Jenna W.

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Narrative for Piney Z

Piney Z Lake is named after the landmass around the lake that resembles a Z. The lake has an area of 193 acres. It also has 407 acres of surrounding property. Pine trees take
up most of the land around the lake hence the name “Piney” Z.

The lake did not have water in it prior to 1947. Man used it mainly for agriculture. After 1947, dikes were put in to fill the land with water, which in turn brought many ducks to the area. A duck hunting era was formed and also a small fishing area. After many years a grungy layer of muck formed on the bottom of the lake. In 1998 a crew dug up a small portion of the muck and form fingers. People can walk on these fingers and hopefully in the future successfully fish. In the future, Piney Z Lake is supposed to become a thriving place to fish and the surrounding area is supposed offer shaded nature trails.

Karst topography is a landscape created by groundwater dissolving sedimentary rock such as limestone. This creates land forms such as shafts, tunnels, caves, and sinkholes.

Groundwater seeps into and through these land forms. The result is a scenic landscape which is beautiful but fragile, and vulnerable to erosion and pollution.

( sinkhole)

Eutrophication – Gradual increase in the concentration of phosphorus, nitrogen, and other plant nutrients in an aging aquatic ecosystem such as a lake. The productivity or fertility of such an ecosystem increases as the amount of organic material that can be broken down into nutrients increases. This material enters the ecosystem mainly through runoff that carries debris. Water blooms often develop on the surface, preventing the light penetration and oxygen absorption necessary for underwater life.

This is a picture of a experiment of putting phosphorous to help the lake. Apparently it didn’t work because the lake in the background wasn’t given the phosphorous and it looks very healthy.

Floridian aquifer - In hydrology, a rock layer or sequence that contains water and releases it in appreciable amounts. The rocks contain water-filled pores that, when connected, allow water to flow through their matrix. The floridian aquifer underlies all of Florida, south Georgia, and parts of both Alabama and South Carolina. Most of Florida’s drinking water comes from the floridian aquifer. 3 billion gallons of fresh water are brought up from this aquifer everyday. Piney Z lake has a sink hole that goes into the Florida aquifer.

This is a picture of the Florida aquifer

Water Quality
a) Temperature – Measure of hotness expressed in terms of any of several arbitrary scales, such as Fahrenheit, Celsius, or Kelvin. Temperature is important to maintaining Piney Z as an urban fishery because it affects the fish. If the temperature is too hot or too cold then the fish may die. Also, if the temperature isn’t balanced then organic material may not be able to grow and mess up the lakes system.

b) Dissolved oxygen – This is a measure of the amount of gaseous oxygen (O2) dissolved in an aqueous solution. Oxygen can get into the water by aeration, diffusion and as a waste of photosynthesis. Dissolved Oxygen is very important to Piney Z lake. It can affect the fish in a bad way if the dissolved oxygen level reaches above 110. Fish could develop gas bubble disease. This is where the bubbles block the flow of blood through blood vessels causing death. External bubbles can also occur and be seen on fins, skin and on other tissue. Oxygen is very important to all living things in Piney Z lake. Oxygen levels that remain below 1-2 mg/l for a few hours can result in large fish kills and this would not help the fishery at Piney Z at all.

c) pH - pH is a measure of the acidic or basic nature of a solution. The concentration of the hydrogen ion [H+] activity in a solution determines the pH. Mathematically this is expressed as: pH = - log [H+]. PH is important to Piney Z lake because runoff from neighborhoods can change the pH and ultimately kill the fish. Different pH levels have different effects on underwater life.

Limiting pH Values
Minimum	Maximum	Effects
3.8	10.0	Fish eggs could be hatched, but deformed young are often produced
4.0	10.1	Limits for the most resistant fish species
4.1	9.5	Range tolerated by trout
---	4.3	Carp die in five days
4.5	9.0	Trout eggs and larvae develop normally
4.6	9.5	Limits for perch
---	5.0	Limits for stickleback fish
5.0	9.0	Tolerable range for most fish
---	8.7	Upper limit for good fishing waters
5.4	11.4	Fish avoid waters beyond these limits
6.0	7.2	Optimum (best) range for fish eggs
---	1.0	Mosquito larvae are destroyed at this pH value
3.3	4.7	Mosquito larvae live within this range
7.5	8.4	Best range for the growth of algae

(http://www.state.ky.us/nrepc/water/wcpph.htm)

d) Turbidity - Having sediment or foreign particles stirred up or suspended; muddy. Turbidity is important to Piney Z because living organisms in the lake cannot function well if the water is overly turbid and mucky.

e) phosphates – these come from the element phosphorous. Organic phosphates are important in nature. Their occurrence may result from the breakdown of organic pesticides, which contain phosphates. They may exist in solution, as particles, loose fragments, or in the bodies of aquatic organisms. Phosphates stimulate the growth of plankton an of plankton and aquatic plants which in turn provides food for fish. This increase in growth could increase the fish population and improve the overall water quality. Too much growth could result in the death and decay of vegetation because of the decrease in dissolved oxygen levels.

f) nitrates - Organic nitrogen is found in proteins and is continually recycled by plants and animals. Nitrates are important to Piney Z Lake because Nitrogen-containing compounds act as nutrients in streams and rivers. Nitrites can cause “brown blood disease” in fish. Poorly operated wastewater treatment plants, septic systems, and sewage leaks can add nitrogen to streams.

We tested the dissolved oxygen by using a dissolved oxygen kit.
We tested the temperature by putting the probe that connected to the calculator a water sample.
We tested the turbidity by visually looking at the water.

Works cited

http://education.yahoo.com/search/be?p=pH

http://www.state.ky.us/nrepc/water/wcpdo.htm dissolved oxygen

http://www.state.ky.us/nrepc/water/wcpph.htm pH

http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=turbidity

http://www.umanitoba.ca/institutes/fisheries/eutro.html

http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us

http://imc.lisd.k12.mi.us/tests.html