IMPACTS OF CHANNELIZED CAMPUS DRAINAGE ON THE PIKE RIVER’S WATER QUALITY AND FLOW

The Pike River drains an urban-rural watershed and flows through the University of Wisconsin-Parkside’s suburban/rural campus. In the fall of 2017, Parkside’s Department of Geosciences began to study the Pike’s water quality and discharge. The intent was to determine the impact of two ravines that discharge into the Pike and to provide baseline measurements for both future studies and potential remediation and restoration projects. The Pike River’s watershed is located in Southeast Wisconsin and straddles Racine and Kenosha counties. The watershed is 146.36 square kilometers (56.51 square miles) and discharges into Lake Michigan. The study area is a 0.6 km (0.4 mile) segment of the river that begins at USGS gauging station 04087257 and ends downstream of a ravine of interest. Within the study area are the two ravines, one located at the beginning of the study area and the other at the end. Within this reach, seven different measurement locations were sampled, with three measurements trisecting the river taken at each. Two sets of stream flow measurements were also collected around each ravine, one set upstream and one set downstream of the confluences. This was done to approximate the river’s stage and to create a comparison against the USGS gauging station data. Equipment used included a YSI ProDDS for measuring pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, temperature, and specific conductivity and a Flow Watch for taking flow measurements. Data collection began on October 15, 2017 and continued on a roughly biweekly basis until December 10, 2017. Data collection stopped after this date due to the river freezing but should be resumed when the river thaws. The data collected from the river is compared to flow data from the USGS gauging station and weather data from the Kenosha airport, 6.5 kilometers away. Initial results show that the turbidity of the ravines is lower than the river’s while the conductivity of the ravines is higher than that of the river. More chemical analysis is need to determine the cause of the higher levels. All other parameters between the river and the ravines have marginable variation. The data also shows that the turbidity of the river is related to the discharge rate. This data provides a good baseline for any future endeavors involving the river and gives a benchmark for future projects.