MMSD conducts an ongoing program to monitor the impact of the clean water (effluent) pumped from the Nine Springs Treatment Plant on the receiving streams and watersheds. There are three standard ways of testing the receiving waters, and the District uses all three methods. The first method is chemical analysis of water samples taken from the receiving streams. The second is toxicity testing, in which small fish (fathead minnows) and water fleas (Ceriodaphnia) are exposed to the effluent. The third method is to monitor the actual biology (biomonitoring) of the streams by sampling the fish and macroinvertebrates (insects, crustaceans, mollusks and other organisms) found in the receiving streams. (Macroinvertebrates are organisms without backbones, and are large enough to be visible to the naked eye.)

Crane Fly Larva	Green Frog	Crayfish

Biomonitoring looks at things like the number of fish and the number of species of fish found to be present in the sampled areas, and over time this indicates how well the streams are doing. A diversity of species indicates a healthy ecosystem, and when this is maintained over time it indicates that these species are not being harmed by the effluent (or by the other sources of possible pollution, such as agricultural runoff). On the other hand, a decline in the numbers of organisms or species would indicate that some input was having a negative effect on survivability.

Two different watersheds receive effluent from the District, and both are biomonitored and tested for water quality. These are the Yahara River (with Badfish Creek as the receiving stream) and the Sugar River (with Badger Mill Creek as the receiving stream). The Nine Springs plant is in the Yahara River watershed, and this is where most of the wastewater is generated. Since some wastewater is pumped to the Nine Springs plant from the Sugar River Watershed, an equal amount of treated effluent is pumped back to Badger Mill Creek to maintain the water balance between the Yahara and Sugar River watersheds.

Sugar River	Badfish Creek

Aquatic macroinvertebrates are collected using a standard D-frame kick net with a 1mm mesh bag. Organisms are collected by disturbing the streambed with one’s feet and allowing macroinvertebrates to flow into the net. The dislodged specimens are returned to the laboratory to be sorted from the debris and identified. Hundreds of aquatic macroinvertebrate types have been collected from all of the waterbodies, indicating a well balanced community structure.

Jeff Steven with D-frame kick net	Equipment used for macroinvertebrate collections

Fish samples are collected (using the District’s walk-along, stream-shocking boat) at various sites along both of the receiving streams. Each site sampled will typically have four 100-yard sections shocked for data analysis. In Badfish Creek, a total of 45 different species of fish have been collected since fish shocking began in 1983. The information continues to suggest that water quality is not a limiting factor for the fish population. In the Sugar River Watershed, a total of 35 species of fish have been found (27 species in Badger Mill Creek and 32 species in the Sugar River) since fish shocking was started in 1994. Again, it would seem to show adequate water quality, but this will become more clear when monitoring has taken place over a longer period of time.

Bluegill	Stream-shocking boat	Northern Hog Sucker

The biologist’s laboratory at the Nine Springs plant has a 50-gallon, effluent flow-through aquarium housing fish commonly collected along Badfish Creek, Badger Mill Creek and the Sugar River. This is the same effluent being pumped to the receiving streams. Presently the tank contains the Green Sunfish, a fish common to both watersheds. Survival, growth rates and activity within the undiluted effluent continue to be normal. The aquarium display is a favorite attraction for the many tours which routinely visit the Nine Springs plant.

[photogallery/photo00024526/real.htm]