Water Quality Data 2023
Flip through the slideshow to view the water quality data from the 2023 Environmental Justice Program field study. Use the introduction slides to learn about the data keys and reference parameters. Check the top of each data slide for the testing site name and GPS coordinates.
Use the buttons in this section to access the complete datasets for each of the water testing sites for the Summer-Fall 2023 study.
Water Quality Site Map
Get to know the Sites
Grangabel Park River
The Grangabel park river is well-frequented by geese, swans, great egrets, ducks and kayakers alike!
On August 28th, our EJP staff identified an invasive species on the water, called Floating-Primrose willow or Creeping water Primrose using the Seek app by INaturalist. Floating-Primrose willow is especially threatening to rivers because their currents make it easier for invasive species to spread across the whole waterbody, and it can even grow dense enough to clog the current of a waterway.
Cranberry Bog Pond
The Cranberry Bog Pond is a hopping, chirping pond hidden in the trees.
This pond is a scenic spot to go looking for painted turtles and, if you’re lucky, some hungry herons on the hunt!
Wildwood Park Lake
Wildwood Park Lake is a popular swimming spot for swans, and residents!
On June 19th, a family of swans guarded the testing point! They eventually let our team take a sample for the day.
Merritts Pond North
Merritts Pond is so huge we had to test it from two locations! The North side of the pond reaches right into the backyards of some local residents.
On June 21st one of our EJP staff found a baby snapping turtle crossing the road to reach this end of the pond.
Merritts pond south
Merritts Pond is so huge we had to test it from two locations! The South side of the pond also comes right up to the backyards of some local residents. Merritts Pond South showed cyanobacteria blooms during 5 test dates over the course of the 2023 study period.
At this spot, our EJP staff came across another group of Citizen scientists who collected some water to sample!
Riverwoods-01
Riverwoods 01 is one of two ponds that reside in the Riverwoods Mobile Home Community. This waterbody is surrounded by fencing, and thick foliage. On some occasions, our EJP staff were only able to collect one sample to test instead of two. On August 8th, Riverwoods 01 had a cyanobacteria bloom, which then went away on its own.
On June 7th, our EJP team captured a shot of how they collect the sample to test!
Riverwoods-02
Riverwoods 02 is one of two ponds that reside in the Riverwoods Mobile Home Community. This pond is a busy ecosystem full of frogs, insects, snapping turtles, and more aquatic life hidden below. This thriving ecosystem also housed a serious cyanobacteria bloom. This site had 5 recorded cyanobacteria blooms over the course of the 2023 study period.
Our EJP staff found frogs here every week during the study! This Green frog was spotted on 9/27 during the last test for the 2023 period.
