The Millstone watershed of New  Jersey encompasses 265 miles of woodlands, wetlands, agricultural lands, and urban / suburban development.  The watershed suffers from sedimentation and nutrient overload.  Because of residential development, natural areas are rapidly being lost to suburbanization.  The major streams that feed into the millstone River are Harry's Brook, Heathcote Brook, Devils's Brook, Shallow Brook, Big bear Brook, and Stony Brook.  Lake Carnegie is a manmade lake that was sited immediately to the west of Stony Brook and the Millstone River.

The Dallas team used the Millstone River and its watershed as a model for the Trinity River Project.  The eighth grade project  tested water on the Millstone River and Stony Brook prior to their confluence, and after the confluence of the two bodies of water, on the Millstone River at Highway 27.  The purpose of the tests were to determine if the rivers flow had an influence on turbidity, phosphate and nitrate concentrations, temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen levels.  It was hypothesized that a larger flow rate would increase turbidity levels, phosphate and nitrate concentrations, and dissolved oxygen levels.  Temperatures would decrease with a higher flow rate, and pH levels would not be influenced by either rate of flow.  The analysis of water samples yielded the following results.

Site One- Millstone River (below Carnegie Lake Dam)
                 July 15, 1997  12:35 P.M. EDST

Site Two- Millstone River at Highway
                 July 17, 1997  9:00 A.M. EDST

Site Three- Stony Brook as it flows into Millstone River / Carnegie Lake
                    July 17, 1997  9:45 A.M. EDST

            There was no increase in turbidity as rate of flow increased.  This could been the result
            of a marginal increase in flow rate.  With reservoir  and water treatment plant discharge
            this result may change when applied to the Trinity River.
            These results need to be retested with sampling sites which are more homogeneous
            in nature.

            There was no increase in nitrates as the flow rate increased.  A factor in the results
            gathered could be the presence of the dam which could be influencing the "deposition"
            of nitrate loaded sediment. These results need to be retested with
            sampling sites which are more homogeneous in nature.
 
            There was no increase in phosphates as the flow rate increased.  A factor in the results
            gathered could be the presence of the dam which could be influencing the "deposition"
            of phosphate loaded sediment. These results need to be retested with
            sampling sites which are more homogeneous in nature.

            Dissolved oxygen levels did show an increase with an increase in flow rate as
            hypothesized.

            Temperature did  not decrease with a increase in flow rate.  These results may
            change with a more homogeneous site selection (canopy coverage, geology,
            depth of water, etc.)  These results need to be retested with sampling sites which
            are more homogeneous in nature.

            pH levels did not vary to a significant degree.  These results need to be retested with
            sampling sites which are more homogeneous in nature.

Conclusion:

     The Millstone River watershed did not make a good model for determining the influence of
a river's rate of flow on turbidity, phosphate and nitrate concentrations, dissolved oxygen levels, temperature, and pH.  A variety of factors could have adversely affected the results; minimal changes in flow rate, the presence of a dam, heterogeneous characteristics in sampling sites, and a lack of repetitive analysis of samplings due to time constraints.
 

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