|
Duck Pond Spring |
|
 |
Introduction
Methods
Results
Conclusion
The use of road salt elevates chloride levels in the watershed and is known to
have negative effects on ecosystem health. Chloride levels in Lake Wingra have
increased from a natural level of less than 5 mg/L prior to the use of road salt
to more than 100 mg/L in 2006. The historical trends in chloride levels in
groundwater in the watershed are less well known. We compared chloride levels in
four different springs in the Wingra Watershed: Wheeler Spring, Sand Boil
Spring, Duck Pond Spring, and Edgewood’s Big Hole Spring. We hypothesized that
Edgewood’s Big Hole Spring would have the highest average level of chloride
because it is low in elevation, and thus (like Lake Wingra) has increased
opportunity to be affected by road salt use in upper reaches of the watershed.
Both Edgewood’s Big Hole Spring and Lake Wingra are located downhill from
Edgewood Campus, where constant activity and traffic increases the use of road
salt. To test our hypothesis, we observed the conductivity, temperature, and
chloride levels of these four springs several times over a five-month period. We
found that Edgewood’s Big Hole Spring consistently had higher chloride and
conductivity levels than the other three springs, which supported our
hypothesis.
|
Duck Pond Spring |
|
|
|
|
Edgewood Big Hole Spring |
|
 |
|
Sand Boil Spring |
|
 |
|
Wheeler Spring |
|
 |