GRAND FORKS, - A University of North Dakota student has made it his mission to clean up the English Coulee that runs through campus.

The stagnant coulee often emits a sewage-like smell. Dave Barta, a 22-year-old political science and honors major, thought it was time somebody cleaned it up.

Three years ago, the Langdon native started what he figured would be a simple project for his environmental policy class. He's still at it, and hopes to get something accomplished before he graduates in May.

Every week for two months, Barta has gone to the coulee to take samples at seven different locations throughout the city. His goal is to figure out just how much dissolved muck is in the water and how much it might cost to clean it up.

His student environmental group, Eco, is looking for federal grants, and he plans to talk with City Council members. If the coulee stops smelling, Barta figures, the value of homes along it will rise, the owners will benefit, and the city will get more property taxes.

"I like the idea of being able to work on something to make a positive difference outside the university as a whole," he said. "That's what we're here to do. We're here to try to improve the world around us."

The English Coulee is overloaded with sediment and nutrients, creating ideal conditions for fecal coliform and algae but not for fish. The 5-mile section of the coulee that flows through the city also is unfit for people to swim in.

"I don't know what the pristine condition would be," said Rick Tonder, UND's associate director of facilities. "I know some people think the English Coulee could be a mountain brook where it's clean and clear and you can put a glass down there and get a drink of water."

If anything, he said, the coulee should really look like the Red River because, like the river, its bed is lined with clay rather than rocks.

Tonder said the stagnation might be due to the dams and diversions put into the coulee to prevent flooding. Tonder has plans for a new style of storm drain that would include a series of ponds to allow storm runoff to settle first before flowing into the coulee.

The Grand Forks County Soil Conservation District is studying ways to do the same, but on a much larger scale.

Kyle Glazewski, the watershed coordinator, said the district is encouraging farmers along the Turtle River to keep their cattle away from the grass on the riverbanks because grass roots help filter out sediment and fertilizer.

Glazewski is waiting for a grant to study whether such a plan would help the English Coulee. But the process could take as long as seven years, and Barta said he's short on patience.

"If you're going to be mad, you might as well fix the problem," he said.