Herb, Colby, Conservation District, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, 228 Houser Road, Sunbury, PA, 17801, colby.herb18@gmail.com; Franek, Benjamin, Physical and Environmental Sciences, Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania – Bloomsburg, 400 E. Second St, Bloomsburg, PA, 17815, bfranek@commonwealthu.edu.
As people continue to develop and change the landscape around us, anthropogenic effects on stream systems become ever more apparent. Assessing trends within the watershed context is a practical and effective approach to understanding these impacts. This research adds to studies, by the Briar Creek Association for Watershed Solutions (BCAWS), on temporal variations in specific chemical properties of surface water to help determine if there has been an improvement or degradation in stream health since implementation of a watershed conservation plan. Additionally, the inclusion of a microplastics investigation and land cover change spatial analysis allows us to further understand anthropogenic influences in the watershed system. This work is a steppingstone into further studies for the entirety of Briar Creek Watershed. Water quality and overall watershed viability continue to be assessed, and this work offers perspective on the future direction of such efforts.
watershed assessment , anthropogenic influences , microplastics , spatial analysis