Kentucky 4 H Youth Development Head Heart Hands

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. Community Service Project

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. Activity 1: Planning and Completing Your Community Service Project © University of Kentucky. All Rights Reserved.

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. In order to improve water quality: #1 #2 #3 #4 • Identify the problems or concerns (sampling) • Seek out possible causes • Make recommendations for reducing the causes • Form partnerships to take recommended actions © University of Kentucky. All Rights Reserved.

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. Pollution can come from many different sources: - Industrial waste pipes Household sewage Farming of crops or livestock Lawn fertilizers or pesticides Litter And, anything that results in pollution on the ground that can be washed off by rains and stormwater runoff. © University of Kentucky. All Rights Reserved.

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. Let’s Consider Temperature! Were your readings: Good? Fair? Poor? If fair or poor, what might be causing those conditions? • Parking lot or street runoff • Lack of streambank trees (riparian canopy cover) • Hydropower cooling water or other industrial discharge to stream © University of Kentucky. All Rights Reserved.

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. Let’s Consider Dissolved Oxygen! Were your readings: Good? Fair? Poor? If fair or poor, what might be causing those conditions? • Algae in the creek • Lack of shade/warm water • Low flows with few riffles • A lot of organic matter (leaves, twigs, grass clippings, manure or sewage!) © University of Kentucky. All Rights Reserved.

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. Let’s consider p. H! Were your readings: Good? Fair? Poor? If fair or poor, what might be causing those conditions? p. H too low, < 6 (acidic)? • Acid rain • Mining runoff p. H too high, > 9 (basic)? • Limestone bedrock • Concrete parking lot, sidewalks, etc. © University of Kentucky. All Rights Reserved.

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. Let’s Consider Turbidity! Were your readings: Good? Fair? Poor? If fair or poor, what might be causing those conditions? • Soil erosion from: o Streambanks o Construction sites o Farmland (bare crop fields) • Algae • Sewage/manure © University of Kentucky. All Rights Reserved.

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. Let’s Consider E. coli! Were your readings: Good? Fair? Poor? If fair or poor, what might be causing those conditions? • Human sewage o Broken sewer line, overflowing sewer o Failing septic system o Straight pipe • Livestock manure from pasture or feedlots • Pet waste • Wildlife © University of Kentucky. All Rights Reserved.

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. How was the stream biology? Were your readings: Good? Fair? Poor? If fair or poor, what might be causing those conditions? • Poor stream chemistry (dissolved oxygen, temperature, p. H, turbidity) • Poor habitat conditions • Other unknown pollutants (heavy metals, chemicals, petroleum/oil, etc. ) © University of Kentucky. All Rights Reserved. Image: https: //www. fondriest. com/

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. How was the stream habitat? Were your readings: Good? Fair? Poor? If fair or poor, what might be causing those conditions? • Development close to stream • Narrow riparian buffer • Not enough trees and shrubs for shading and streambank habitat • High turbidity • Livestock trampling of streambanks • Stream straightening • Streambank erosion © University of Kentucky. All Rights Reserved. Buckhorn Creek, Breathitt County

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. What are the water quality concerns for your adopted stream? © University of Kentucky. All Rights Reserved.

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. Problem Indicator Possible Causes p. H Too low - A lot of algae in the creek, lack of shade/higher water temperatures, stagnant pools of water Too low – acid rain, mining runoff; Too high – limestone bedrock Temperature (C°) Too high - Parking lot or street runoff, lack of streambank trees (riparian canopy cover), hydropower cooling water or other industrial wastewater discharge Turbidity (JTU) Too high – construction site erosion, streambank erosion, other sediment/dirt runoff sources E. coli (cfu/100 m. L) Too high – broken sewer lines or sewer overflows (urban areas), failing septic systems or straight pipes (rural), livestock in pastures or feeding lots, pets, wildlife Biological (macros) Could be affected by problems with any of the above or from habitat problems Habitat Development too close to the stream, livestock trampling the streambanks, soil erosion/turbidity, stream straightening, not enough riparian vegetation to provide food sources (leaves, twigs, etc. ) Dissolved Oxygen (ppm) © University of Kentucky. All Rights Reserved.

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. Developing a Project Idea Key Questions: • What can be done to improve or protect the stream? • What do we need to plan and implement our project? • Who can we ask to help? Plan out a schedule with project tasks. Complete the Community Project Tracking Form. © University of Kentucky. All Rights Reserved.

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. Project Idea Possible Partners Litter Cleanup Storm Drain Stenciling County Solid Waste Coordinator Science Teachers, Local Stormwater Manager Streambank Tree Planting Cooperative Extension Office, Local Garden Club, Parks Department Installation of Dog Waste County Solid Waste Coordinator, Pick-Up Stations Parks Department © University of Kentucky. All Rights Reserved.

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. Project Idea Possible Partners Community Creek Walk Science or Biology Teacher, Local Nature or Environmental Group, Wellness or Fitness Center or Business Community Presentation about Local Creek and What You’ve Learned 4 -H Agent, Local Rotary or Other Community Organization, City or County Councils, Church Groups, Garden Clubs Creation of wetland or wildlife habitat Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Horticulture Agent, Local Soil Conservation District Canoe or Kayak Outing Boy Scouts, Local Canoe Rental Company © University of Kentucky. All Rights Reserved.

Kentucky 4 -H Youth Development Head. Heart. Hands. Health. Project Idea Possible Partners Educational or Photograph Display Community Events, Community Arts Center, Local Business, Courthouse or Library Short Video about Your Local Stream School Videographer or Technology Staff, Local Library Other ideas? ? ? Who can help? ? ? © University of Kentucky. All Rights Reserved.