Buffalo Creek Watershed Study

To perform the study, two streams were picked from different watersheds. In Carrollton, Georgia, Buffalo Creek from the Tallapoosa in the city limits was the first river we visited. This stream was next to paved roads, apartment complexes, and was located inside a paved park; urban area. The second stream, Yellow Dirt Creek, was located off a dirt road, with little to no houses close to it; rural area. This stream was part of the Chattahoochee watershed, and is in Roopville, Georgia. It is recommended by the Department of Natural Resources that the length of the sample should be thirty times the width of stream. For both streams, the length of 100m was measured out by using a 50m open reel tape measure (Keson, OTR50M), and placing a flag at every 33.3m, dividing it into three sections for three groups. The length was chosen so that varies water flow and habitats could be studied. Each group took the same type of samples and measurements for each section to create three replicates. …show more content…
The location of the stream from development, geography, and topography was recorded. The width and vegetation growing in the riparian area was also recorded. The general flow of the stream, such as riffles, pools, and relative speed of the water flow was recorded as well. A pebble count was done at each section of the stream by using a gravelometer (Albert Scientific) by selecting one hundred random rocks across the 33.3m section by each group, totaling out to be three hundred random rocks measured altogether. The pebbles width was measured along the b-axis, and each sub reach had an average that represented the entire