North Coast and Cascades Network water quality monitoring protocol
Rawhouser AK, Grace LK, Lofgren RA, Glesne RS, Boetsch JR, Welch CA, Samora BA, Crain P, Holmes RE. 2012. North Coast and Cascades Network water quality monitoring protocol. Natural Resource Report. NPS/NCCN/NRR—2012/571. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
The abundance of rivers and streams is a key characteristic of the North Coast and Cascades Network (NCCN). Ninety-four percent of NCCN is federally-designated wilderness and contains some of the best remaining aquatic habitats in the Pacific Northwest. The prevalence of these resources makes water quality a high ecological, management and legal priority for the NCCN. NCCN aquatic resources support 38 native fish and 17 native amphibian species as well as human uses, including recreation and water supply. Aquatic systems integrate physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the watersheds they drain; this puts them at risk to a variety of environmental stressors including atmospheric pollution, changes in flow regimes due to climate change, and localized disturbances related to land management activities and recreation. This document outlines a strategy to monitor water quality in a selection of the NCCN’s most at-risk wadeable rivers and streams. It documents how we prioritized individual water bodies for monitoring and selected parameters to monitor. We summarize available information, identify an initial set of priority water bodies for monitoring, and highlight gaps in data and knowledge regarding impaired and potentially impaired NCCN waters. The monitoring project employs a cost-efficient, comprehensive approach using multiple indicators representing key physical, chemical, and biological attributes, which will address current management issues and emerging threats. It will help park managers comply with the Clean Water Act (CWA) for the waters to be sampled. The Water Resources Division of the NPS mandated that a set of core water quality parameters, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and specific conductance, be measured in park aquatic resources. These core parameters will be collected from NCCN water bodies in addition to other physical, chemical and biological water quality parameters. We use a judgment sample of water bodies identified as the most threatened. Sampling will occur once a year during the seasonal low water period from late July to early October. This “index period” maximizes field crew safety and increases comparability with state, regional and national monitoring programs. Excursions in dissolved oxygen and water temperature are most likely to occur during this time as well. Measureable objectives include: 1) Determine status and trends of ecological condition in selected wadeable rivers and streams that are listed as impaired under section 303(d) of the CWA, 2) Determine status and trends of ecological condition in wadeable rivers and streams at high risk of impairment. These waters are some of the most imperiled in the NCCN, and many have little or no water quality data to ascertain ecological condition, 3) Compare water temperature data against state standards for chronic exceedance on a weekly, monthly, seasonal and annual basis, 4) Compare biological integrity indices against state standards for chronic exceedance on an annual basis. Data are entered into the NPS database NPSTORET, which is uploaded annually to the EPA water quality database STORET. This ensures that they are widely accessible to tribal, state and municipal agencies, as well as outside researchers. Results from data analysis will be incorporated into Annual and Five-year Summary reports, providing park managers and the public information about the condition of NCCN wadeable rivers and streams facing the greatest threats to water quality.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Rawhouser, Ashley; Grace, Lise; Lofgren, Rebecca; Glesne, Reed; Boetsch, John; Welch, Carmen; Samora, Barbara; Crain, Pat; Holmes, Ronald
- Date of Issue
- 2012-09
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- EBLA , IMDP , LEWI , MORA , NOCA , NRSS , OLYM
- Keywords
- Acid Neutralizing Capacity, Amphibian, Atmospheric Deposition, benthic macroinvertebrate, bioassessment, Clean Water Act, Climate Change, Condition, criteria, Dissolved Oxygen, Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve, Fish, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Habitat, hydroelectric, Impaired, Invasive Species, Land Management, Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, Monitoring, Mount Rainier National Park, NCCN Monitoring Protocol, North Cascades National Park Service Complex, Olympic National Park, pH, Riparian, Road, specific conductance, Stream, stressor, Temperature, threatened waters, Turbidity, wadeable river, Water Quality, water quality monitoring, Watershed
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Water Chemistry , Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Nutrient Dynamics , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Freshwater Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Freshwater Invertebrates , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | At-risk Biota | T&E Species and Communities