Wadeable stream suitability assessment for long-term monitoring: Congaree National Park

McDonald, Jacob; Starkey, Eric

doi:10.36967/2256949

The Southeast Coast Network (SECN) initiated a monitoring effort to assess habitat conditions in wadeable streams at national parks, recreation areas, battlefields, and monuments in Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina (McDonald et al. 2018a). These parks include Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Congaree National Park, Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, and Ocmulgee National Monument. Wadeable stream monitoring, implemented in 2016, focuses specifically on providing relevant data to assess the physical condition of Piedmont and upper Coastal Plain streams with respect to aquatic and riparian habitats and how these habitats may be changing over time. The habitat assessment methods outlined in the protocol rely on standard data collection methods and standard operating procedures currently in use by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Forest Service that have been modified to better meet the needs of National Park Service (NPS) managers. The Monitoring Wadeable Stream Habitat Conditions in Southeast Coast Network Parks protocol (McDonald et al. 2018a) was developed to begin a monitoring program that will provide insight into the status of, and trends in, stream and riparian habitat conditions. The number of reaches surveyed at each park is dependent on the spatial extent of the park and the total number of wadeable streams that are present within park boundaries. Regardless of the size of the park and the number of reaches that are to be monitored, selected reaches (1) are representative of the processes influencing the streams in each park; (2) can address current and anticipated management concerns, and (3) offer the most utility for future complementary studies. The purpose of this report is to document the stream suitability survey that was conducted at Congaree National Park (Congaree NP) to determine which streams should be chosen for long-term monitoring (McDonald et al. 2018a). On 1–3 November 2017, fifteen stream segments at Congaree National Park were assessed to determine their suitability for long-term monitoring (Table 1 and Figure 1). Stream segments were classified as suitable for long-term monitoring if they could be safely accessed, were part of a single channel, wadeable stream system, and were not greatly influenced by upstream impoundments. Of the fifteen stream segments, six were determined to be potentially suitable for long-term monitoring and the remaining nine were determined not to be suitable (Table 1). The Dry Branch reaches (c015 and c016) were classified as not suitable for monitoring because the gradient is too low, they are part of a multi-channel system, and heavily affected by an upstream reservoir. The Cedar Creek segments (c008–c014) are not wadeable (deep water and mucky bottom) and are difficult to access (requires a watercraft and there are a large number of portages [more than 20] leading up to the sites). The remaining six streams were only initially classified as potentially suitable for monitoring because the streams at Congaree National Park are much different than streams the monitoring protocol was designed to monitor. While the six potentially suitable stream segments all have definable banks and are mostly part of a single-thread system, all of the sites need to be accessed either through wetlands (Toms and McKenzie Creeks) or by watercraft (sites on Cedar Creek). Additionally, all of these streams are low energy and lack the diversity of geomorphic channel units (i.e., riffles, runs, pools) that characterize the in-stream habitats present at the majority of the streams at the other SECN parks. In spite of these drawbacks, these potential monitoring sites can provide an understanding of how upstream development and disturbance are influencing the movement of water and sediment into the park.

Wadeable stream suitability assessment for long-term monitoring: Congaree National Park

Series

See also

Collections