Kentucky’s comprehensive Water Monitoring and Assessment Program addresses water quality management objectives outlinedin the Clean Water Act, as well as other specific water quality management objectives and goals, through a wide variety ofmonitoring and assessment activities. These activities have been focused primarily on 1st through 4th order streams that arewadeable with only water chemistry data collected at non-wadeable streams as part of the Ambient Water Quality MonitoringProgram. Formal large river biological sampling and assessment methodologies used to assess aquatic life support have notbeen adopted for Kentucky.
In 2006, the USEPA Environmental Lab in Cincinnati, OH developed large river bioassessment protocols (LR-BP) in Concepts andApproaches for Bioassessment of Non-wadeable Streams and Rivers 1. These methods were in part developed on Kentuckywaters, and thus, the Kentucky Division of Water has begun developing a non-wadeable streams and rivers biological samplingprogram using these methods for habitat, macroinvertebrate and fish community sampling.
During the initial pilot study, non-wadeable streams and rivers are being targeted based on drainage area, order, and basins toinclude a broad variety of streams and rivers. Currently, streams that are >150 mi2, ≥ 5th order, and non-wadeable for amajority of the reach are being targeted.
Establishing Transects and Habitat Sampling
Sampling is conducted within a 500 meter reach of the stream and consists of six transects, 100 meters apart (labeled A-F).Transect A is the most downstream transect with F being the most upstream transect (Figure 1). The latitude and longitude ofeach transect is recorded on the field sheet (see handout).
The nature and quality of in stream habitat and local watershed features are characterized to aid in interpreting biologicalcommunity results. Habitat measurements are collected at each transect (at both banks and across stream transect) andinclude a combination of stream morphology, riparian canopy cover, bank morphology, riparian zone, and in stream habitatmeasurements (See provided handouts).
If the stream bank is wadeable, then field measurements for the desired parameters are collected outside of the boat(s), but ifthe stream bank is non-wadeable or accessible, field measurements are collected from inside the boat as best as possible.
From the field measurements, the following metrics can be calculated to characterize and classify streams:
% Fines% Riffle Max Depth
% Sand% Run Average Wetted Width
% Gravel% Pool Average Bankfull Width
% CobbleAverage Thalweg Depth Large Woody Debris
% BoulderAverage Depth Average Wooded Riparian Zone
% BedrockAverage Bank Depth % Desired Habitat (Macroinvertebrates)
% Canopy Cover
In addition to field measurements taken at each transect, an overall reach assessment is conducted using a modified version ofEPA’s Rapid Bioassessment Protocols2. This site assessment does include habitat parameters that are calculated from fieldmeasurements (i.e. large woody debris, riparian vegetative zone width, etc.). In addition, there are several parameters that areestimated from the biologist(s) professional judgment (i.e. epifaunal substrate, pool substrate characterization, bottomdeposition, channel alteration, thalweg substrate, bank stability, and vegetative protection). Each category is given a score,which are then combined to achieve an overall reach score.
Macroinvertebrate Community Sampling
Macroinvertebrates are collected at both banks of each transect (Figure 1). At each sampling zone, six sweeps areperformed, each 0.5 m in length, using a 0.3 m wide D frame net (500 μm mesh). Sweeps are performed by agitating orkicking habitats, and are proportioned among available habitat (i.e. snags, cobble, aquatic vegetation, etc.) in eachsampling zone. If water exceeds 1 m at the bank, sweeps are collected along the bank from the boat.
All sweeps from the entire reach are composited into a single sample. The total sampling area is approximately 10.8 m2((each sweep=0.3 m x 0.5m= 0.15m2) 0.15m2 per sweep x 6 sweeps per sample zone x 12 sample zones).
Macroinvertebrate samples are processed in the field, removing all large debris (i.e., leaves, sticks, rocks, etc.) and pickingall macroinvertebrates until the remaining debris collected can be placed in the prescribed container and preserved in 70%ethanol. All sample(s) are returned to the laboratory, logged in the appropriate log, sorted and identified to the lowestpractical taxonomic level
Fish Community Sampling
The LR-BP method provides an unbiased, representative and quantitative sample as possible that was designed to supportbioassessment and monitoring activities. It was not designed to be a qualitative measure that maximized the number ofspecies present at a site. The electrofishing design was constructed to provide a standard field method that is reproducible.
Fish community samples are collected using a 500 m paired bank methodology. For each bank, electrofishing starts in theupstream portion of the reach and proceeds downstream to the end of the reach. The boat is operated at a speed near orjust above the current of the river and maneuvered in and out of shoreline habitat. All fish are collected and placed into alivewell for processing.
On occasion, shallow portions of the stream reach are encountered (i.e. shoals/riffles). When this occurs, alternateelectrofishing techniques are employed including the use of a handheld anode attached to the boat electrofishing unit,hand maneuvering the boat into the shallow portions or the use of a backpack electrofisher.
At the end of each electrofishing run (i.e. bank), large fish and easily identified fish are identified, enumerated andreleased outside of the sampling zone. Small or unknown fish that require identification in the laboratory are preserved.In addition, the electrofishing settings (i.e. pulse width, percent applied and shocking seconds ) for each bank arerecorded.
In-situ and Water Chemistry Sampling
All water chemistry samples are collected at Transect A (furthest downstream transect) at the conclusion of all othersampling.
Physicochemical samples (temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and specific conductivity) are collected at the surface, themiddle of the water column, and just off the bottom with established in situ protocols using a multiparameter probe.
A suite of parameters (metals, nutrients, acidity/alkalinity, and bulk) are measured from water column grab samples thatinclude pollutants and pollutant surrogates that affect aquatic life. These samples are collected by using a depthintegrating technique
Biological Sampling Methods in Kentucky’s Non-wadeable Streams and RiversBiological Sampling Methods in Kentucky’s Non-wadeable Streams and Rivers
A. Payne and R. Pierce
Kentucky Division of Water, Frankfort, Kentucky
Introduction
Methods
Methods (Continued)
Future goals
Kentucky’s non-wadeable streams and rivers biological sampling program is currently in the pilot phase. Kentucky is uniquein that it has a variety of stream types from high gradient streams with shallow riffles and shoals to low gradient streamswith deep pools, with a large diversity of substrate types and available habitats for biological communities. The main focusof the pilot project is to ensure that our proposed sampling methodology is applicable to all non-wadeable streams in theCommonwealth. Once it has been determined that our methodology is applicable, a dedicated non-wadeable program willbe created that will focus on the development of biological assessment indices. Our long term goal for the non-wadeablebiological sampling program is the incorporation of large river sites into our existing wadeable probabilistic program for usesupport designations and identification of overall water quality trends.
50 m
Figure 1. Example of non-wadeable stream reach and macroinvertebrate sampling zone.
Sampling zone extends to midpoint of river or untildepth exceeds 1 m for kick samples
Literature Cited
1Flotemersch, J. E., J. B. Stribling, and M. J. Paul. 2006. Concepts and Approaches for the Bioassessment of Non-wadeableStreams and Rivers. EPA 600-R-06-127. US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio.http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.132.2044&rep=rep1&type=pdf
2Barbour, M.T., J. Gerritsen, B.D. Snyder, and J. B. Stribling. 1999. Rapid bioassessment
protocols for use in streams and wadeable rivers: periphyton, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish, second edition.EPA 841-B-99-002. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Office of Water, Washington, D.C.
