Dr. Charles Humphrey, as Principal Investigator (PI), received $11,500 as research funding from Sound Rivers. Dr. Guy Iverson serves as a Co-PI on the project. The aim of the research project is to evaluate the water quality and flow characteristics of Jacks Creek in Washington, NC and to help identify main sources of water pollution and opportunities to help improve water quality.

Dr. Humphrey and his team will be measuring stream flow, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, temperature, pH, and specific conductance in the field with hand-held multi-meters approximately once each month for a year. They will collect base flow and storm flow samples for nitrogen, phosphorus, and bacteria analyses. Between 10 and 12 sampling events are anticipated for this project. Water level loggers will be installed along some of the main tributaries to evaluate how rainfall influences flow at each. The team will determine which tributaries have the higher levels of pollutants and then, with the help of colleagues, suggest potential remediation strategies to help improve water quality.