Grant Lets Teens Study Mill Creek Water Quality

Thursday, May 31, 2001

BY MARTA MURVOSH THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE     Skyline High School science students have the scoop on the poop in Mill Creek Canyon.     Students didn't set out to probe the problems caused by people with pets when they began to analyze the water quality of Mill Creek, which is a potential watershed and the location of a controversial new leash law that will curb dogs from running free on even-numbered days.     But the teens enrolled in Skyline teacher Larry Larsen's environmental science class found total coliform counts rose as the weather warmed and more people took to the hills. Total coliform includes bacteria such as e-coli, found in fecal matter.     "The total coliform peaks after weekends," said Jonathan Geurts, an 17-year-old junior at Skyline.     Larsen was one of 23 Utah science teachers who received grants offered though a program with the University of Utah and the Environmental Protection Agency. Grants amounted to between $775 and $925 for the 28 projects funded.     Other projects funded included a search for radon in Tooele County, researching the effects of snowmobiles on public lands and checking into the possible impacts of the Legacy Highway on the environment.     The grants and resulting science experiments gave 2nd District Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, the idea of proposing legislation that would provide a total of $2.5 million in grants to encourage high school science classes to do "real world" research.     The Skyline students presented the results of their three-month water quality project Wednesday morning at a news conference arranged by Matheson to introduce the pending Secondary Schools Research Act. Matheson hopes the grants will encourage interesting classes that will entice students to take more science courses.     Florence Reynolds, water quality and treatment administrator of Salt Lake City, said her department also has seen the total coliform bacteria counts rise when bacteria levels are checked each Sunday. For comparison, Mill Creek quality is much higher than places like the Mississippi River.     Unleashed dogs haven't been allowed since January but lower water quality is expected because of the number of people who recreate in the canyon.    mmurvosh@sltrib.com