Student Research Reports

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The Salcha River, with an Alaska State Recreation Site located 4 miles upriver from its mouth, is increasingly popular for motorboats, snowmobile recreation, hunting, fishing, and off-grid cabin sites. Producing the largest amount of Chinook Salmon on the Alaskan side of the Yukon River drainage, the Salcha River also supports Chum and Coho Salmon. An estimated 80% of young Chinook Salmon are within 6’ of the bank of large rivers. Riparian zones help to maintain good water quality through filtering, binding and transforming sediments, nutrients, and pollutants. The objective was to gather water quality and riparian zone data on the lower and highly-trafficked section of the river. High school summer interns collected and measured water samples at each site for Temperature, pH, Conductivity, and Turbidity. Hanna Meter probes were used to measure Water Temperature, pH, and Conductivity, and the Hach2100Q meter was used for Turbidity. Sites deemed potentially improvable were surveyed, photographed, and a GLOBE Land Cover observation was entered. Riparian zones were classified by condition, width, types, and comments. In general, sites upriver of the boat launch were all off-road with minimal human impacts. Developed sites upriver were residential and maintained adequate riparian zones with natural, woody debris and suitable fish habitat. Some structures and paths were closer to the riparian zones than others, but none in the upriver section were identified as good candidates for restoration projects. The survey was extended downriver from the boat launch to the confluence with the Tanana River, where residential properties were road-accessible and presented a much greater impact on the riparian zone.