We partnered with EWU to look at phosphorous loads in Hangman Creek during the spring of 2017. The amount of phosphorous in our waters is extremely important to primary production in our surface waters, causing algal blooms and (indirectly) low dissolved oxygen in Lake Spokane. Phosphorous is locally regulated in surface water discharges due to it's effect on Lake Spokane, with an estimated 6 pounds/day of phosphorous allowed to be put into the Spokane River by local dischargers. Hangman Creek is a allowed a maximum of 140 pounds/day during the March-May. Flows and phosphorous levels were extremely high in 2017, with over 60,000 pounds of phosphorous estimated to be flowing into the Spokane River in one day in February! These data were collected by EWU student Larissa Severence, with help from Professor Camille McNeely. Read more here: 2017 Phosphorous Study Report and 2017 Phosphorous Study Poster
Filtering samples took a long time due to the amount of sediment!