Grantee Research Project Results
2003 Progress Report: Assabet River StreamWatch: Monitoring and Timely Reporting of Streamflow and Water Quality to Assess Habitat Stress for Native Fish Populations in the Assabet River Watershed, Massachusetts
EPA Grant Number: R829323Title: Assabet River StreamWatch: Monitoring and Timely Reporting of Streamflow and Water Quality to Assess Habitat Stress for Native Fish Populations in the Assabet River Watershed, Massachusetts
Investigators: Blazar, Paul , Armstrong, D. E. , Blatt, Julia , Bennett, Laurie , Wagner, Lou , Weiskel, Peter , Socolow, Roy , Beede, Susan , Flint, Suzanne , Richards, Todd
Institution: Town of Hudson , United States Geological Survey , Massachusetts Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Environmental Law Enforcement , Massachusetts Audubon Society , Organization for the Assabet River
Current Institution: Town of Hudson , Massachusetts Audubon Society , Massachusetts Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Environmental Law Enforcement , Organization for the Assabet River , United States Geological Survey
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: January 1, 2002 through December 31, 2003 (Extended to December 31, 2004)
Project Period Covered by this Report: January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2004
Project Amount: $432,692
RFA: Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT) (2001) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Environmental Statistics , Water , Aquatic Ecosystems , Air , Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration
Objective:
The objectives of this research project are to: (1) characterize summertime fish habitat conditions in the main tributaries of the Assabet River; and (2) provide timely, accurate information to the public, local decisionmakers, and scientists. The Assabet River mainstem is nutrient-saturated and large reductions in nutrient loads are needed to restore water quality in the river. For load reductions to be effective, base flow in the river and its major tributaries must be preserved or augmented. The water resources of the entire basin already are under the combined strain of a rapidly growing population and of water management practices that result in the net transfer of water out of the subbasins. Solving these problems will require: (1) better understanding of water budgets and water quality in the subwatersheds; and (2) a public constituency willing to change their personal water consumption habits and to allocate the resources needed to change water management infrastructures.
Approach
This project focuses on fish habitat in the tributary streams of the Assabet River watershed. The StreamWatch Stream Health Index was developed as the main data integration and delivery mechanism for the project. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that an integrated flow, water quality, and habitat availability index has been developed to rate stream conditions for fish in near real time. Measurements of streamflow, groundwater levels, channel flow status, dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, total phosphorus, total nitrogen, and total suspended solids are scored from 1 (worst) to 100 (best). Streamflow data are scored against minimum streamflow recommendations of several standard-setting methods being tested in Massachusetts. Groundwater levels are scored against expected conditions from long-term records. Water quality metrics are scored against published fish tolerances, Massachusetts standards, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) criteria. For nutrient concentrations, where the effect on fish habitat is indirect, measurements are scored against expected conditions for the ecoregion. Channel flow status is scored using U.S. EPA's Rapid Bioassessment Protocol method. These parameter scores are aggregated to give streamflow, water quality, and habitat availability index scores; these three index scores then are combined into an overall "stream health" index. For posting results, the index scores are broken into five ranges and each range is given a descriptor. During the summer monitoring period, weekly index readings are posted on signboards in the project towns or in local newspapers, and on the project Web page. The Web page (www.assabetriver.org/streamwatch Exit ) provides timely dissemination of geospatially linked data and background information. A series of workshops has been developed to present and promote water conservation via ecological landscaping.
Progress Summary:
Since the beginning of the project in January 2002, StreamWatch project partners have developed permanent monitoring sites at nine locations in the Assabet River watershed, assessed streamflow requirements at six of those sites, developed the Stream Health Index, created an Access database for data management, and developed the project Web page and curbside signs for data delivery. From June 15 to October 1, 2002, the Organization for the Assabet River (OAR) staff and volunteers conducted the pilot project, posting weekly data for Danforth Brook on the project Web page. From June 15 to October 1, 2003, data delivery for the project was expanded to six project sites. Index readings were posted on curbside signs in five towns; both raw data and index readings were posted on the project Web page.
To do this, project partners have completed the following: The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the OAR conducted initial reconnaissance on tributary sites throughout the watershed, selecting 10 sites for the project. For streamflow measurements, USGS installed and surveyed staff gages at four tributary sites and one mainstem site. Previously installed staff gages were used at four other sites; one of the initially selected sites was not useable when a beaver dam put the site in backwater. The USGS and the OAR have completed stage/discharge-rating curves for six sites. OAR staff members were trained by the USGS to make streamflow measurements using pygmy and AA flow meters, and are making streamflow measurements to maintain the rating curves at all nine project sites.
Six of the project sites were deemed suitable for R2Cross and Wetted Perimeter analyses to determine streamflow requirements for habitat protection. R2Cross/Wetted Perimeter sites at Danforth and Elizabeth Brooks were developed by the USGS using data collected through both StreamWatch and the USGS's statewide habitat project (Parker and Armstrong, 2002). Streamflow requirements for the remaining four streams were assessed as part of the StreamWatch project (Parker, Armstrong, and Richards, in press, 2003).
OAR developed the project Web page, including an interface for weekly data delivery and background information. Background information includes: water use in the basin, the groundwater and surface water cycle, local histories for each stream, fish in the watershed (from 2001 and historic surveys), and information on protecting streams and fish. For the fish description section, OAR got permission to use pictures from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Karsten Hartel at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology, and the American Fisheries Society. The innovative and comprehensive StreamWatch Web Pages earned OAR's Web site an Eddy Award from American Rivers, Inc. (a national river conservation group) in the fall of 2002.
The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife provided the data from its summer 2001 fish surveys of the watershed, helped select appropriate indicator fish for the project streams, and provided many of the fish pictures for the project Web page. The Division also provided access to data from old fish surveys in its archives. OAR staff collected old fisheries survey information and created a database of the most complete survey (Schlotterbeck, 1954).
OAR staff conducted a review of literature and developed the Stream Health Index. A full description of the index can be found at: http://www.assabetriver.org/streamwatch/howindex.html Exit . As part of their ongoing water-sampling program, OAR recruited, trained, and coordinated about 30 volunteers each year to take water quality samples and staff gage readings. Volunteers took weekly staff gage readings and monthly water quality samples between June and October in 2002 and 2003. In 2002, the Stream Health Index and data delivery via the project Web page were piloted using data from Danforth Brook. Streamflow, water quality, and habitat availability data as well as Stream Health Index readings were posted on the project Web page. In 2003, full data delivery for six streams was implemented. Data and index readings for the six streams were posted on the Web page, and index readings were posted on curbside signs. A curbside sign for each stream was placed on town-owned land in the relevant town. Of the six towns approached about putting up signs, five agreed (the sixth sign was posted in the neighboring town through which the lower end of the stream flows). The signs and project generated local notice and articles in several local newspapers.
The Massachusetts Audubon Society, the Ecological Landscaping Association, and OAR developed and presented four workshops on ecological landscaping (two each in spring 2002 and 2003). The workshops emphasized the connection between outdoor water use, landscaping and lawn care practices, and the health of local streams. Each workshop attracted 60-70 attendees.
The only significant setbacks to the project have come from weather and beaver activity. Beaver activity forced the relocation of the staff gage on one stream and the complete abandonment of another initially selected stream. The drought that affected the Northeastern United States during the fall of 2001 and the summer of 2002, slowed the collection of streamflow measurements for rating curve development (i.e., there were no higher flows to measure until late October 2002) and minimum streamflow analysis.
Future Activities:
We plan to make the measurements needed to complete the three remaining stage/discharge rating curves by the spring of 2004, and to start data delivery on all nine project sites in June 2004. OAR will continue to collect streamflow measurements to maintain the rating curves. OAR will work with watershed towns to post the curbside signs in central locations over the summer for all nine project streams. During the summer of 2004, we anticipate data delivery via curbside signs or newspapers and on the project Web page from all nine project sites. Two more ecological landscaping workshops will be delivered in towns of the watershed. Finally, we expect to present or submit a paper on the Stream Health Index in 2004, and will work to extend its usefulness to other streams in the region.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 8 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
northeast, EPA Region 1, critical area analysis, R2 Cross method, target fish population, hydrology, biology, ecosystems, ecosystem protection, environmental exposure, risk, research, water, civil engineering, environmental engineering, ecological risk assessment, ecology, ecosystems, environmental monitoring, groundwater, monitoring, modeling, terrestrial ecosystems, urban and regional planning, water and watersheds, wet weather flows, Assabet River, EMPACT, Massachusetts, MA, stormwater management model, aquatic ecosystems, community outreach, community partnerships, community tracking, community water quality information system, community-based approach, downstream effects, ecological models, ecology assessment models, hydrologic dynamics, land management, land use, nutrient monitoring, nutrient transport, nutrient transport model, nutrients, remote sensing, runoff, sediment transport, stormwater, stormwater runoff, stream ecosystems, streams, water management options, water quality, watershed assessment, watershed restoration., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Water, ECOSYSTEMS, Geographic Area, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, RESEARCH, Ground Water, Water & Watershed, State, Monitoring/Modeling, Monitoring, Civil/Environmental Engineering, Wet Weather Flows, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Environmental Monitoring, Ecological Risk Assessment, Urban and Regional Planning, Watersheds, aquatic ecosystem, EMPACT, remote sensing, hydrologic dynamics, Assabet River, nutrient transport, wetlands, community-based approach, streams, nutrients, downstream effects, runoff, sediment transport, stream ecosystems, Massachusetts (MA), community water quality information system, stormwater, community outreach, community tracking, nutrient monitoring , water quality, Massachusetts, community partnerships, aquatic ecosystems, ecological models, nutrient transport model, stormwater runoff, ecology assessment models, water management options, watershed assessment, land management, stream ecosystem, storm water, Storm Water Management Model, land useRelevant Websites:
http://www.assabetriver.org/streamwatch Exit
http://www.assabetriver.org/wq/ Exit
http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/of/ofr02-340/ Exit
http://www.assabetriver.org/streamwatch/howindex.html Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.