Re: NANFA-L-- first snorkel of 2006

matt ashton (ashtonmj2003-in-yahoo.com)
Fri, 5 May 2006 12:55:14 -0700 (PDT)

When I was sampling several river miles upstream of Casper-in-the end of last summer I found it to be much more silted. Any kicking motion that disturbed the substrate immediately caused a plume of mud that made visibility go to zero. It was worse between an area just into GA that you can see on a topo map has a treatment pond and a few gas line clearings and just below the mill dam-in-about RM 19. Right in the middle was some pretty large upscale housing/golf course development.

I would have settled for 2-3 ft vis there any time. I should have attempted some more snorkeling in those stretches during the low water last June but the vis never really was great enough to effectively snorkel. I really think it, and many other streams in that area, are one of those things you have to catch a few days after a nice rain right before it bottoms out and begins to green up with nutrients before the next big rain.

At least my big regulated rivers are nice and clear to snorkel :-)

Matt
TN Tech U
Cookeville, TN

"Todd D. Crail" <tcrail-in-UTNet.UToledo.Edu> wrote:
You're talking to the guys who get excited when they can see their feet in 1
foot of water :)

If it's Chick creek, I have to wonder if it isn't getting compromised on
Lookout Mtn from the top down. There was a schlode of development going on
up there around DeSoto, can't imagine it's any different closer to
Chattynoo. They're ripping down what new growth there is, and putting in
lawns to prelude their views, or make views so people on the inside of the
road can see across too. The algae might be a response to the new status of
the ground water, either from fertilizer, or missed opportunity for
absorption and uptake; the silt is decaying algae.

I mean would it really suck that bad to have azaleas as your "lawn"? Cause
you know... Turf grows so well on granite and sandstone.

----- Original Message -----
From:

To:
Sent: Friday, May 05, 2006 11:30 AM
Subject: Re: NANFA-L-- first snorkel of 2006

> hey todd... my dissappointment was-in-chickamauga's crawfish springs. lots
> of times springs are not productive / diverse anyway and this one has been
in
> the town's center for years w/ all kinds of human activity around it
> including old school manufacturing.
> the other dissappointment was the heavy siltation, muck and mire in one of
> my favorite sites... but as i said once i got above the side stream a
world of
> wonder greeted me. rainbows, snubs and redlines are never a
dissapointment! i
> cant find a direct cause for the siltation tho... a bit of a mystery.
> as for snorkeling south chick... only the number of fingers on my right
hand
> have i been able to snorkel that. its orgins are to the south... farmlands
> and but the beautiful lush tn divide straddling pigeon mountain. very
green
> water from the excessive nutrients and sunlight but not much silt on my
> stretch. plenty of long gravel runs. 3' has been the max visibility while
> snorkeling. things have to come to you in that visibility. i find it best
to plant
> myself in a good spot and wait.
> casper
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association (NANFA). Comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of NANFA. For more information about NANFA,
/ visit http://www.nanfa.org Please make sure all posts to nanfa-l are
/ consistent with the guidelines as per
/ http://www.nanfa.org/guidelines.shtml To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get
/ help, visit the NANFA email list home page and archive at
/ http://www.nanfa.org/email.shtml


---------------------------------
New Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Call regular phones from your PC and save big.
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association (NANFA). Comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of NANFA. For more information about NANFA,
/ visit http://www.nanfa.org Please make sure all posts to nanfa-l are
/ consistent with the guidelines as per
/ http://www.nanfa.org/guidelines.shtml To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get
/ help, visit the NANFA email list home page and archive at
/ http://www.nanfa.org/email.shtml