A Student-Led Effort to Assess the Effect of Urban Runoff on Potter Lake

Potter Lake is a small water body on the University of Kansas campus. Eutrophication and sedimentation are both significant water quality issues for this system. As stormwater runoff provides as significant portion of the total inflow to this system, student-led efforts to develop a restoration and management plan for Potter Lake, have focused on assessing the quantity and quality of this runoff. A water balance model for the Potter Lake watershed was developed using climatological data and watershed characteristics. Runoff samples from four locations were collected for water quality analysis using passive collection bottles suspended in existing storm sewers. Water quality analysis indicates that runoff from Jayhawk Boulevard contributes a disproportionate amount of the total loading of suspended solids and phosphorus, particularly during heavy storms when soils are mobilized from open areas along this street. Improving the water quality in Potter Lake may require treatment of this stormwater prior to discharge into the lake.