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McSorley Creek

In March of 2020 the Friends of Saltwater State Park began a monthly program testing the water quality in McSorley Creek, which is the stream that runs through the park.  There are several reasons to keep track of the water quality in McSorley Creek: 

 

We want to know whether it is a healthy stream for animals and fish, including Salmon.  Young Salmon, called fry, are hatched and live in streams and rivers, and they need high quality water so the stream can grow insect larvae and plankton for them to eat.  The fry grow into their next stage, called smolts, and make their way into the ocean where they become adults.  After a few years in the ocean, they swim back into the same stream to lay their eggs. Fish like salmon that have a fresh water stage and a salt water stage are called anadromous fish. 

 

We want to know the seasonal variation of the water quality.  The temperature of the water and the amount of water in the stream change during the year.  Naturally, the water is warmer in the summer than the winter, and there is more water in the stream in the spring than in late summer.  This affects the minerals and oxygen in the water and its ability to serve as a healthy environment for life.

 

Saltwater State Park is used by people as well as by fish and insect larvae.  To assure that it is a safe place for people to enjoy, we test the levels of Bacteria in the water.  There are thousands of different kinds of bacteria that can cause disease, and we can’t test for all of them; so we test for one species of bacteria, called e-coli, that is commonly found in contaminated waters.  If that species is not present, or is present in very low numbers, the water is considered to be safe for swimming and fishing.  Tighter standards are used for drinking water. 

 

We are also interested in seeing how much the long term trends in water quality from year to year, and whether, overall, it’s getting better or worse.  This will take several years of testing to start to understand.  As we get more information, we can decide whether we need to take any action to improve or preserve the health of the stream.

 

Sometimes harmful incidents dump pollutants into streams.  If this happens, we may see changes in some of the things we test for, such as pH or alkalinity or bacteria count.  We can then report our findings to the Washington Department of Ecology to investigate and take action.   

 

With Public Education, we hope to keep you informed and aware of the importance of clean natural waters to people and wildlife.  There are actions we can all take to keep our streams and the Puget Sound clean and healthy.  Everything that we put on the ground, be it fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, automobile chemicals (that includes car washing soap), or wastes of any sort, ends up in a local stream and ultimately the Puget Sound. Let’s all make an effort to maintain or improve the quality of our natural waters.

 

This testing program is being conducted in connection with an organization known as Global Water Watch (GWW).  GWW supports a worldwide network of water quality monitors, and maintains a centralized database of their test results.  GWW provides training and support through local monitoring groups; in our case the group is the SnoKing Watershed Council, a volunteer organization covering Snohomish and King Counties.  Results from the monitoring sites are posted at their website, SnoKingwatershedcouncil.org.

Suggested water quality ranges for maximum health of aquatic life:
Dissolved oxygen at 9.0 mg/L or above
pH between 6.5 and 9.
Alkalinity between 60 and 150 mg/L
Hardness between 60 and 189 mg/L
Turbidity below 5.0 NTU

E-Coli 3 month mean below 100 for recreational use

Minerals.jpg
Coliform.jpg
pH.jpg
Report Date
AirTempC
WaterTempC
pH
Oxygen Saturation %
Total Alkalinity mg/L
Total Hardness mg/L
Turbidity JTU
Turbidity NTU
Nitrate N mg/L
Orthophosphate
E-coli Sample Volume mL
E-coli Plate 1
E-coli Plate 2
E-coli Plate 3
E-coli per 100 mL
Total Coliform, #/100 mL
E-Coli 3 mo. geometric mean
E-Coli max single sample
E-Coli max 3 month mean
E-Coli 3-mon. Highest Single Plate
Dissolved Oxygen mg/L
03/05/2023
8
5
7.5
80.9
25
40
2
0.25
3
3
5
133
4250
10
400
100
320
10.4
02/22/2023
4
5
8.5
97.7
65
2
8
0.2
0.2
0.2
0
1
0
33
1266
6
320
100
400
12.5
02/07/2023
9
5
7.5
74.2
35
50
2
0.25
1
0
0
0
0
7334
6
320
100
400
9.5
01/17/2023
9
7
8
90.9
45
50
2
8
0.6
0.2
1
0
0
0
1
3301
37
320
100
2700
11
01/12/2023
10
6
7.5
73
35
50
2
0.25
9.1
12/30/2022
8.5
6
7
89.5
35
60
2
8
1.5
1
3
4
2
300
18167
140
320
100
2700
11.1
12/07/2022
6
5
6.5
80.1
30
50
2
8
0.3
1
0
0
0
1
4801
124
320
100
2700
10.3
09/21/2022
14
8
92.6
95
100
2
1
1
09/06/2022
15
13
8
82.9
105
110
2
1
1
0
4
0
133
6033
334
320
100
1200
8.7
08/23/2022
8
100
90
2
1
9
12
11
1067
13767
420
320
100
1200
8.6
08/08/2022
20
15
7.5
84.2
100
80
2
8
1
1
7
5
5
567
8567
306
320
100
1100
8.5
07/19/2022
16
14
7.5
81.6
100
70
2
8
2
14
22
10
767
5500
198
320
100
1100
8.4
07/10/2022
27
15
7
85
60
2
8
1
0
1
1
67
2000
168
320
100
5500
06/21/2022
15
13
7
83.8
75
60
2
8
223
320
100
8.8
05/17/2022
12
10
8
80.5
70
50
2
8
2
6
7
5
300
3917
188
320
100
1050
9.1
04/21/2022
13
9
7.5
94.8
60
60
2
2
1
4
1
100
2950
160
320
100
1050
11
04/05/2022
15
7
7.5
90.9
60
50
8
2
3
11
10
400
7617
164
320
100
1050
11
03/22/2022
15
8
7.5
85.6
50
50
2
8
2
3
2
1
100
4233
141
320
100
1050
10.1
03/08/2022
10
7
8.5
86.8
55
50
2
8
2
1
4
3
133
3750
188
320
100
1050
10.5
03/01/2022
8
2
10
15
21
767
9967
199
320
100
1050
02/15/2022
11
7
8.5
100
70
60
2
8
2
0
2
2
67
1417
84
320
100
550
12.1
02/01/2022
0
5
8
89.1
65
50
2
8
11.4
01/04/2022
-1
4
7.5
88.5
40
60
2
5
1
1
117
8050
48
320
100
550
11.6
12/21/2021
-1
5
7
89.8
45
60
2
8
2
11
11
9
517
4067
35
320
100
550
11.5
12/07/2021
5
8
7.5
84.7
50
60
2
8
2
3
4
5
200
6033
28
320
100
500
10
11/30/2021
6
10
7.5
85
55
40
2
2
10
4
7
350
2817
21
320
100
500
9.6
11/16/2021
2
9
7
89.7
30
60
2
2
0
0
0
1
3534
12
320
100
150
10.4
11/02/2021
4
10
7
86.7
45
50
2
2
0
0
0
1
2301
12
320
100
150
9.8
10/20/2021
9
12
7.5
86.1
65
70
2
2
0
3
0
50
1500
28
320
100
150
9.3
10/06/2021
16
14
8
88.3
60
50
2
2
3
3
2
133
7533
29
320
100
200
9.1
09/05/2021
16
15
8
81.2
140
90
2
2
1
0
1
33
1616
21
320
100
200
8.2
08/18/2021
16
16
8.5
82.8
100
100
2
2
0
1
0
17
1284
22
320
100
200
8.2
08/02/2021
15
17
8
82.5
100
90
2
2
0
0
1
701
30
320
100
200
8
07/07/2021
14
16
8
80.8
110
70
2
2
4
1
2
117
300
19
320
100
250
8
06/16/2021
13
15
8
82.2
85
50
2
2
1
0
3
67
284
14
320
100
200
8.3
06/01/2021
14
14
8
82.5
100
80
2
2
1
0
0
17
217
8
320
100
250
8.5
05/18/2021
11
10
8
87.6
95
80
2
2
1
1
1
50
417
9
320
100
250
9.9
05/04/2021
11
12
7.5
84.3
70
60
2
2
2
0
5
117
2484
9
320
100
250
9.1
04/20/2021
15
14
8.5
101
105
70
2
2
0
0
0
1
184
4
320
100
100
10.4
04/06/2021
11
11
8.5
99.1
55
60
2
10.9
03/16/2021
8
5
8.5
100
75
50
2
12.8
03/03/2021
10
7
8
93.4
65
50
2
2
0
0
0
1
468
17
320
100
150
11.3
02/17/2021
6
4
7.5
99.2
55
80
2
2
2
0
0
33
3033
29
320
100
150
13
02/02/2021
5
8
7.5
88.1
55
30
2
2
2
1
0
50
2800
38
320
100
150
10.4
01/19/2021
5
7
7.5
88.4
70
60
2
2
0
0
0
1
1601
36
320
100
150
10.7
01/04/2021
9
8
7
84.7
35
50
5
1
3
0
0
100
7000
86
320
100
200
10
12/22/2020
6
7
7.5
87.6
25
30
10
12/04/2020
5
7.5
8
85
110
80
2
404
320
100
67000
11/22/2020
6
8
7.5
86.4
65
60
2
266
320
100
67000
11/06/2020
10
10
7.5
83.2
70
50
2
2
1
4
125
8625
266
320
100
67000
10/06/2020
16
15
7.5
80.2
80
70
2
09/15/2020
18
19
8
60.2
155
120
2
1
484
504
670
55267
281
320
100
67000
09/10/2020
17
18
7.5
86.3
125
90
2
08/04/2020
20
19.5
8
82.8
95
100
2
50
6400
23
320
100
07/10/2020
18
18
7.5
86.3
90
80
2
165
4309
17
320
100
06/10/2020
17
18
8
95.8
70
60
2
33
454
5
320
100
05/07/2020
16
16
6.5
98
100
80
2
1
667
3
320
100
04/07/2020
10
9.8
7.5
88.5
65
60
2
17
11
4
320
100
03/03/2020
10
8
8.5
91.5
80
60
1
10
1
320
100
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