By DJ Ersland

• How does flow change in different seasons in Valley and Tumwater Creek?

• I predict Spring is highest flow followed by – winter, – fall, and then – summer as the lowest

• because . . . – rain in spring, – molecules constricting in winter, – more precipitation in the area in fall, – and lower rain in summer.

Full Hypothesis• If we measure flow in different seasons on Valley

and Tumwater Creeks, then we will find that flow is significantly different in each season with spring highest followed by winter, fall, and then summer as the lowest because in spring there is a steady supply of rain raising the water level and increasing the flow while in winter the molecules constrict until spring when it all melts again and raises the flow. I think summer will be lower than fall because in the summer there is a lot more heat making a lot more evaporation supplying more precipitation in the area in fall. In summer I think there is constant lowering and refilling of the creek causing the flow to fluctuate but still stay low. So in the summer there is lower rain meaning there is lower flow but the cooler it is the greater the flow and the hotter it gets the smaller it is.

• Flow measures the discharge of a creek (in CFS or cubic feet per second) which is the speed times the creek area … but even the fastest cars in the world are not faster than the fastest river

Congo River 728 mph if we convert cfs to a measurable speed

Zonda 240mph

SLR McLearan 260mph

Vayron SS 310 mphFerrari Enzo 250 Mph

How to measure flow• Flow is measured by 1. getting the width of a

creek and then 2. measuring velocity and depth at set points (no less than 13 locations) on the width of a creek.

• Materials:– Swoffer– Measuring tape– Timer– Data sheet/ pencil – And patience

DataFlow by Season on Valley and Tumwater Creeks

0

5

10

15

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25

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45

50

0 1 2 3 4 5

Season (1=fall, 2=winter, 3=spring, 4=summer)

Flo

w (

cu

bic

feet

per

seco

nd

)

Flow

• The different seasons appear to have a huge effect on the flow of each creek. Both peaked with the highest flow in the winter while Valley had the lowest in summer while Tumwater had its plummet in fall. 0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Flow (cfs)

Fall Winter Spring Summer

Season

Flow Seasonal Averages on Valley and Tumwater Creek

Tumwater Creek

Valley Creek

Effect of seasons• This difference

between the creeks was unexpected because both are the same size.

• Also, my hypothesis was not supported because I thought spring would have the highest flow but winter actually does.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Flow (cfs)

Fall Winter Spring Summer

Season

Flow Seasonal Averages on Valley and Tumwater Creek

Tumwater Creek

Valley Creek

• My data showed that winter had the highest average flow at 9.4 cfs while summer had the lowest at 0.3 cfs. I believe this is true because of the lack of precipitation in summer and greater rainfall and melting of snow in winter. Fall was second lowest at 0.6cfs and spring was second highest at 7.0cfs.

Conclusion• I think for the

huge difference in the water flow is because we only measure 2.2 miles from the base on valley but on Tumwater we measure the full 4.4 miles and that can make a big difference in overall results

NEW QUESTIONS

• Does our usage of water as a city destroy what little water there is in the creek or do we pour more than is needed and pollute the water till is uninhabitable?

WE the PEOPLE

• People like you and me and only we can tell the real flow of a creek but many elements such as the time of year can have a drastic change in the flow.