Tuesday, 29 April, 2008

On April 22, (Earth Day) Mr. Chamber’s Zoology class and biologists from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks performed a stream survey on the South Fork of the Ninnescah River below Pratt County Lake.

The survey included a habitat, biological and chemical assessment of the river. Students participated in various activities including electro-shocking for fish, collecting macro-invertebrates and performing basic water chemistry. The South Fork of the Ninnescah is facing pressures similar to all of the watersheds in Kansas, including sediment and nutrient loading which degrade the ecological integrity of the system. Fortunately, rivers and streams are resilient, and if we can reduce the amount of impact from anthropogenic sources, they have the capacity to recover.