Assessing the Surface Water Quality of Strawberry Creek A Trash Level Assessment regarding Current Restoration Projects Jo-an Chen and Myung Eun Shim, UC Berkeley Undergraduates. Credit to Tim Pine, Environmental Specialist at Office of Environment, Health & Safety
ABSTRACT Strawberry Creek has witnessed a severe degradation in its habitat due to recent developments of sewage system, high population density and rapid urbanization. Despite current student and departmental restoration efforts, the creek remains polluted. Trash is directly related to degrading water quality as it accumulates, decomposes, and affects the water chemistry of the creek. Trash must be weighted based on toxicity, lifespan, and size. The goals of this trash assessment are 1) to draw conclusions on the current types and amount of trash being polluted in and near Strawberry Creek, and (2) develop new goals for future water management to reduce pollution levels.
METHODS The methodology was largely based on the Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program’s (SWAMP) rapid trash assessment methods applied to the waters of the San Francisco Bay Region, specific to the trash measurement of streams. The four sites identified for data collection were: the Mainstem (Oxford Street), the Confluence (Valley Life Science Building), the Control (Giannini Hall), and Sproul Bridge (Upper Sproul Plaza). Data was collected starting from April 11th, 2014 up until September 5th, 2014 at the same four sites. Sites were scored based on a developed criteria for each category: 1) Level of Trash, 2) Actual Number of Trash Items Found, 3) Threat to Aquatic Life, 4) Threat to Human Health, 5) Illegal Dumping and Littering, 6) Accumulation of Trash and Regeneration of Trash. Many components of this scoring system are parallel to SWAMP’s trash assessment scoring system. Differences include additional details of trash specifically common to Strawberry Creek, and lowering the range of trash items for all six parameters as Strawberry Creek has a higher optimal water quality as compared to the case studies found in SWAMP’s report.
DATA AND DISCUSSION The main findings for this research were: (1) The Control site had the lowest pollution levels, followed by the Mainstem site, the Confluence site, and Sproul site; (2) Plastics and cigarette butts were generally the two most abundant trash types found on campus; (3) High trash levels are usually correlated with student activities like Summer Sessions, Cal Day, and many others.
Figure 1. This depicts the change in types of pollutants found in Sproul site over time. Plastics were most commonly found, followed by cigarettes and compostable items with varying peaks. Fall 2014 semester showed the greatest number of polluted plastic pieces in comparison with the numbers in Spring and Summer 2014.
Figure 2. Since plastic was the most prevalent type of trash and the broadest category, it was necessary to specify the types of plastics found. Approximately half of the trash found are small, buoyant plastic pieces like fragmented transparent plastic. This was followed by plastic wrappers, plastic cups, lids, and caps.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS Besides collecting physical data, a survey regarding the trash levels of Strawberry Creek was conducted to gauge the different perspectives and suggestions from the UC Berkeley community. Based on our findings and surveys, we have identified several measures that can be undertaken to protect the creek: Contacting local business associated with commonly found trash, such as coffee cups and ice cream spoons, to suggest using compostable utensils and to-go-boxes could help reduce plastics and harmful wastes. Installing more garbage bins in areas where trash is frequently found would also significantly decrease the amount of trash found in and near the creek. Putting up signage for smoking and littering to motivate people not to litter and reconsider their littering behavior. Increasing awareness through student, faculty, and departmental platforms. Examples include freshman orientation, environmental clubs, dorm-centered education, events such as Cal Clean Up Day, and cooperating with Save the Bay initiatives to reduce pollution of cigarette butts. Further research listed below can be considered to further improve the water quality of Strawberry Creek. 1. Comparing trash levels throughout campus before and after the implementation of educational approaches such as Freshman Orientation and/or Signage. 2. Comparing differences in pollution levels before and after the implementation of the North Fork/Confluence Restoration, Strawberry Creek. The North Fork, Confluence Restoration was undertaken by students and funded by The Green Initiative Fund since May 2013 as a Strawberry Creek Ecological Stabilization Project to restore fish habitat. This project involved the replacement of native vegetation and two failing check dams with step-pool structures to improve the bed slope’s stability. REFERENCES Massell, Aysha, Jackie Berry, Pete Moniz, and Junice Uy. "Project. "Strawberry Creek Ecological Stabilization Project. 11 June 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2015. <https://ecostabilization.wordpress.com/project/>. Moore, Steven M., Matthew R. Cover, and Anne Senter. A Rapid Trash Assessment Method Applied to Waters of the San Francisco Bay Region: Trash Measurement in Streams. California Water Boards, 2007. Print.