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Middle Eel River Initiative: A collaborative approach for
ecological studies
Stream Habitats
www.usda.gov/stream_restoration/chap1.html
• 41 Watersheds• 36,000 stream
miles• 8 digit HUCs• Eel River HUC
05120104
Indiana Watersheds
814 mi2
Stream Monitoring
• Water chemistry or Stream habitat?• Stream biology?• Where and when?• How clean is clean?
Connecting critical upland processes with aquatic ecosystems.
Approximate locationof Virgin Old-GrowthForest in 1620, 1850,and 1920
Meyer, 1995
Cuyahoga river, 1969
3,000-6,000 square miles
Ecological Impacts: Streams
• Chemical• Physical• Biological• Temporal• Spatial
Can changes be detected?
Middle Eel River Monitoring
• Three gage sites • Six Tributaries
Water Sample Collection
• Grab Samples • Time integrated• 15 minute data collection
– Water temperature – Stream discharge
Parameters
• Water Chemistry– Total Suspended Sediment– Total Phosphorus– Nitrate
• Biological– QHEI– IBI– Mussel survey– E. coli
4/2
2/2
01
0
5/2
/20
10
5/1
2/2
01
0
5/2
2/2
01
0
6/1
/20
10
6/1
1/2
01
0
6/2
1/2
01
0
7/1
/20
10
7/1
1/2
01
0
7/2
1/2
01
0
7/3
1/2
01
0
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
TSS discharge m3/sec
TS
S (
mg
/L)
Dis
ch
arg
e (
m3
/se
c)
Upstream rain event
Upstream Gage 2010
Blocher Site
5/27 6/4 6/12 6/20 6/28 7/6 7/14 7/22 7/300.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
Stage Height (ft) Total Phosphorus (mg/L)
Summer 2009
Sta
ge H
eigh
t (f
t)
Tot
al P
hosp
horu
s (m
g/L)
Mexico Site
5/27 6/6 6/16 6/26 7/6 7/16 7/260.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
Stage Height (feet) Total Phosphorus (mg/L)Summer 2009
Sta
ge H
eigh
t (f
t)
Tot
al P
hosp
horu
s (m
g/L)
Blocher's Farms
Near Pawpaw Creek
Mexico, IN
Silver Creek
Beargrass Creek
Squirrel Creek
Pawpaw Creek
Flowers Creek
Weesau Creek
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
IBI QHEI
IBI Sco
re
QH
EI Sco
re
IBI Good QHEI Good
Fish and Habitat
Dam Research
Indiana
• 1,100 dams and most in poor condition
• 70 % privately owned
North Manchester dam
• Approximately 3 feet of water
Mean IBI Scores above NM dam
0-0.5 0.5-1 1.0-1.5
1.5-2.0
2.0-2.5
Dam303234363840424446
35
41
40
41
44
Distance upstream from dam, km
IBI
Score
Exceptional (50-60)Very Good (49-42)Good (41-34)Fair (33-27)Poor (26-17)Very Poor (<17)
Mean QHEI Scores above NM dam
0-0.5 0.5-1.0 1.0-1.5 1.5-2.0 2.0-2.550
55
60
65
70
75
55.5 57
67.5
70.5 71
Distance upstream from dam, km
QH
EI
Score
Liberty Mills Site
Liberty Mills
Indiana’s aquatic “dust bowl”
Suspended Sediment
Smallmouth bass Monitoring
• SMB nests• Year Class
Strength• Growth
Eel River median discharge and SMB nest frequency at North
Manchester
20062007
20082011
2012
0
5
10
15
20
25
Discharge (m3/sec)
Number of Nests
SMB nests and TSS
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120
2
4
6
8
10
12
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
SMB nestsYear
Mean TSS mg/LMay-June SMB nests
SMB Spine
Wet Fanny Awards
Nate’s Fish
Bruce’s Fish
Ryan’s Fish
My Fish!
21-Apr 1-May 11-May 21-May 31-May 10-Jun 20-Jun 30-Jun 10-Jul0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Cumulative Precipitation May and June 2007-2011
20072008200920102011
Month
Cum
ula
tive P
reci
pit
ati
on,
inch
es
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 8 16 32 63 125 250 500Clay Concentration, mg/L
Gro
up B
iom
ass,
mg
4-d exposure
7-d exposure
Figure 2. Mean and standard error of group biomass for smallmouth bass (11mm TL) after 4 d and 7 d exposure to bentonite clay suspensions.
Smallmouth Bass Compared to mean Total Suspended Solids in May and
June
Blocher Site
5/27 6/4 6/12 6/20 6/28 7/6 7/14 7/22 7/300.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Stage Height (ft) TSS (mg/L)
Summer 2009
Sta
ge H
eigh
t (f
t)
TS
S (
mg/
L)
Mexico Site
5/27 6/4 6/12 6/20 6/28 7/6 7/14 7/22 7/300.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Stage Height (ft) TSS (mg/L)Summer 2009
Sta
ge H
eigh
t (f
t)
TS
S (
mg/
L)
Stream Sediment
Eel River Discharge at North Manchester
5/1
5/5
5/9
5/13
5/17
5/21
5/25
5/29 6/
26/
66/
106/
146/
186/
226/
266/
300
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
2006200720082011
Date
Dis
charg
e (
ft³/
s)
Mean (SE) for upstream gage and NM
2007 2008 2009 2010 20110
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
TSS, mg/L
Number of SMB Nests Compared to Discharge at North Manchester
2006 2007 2008 2011
0
5
10
15
20
25
Discharge (m3/sec)Number of Nests
Discharge (red) and SMB fre-quency (blue)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0
5
10
15
20
25
median Q m3/sec
TSS mg/L mean
year
TSS, mg/LDischarge,
m3/sec
Eel River TSS vs discharge
0 5 10 15 20 250
20
40
60
80
100
120
140f(x) = 5.57992570251916 x + 13.0950737849669R² = 0.856656565599417
Median Discharge m3/sec
Mean TSS, mg/L
0 30 60 90 12015Miles
C
Cre k
r
h eek
r Cr
a
St
Ah
Warsaw
Wabash
Peru
Mexico
Grissom AFB
Winona Lake
North Manchester
Bourbon
Lagro
Rochester
Pierceton
Mentone
Akron
La Fontaine
North Webster
Etna Green
Claypool
Denver
Silver Lake
Macy
Roann
Leesburg
Sidney
0 3 6 9 121.5Miles
µ
Legend
Towns
Major Roads
Impaired Streams
Tributaries
Eel River
Middle Eel River Watershed
Eel River Watershed
Counties