Wadeable stream suitability assessment for long-term monitoring: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area

McDonald, Jacob; Starkey, Eric

doi:10.36967/2256954

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. The monitoring was implemented in 2016, and 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 (USGS), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) that have been modified to better meet the needs of National Park Service (NPS) managers. Monitoring Wadeable Stream Habitat Conditions in Southeast Coast Network Parks: Protocol Narrative (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 Chattahoochee River NRA to determine which streams should be chosen for long-term monitoring. During March 2017, a total of thirty-three stream segments at the park were assessed to determine their suitability for long-term monitoring. Stream segment suitability was based on whether the stream: (1) could be safely accessed; (2) is part of a single channel, wadeable stream system and; (3) is not greatly influenced by upstream impoundments. Of the thirty-three stream segments, fourteen were determined to be suitable for long-term monitoring, five were classified as potentially suitable (classified as maybe), and fourteen were determined to not be suitable for long-term monitoring using the methods outlined in McDonald et al. (2018a). The streams that were chosen for long-term monitoring were selected to provide comparisons between similar streams and/or to be representative of similar streams within the park. The following report provides an overview of the methods that were used to assess the suitability of each stream segment, describes each one of the streams that was assessed including a map showing how to access each stream (Appendix A), and provides an overview of how the monitored reaches within each stream segment will be compared in future reports.

Wadeable stream suitability assessment for long-term monitoring: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area

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