Lucky Peak Dam Assessment of Antrhopogenic Pollutants

With the world today being highly dependent on the use and production of plastics, local fresh waters are being affected with accumulations of their monomers: Microplastics. Previous studies have shown that the presence of these anthropogenic pollutants negatively affect both the food chain and water quality, posing a threat to all organisms that come in contact with the water or consume them. Although maudlin, these hazardous discards are not found in equal concentrations in every waterway. Depending on the topography, obstructions that lie ahead, and water level, MPs may settle in varying areas. This allows the tendencies of plastics to be studied so that new collection and recovery processes can be formed. This study will focus on one local water landscape in Idaho that is crucial to the current state of Boise: the Lucky Peak Dam. This dam, an essential part of our main river, the Boise River, will be monitored and examined primarily for micro and macro plastics. The data will then be processed and used to assess where the contaminants actually are and if their clusters are augmented in certain areas.