Monitoring the impacts and persistence of fine sediment in the Prairie Creek watershed, 1989-1990
Vicki O and Redwood National Park. 1991. Monitoring the impacts and persistence of fine sediment in the Prairie Creek watershed, 1989-1990. National Park Service. Arcata, CA
With details of initial monitoring resulting from a large sediment input to Prairie Creek from highway construction, this report also contains a full description of the physical monitoring techniques. The executive summary notes that both suspended sediment and average annual sediment loads were much higher in affected streams than in the control stream. The 1989-1990 winter runoff was very low; little of the deposited sediment was flushed out during the low flows, and sediment is especially likely to persist in quiet water areas. Most of the fine sediment stored in the system is within the gravels and below the streambed surface, affecting permeability and dissolved oxygen. Salmonid egg survival during the low flows did not appear to be greatly affected by sediment, but the authors note that higher flows would mobilize the large amount of remaining sediment and that further study of effects is needed. Specific monitoring recommendations are included. There are many graphs and data tables, as well as five appendices that include cumulative list of taxa (by order) for benthic macroinvertebrates.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Vicki, Ozaki; Redwood National Park
- Date of Issue
- 1991-03
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- REDW
- Keywords
- Aquatic Sciences, Benthos, Checklist, Construction, Eggs, fluvial sediment, Invertebrates, Monitoring, Permeability, Prairie Creek Basin, Presence (Biodiversity), Rivers, Salmonids, Sedimentation, Streams, Survival Rate, Taxa Links To References