution will most likely shift from agricultural to urban pollutants. Beginning in 2000, for monitoring and educational purposes, students in introductory geology courses at Carleton College have been conducting water related research projects on streams, drainage tiles, lakes and groundwater in Rice County. At the present, they have studied twenty-two lakes, the Cannon River and 5 of its tributaries, many springs and a few drainage tiles. In these research projects, students collect water samples; analyze anions and cations; measure turbidity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and total conductivity; and write reports on their findings. Of the measured ions, nitrate-N stands out as a common surface water contaminant. The nitrate-N concentrations range from as high as 30 mg/l in the drainage tiles to 10 mg/l in the streams and lakes. While performing these research projects, students gained tremendous knowledge on data collection, interpretation, and instrumentations.