Grantee Research Project Results

2003 Progress Report: Testing Watershed Classifications Relevant to Bioassessment, Conservation Planning, and Watershed Restoration

EPA Grant Number: R830594
Title: Testing Watershed Classifications Relevant to Bioassessment, Conservation Planning, and Watershed Restoration
Investigators: Hawkins, Charles P. , Tarboton, David G. , Stevenson, R. Jan , Baker, Michelle , Cao, Yong
Current Investigators: Hawkins, Charles P. , Tarboton, David G. , Stevenson, R. Jan , Higgins, Jonathan , Lammert Khoury, Mary , Baker, Michelle , Cao, Yong
Institution: Utah State University , Nature Conservancy, The , Michigan State University
Current Institution: Utah State University , Michigan State University , Nature Conservancy, The
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2005 (Extended to November 30, 2006)
Project Period Covered by this Report: January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2004
Project Amount: $853,515
RFA: Development of Watershed Classification Systems for Diagnosis of Biological Impairment in Watersheds (2002) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: Watersheds , Water

Objective:

The objective of this research project is to test the effectiveness of a systematic approach for developing watershed classification schemes useful for environmental assessment and monitoring of aquatic ecosystems. We will identify the specific watershed classification schemes of greatest utility for biological assessment, conservation planning, and the diagnosis of anthropogenic stressors for stream ecosystems in the western United States. To address these objective, we will answer four questions:

1. How effectively do classifications derived from single types of watershed and reach attributes perform in partitioning naturally occurring biotic variation?
2. Can sequential application of classifications based on different types of watershed attributes provide insight regarding the stressors affecting aquatic ecosystems?
3. Can a watershed classification derived from a multivariate analysis of the joint variation in different types of watershed attributes achieve greater effectiveness in partitioning biotic variation among watersheds than classifications based on single factors? and
4. To what degree can we infer aspects of ecosystem function from watershed classifications that predict biotic structure (i.e., composition)?

Progress Summary:

<p>Because we received funding just prior to the start of the year, we have only had time to recruit graduate students to work on the project and start site selection for the field sampling we plan to conduct this summer. All graduate students are now in place and working on different aspects of the project. We are also in the final stages of site selection. Our study design requires that we address three specific objectives.</p> <ol> <li>We currently are deriving watershed classification schemes based on the four watershed attributes described above from a set of reference condition watersheds. We have previously identified and sampled 744 reference condition watersheds in the western United States. We have obtained Digital Elevation Model (DEM) coverage for the entire western United States and are in the process of defining watershed boundaries for each of these watersheds. Once watershed areas are delimited, we will start the process of deriving classifications based on hydrologic regime, geochemistry, thermal regimes, and channel geomorphology.</li> <li>We are also in the process of identifying and selecting watersheds that vary in the degree to which they have been altered by different land and water uses. At this time, we have identified candidate sites that vary in terms of urbanization (Wastach Front, Utah, and Portland, Oregon), hydrologic modification (northern Utah), nutrient alteration associated with agriculture (eastern Montana and western North Dakota), thermal alteration associated with livestock grazing (northern Utah and southern Wyoming), and sediment and channel alteration associated with forest practices (northern Idaho and western Montana).</li> <li>After screening candidate sites, we plan to sample 15 sites along each stressor gradient. Sampling will be conducted this summer.</li> </ol> <p>We have had insufficient time to generate any substantial results. We have conducted a pilot study to identify how well we can predict stream channel type (geomorphology) and channel sediment conditions from landscape-level information (GIS). The results of this pilot study, conducted by one of our graduate students (Mr. Ryan Hill), are promising. He was able to derive reasonably accurate estimates of flood plain width and median particle size at watersheds in northern Utah from DEMs. He will be presenting the results of his analyses at the upcoming North American Benthological Society meeting. We also have conducted preliminary analyses and experiments regarding the effect of geology on stream invertebrates. Comparisons of invertebrate assemblages in streams draining watersheds of different geology show strong differences in assemblage composition. A pilot experiment showed that differences in the ionic concentration of water influenced the survival of some taxa, which may identify one mechanism by which watershed geology can affect natural biotic assemblages. Mr. John Olsen, a Ph.D. student on this project, will present the results of these initial analyses at the upcoming North American Benthological Society meeting.</p>

Future Activities:

Work during the upcoming reporting period will focus on two primary tasks:

1. field sampling to collect the data needed to address our objectives and hypotheses;
2. and collection and compilation of watershed level data needed to construct the four different watershed classifications.

This effort will entail creation of DEM and geology GIS coverages, development of models to extrapolate flow regime to non-gaged watersheds, development of temperature models to predict thermal regimes in nongaged watersheds, and development of models to predict channel type and sediment composition.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 39 publications for this project

Supplemental Keywords:

watershed classification, indicators, bioassessment, restoration, conservation, diagnostics, modeling, multivariate analysis, aquatic ecosystems, anthropogenic stressors, digital elevation model,, RFA, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Scientific Discipline, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, ECOSYSTEMS, Water, Aquatic Ecosystem, Aquatic Ecosystems & Estuarine Research, Ecological Risk Assessment, Water Quality Monitoring, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Biology, Watersheds, Monitoring/Modeling, Water & Watershed, Environmental Monitoring, watershed management, biodiversity, restoration planning, water quality, diagnostic indicators, watershed assessment, bioassessment, biota diversity, watershed restoration, watershed classifications, ecosystem indicators, ecosystem monitoring, ecosystem response, ecosystem stress, aquatic biota, conservation planning, bioindicators, aquatic ecosystems, anthropogenic stress, biological indicators, anthropogenic processes, conservation

Relevant Websites:

http://www.cnr.usu.edu/wmc Exit

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

2004 Progress Report

2005 Progress Report

Final Report