SITE ID	B41	Ross Creek at Tunnel Road
RATING	76 : Average
WATER QUALITY DESCRIPTION	Analysis of the four sites on Ross Creek also began a year ago. These sites are analyzed in conjunction with a project sponsored by Land-of-Sky Regional Council to work with a community to improve water quality in an urban watershed. The four sites were selected to cover the length of the watershed. A comparison of median levels for various parameters is shown in Table 2. Greatest turbidity and suspended solids levels are found at the most upstream site where slopes are much steeper and development has occurred. Zinc and conductivity levels increase at each downstream site and reach a peak at the Tunnel Road site before decreasing somewhat at the confluence of the Swannanoa River. Urban road runoff greatly influences conductivity and zinc levels. Kenilworth Lake lies between the Tunnel Road and Swannanoa River site and some pollutants will settle in the lake. Nutrient concentrations also peak at the mid Chunn's Cove and Tunnel Road sites. Orthophosphate concentrations decline sharply at the Swannanoa River site, Table 2: Changing pollutant concentrations in Ross Creek from upstream to downstream (median levels) site Turbidity Suspended Solids Conductivity Zinc orthophosphate Ammonia-N Nitrate-N (NTU) (mg/L) (umho/cm) (ppb) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) upper Chunns Cove 5 7.6 68 2.8 0.12 0.06 0.3 mid Chunns Cove 5 2.6 98 3.0 0.20 0.11 0.7 Tunnel Road 3 1.2 173 9.8 0.20 0.14 0.6 Swannanoa confluence 3 2.2 148 5.0 0.04 0.12 0.6 but nitrogen concentrations remain stable. Phosphorus is a limiting nutrient and is probably being utilized by algae and bacteria in Lake Kenilworth. Much of the phosphorus may be terminating at the bottom of the lake.