The French Creek Sub-Watershed

1
The French CreekSub-Watershed
What you know. What you may not know. What you
may have questions about.
2
What the Ohio EPAs data reveals about French
Creek

• Water Quality
• Locally elevated nutrient levels (Runoff
  septic tank systems)
• Periodically elevated Fecal Coliform bacteria
  levels (Runoff and septic systems)
• Silt laden waters (Runoff)
• Unknown Toxicity?

• Sediment Quality
• Slightly elevated metals levels (Copper and
  Zinc)
• Embeddedness (Silt from erosion runoff)
• Unknown Toxicity?

3
Environmental impacts are more habitat and
changing land use related, with some possible
impacts from HSTS.

• Biological Indices
• Unknown toxicity and impacts to stream habitats
  and wildlife populations, mostly due to
  development, increased impervious surfaces,
  erosion, septic tank systems runoff

4
Biological Indices

• Quantitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) is
  used to assess habitat, mainly fish habitat
• Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) is used to assess
  fish community structure and health

French Creek, as a sub-watershed of the Black
River, will be included in the upcoming Black
River TMDL. Impacts to habitat promise to be
part of the Black River TMDL.
5
In 2002, the Black River RAP recruited the US
Army Corps of Engineers to conduct an aquatic
habitat assessment of the French Creek basin.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The findings are found in their March 2005 report
and summarized in the Living Along French Creek
brochure.
6
QHEI - Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index
QHEI is a physical habitat assessment tool
designed to provide an evaluation of the general
stream habitat characteristics that are important
to fish communities (but insights to benthos
habitat can be inferred by QHEI data.

• QHEI assesses a stream segment for such things
  as
• Substrate (Type, Origin and Quality)
• Sands, silts, gravels, cobble, etc.
• Instream Cover
• Channel Morphology (Sinuosity, Development,
  Channelization, Stability, Modifications)
• Riparian Zone and Bank Erosion
• Pool/Glide and Riffle/Run Quality
• Depths

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Why the RAP wanted a complete assessment of the
aquatic habitats of French Creek

• Previous Ohio EPA assessments focused on impacts
  from discharges to the stream, so little was
  known of the upstream areas
• As a starting point for a sub-watershed by
  sub-watershed study of the whole Black River
  watershed
• and . . .

8
The limited data available (to River Mile 6.10,
Detroit Road) from the Ohio EPA suggested
attainment and the RAP wanted to see habitat
conditions throughout the whole watershed.
Detroit Rd.
Attainment gt 60 for QHEI
9
What the Corps found, in the same stretch, 5
years later was a little different.
Attainment Value gt 60
Notice that the farther upstream, the lower the
QHEI values. Attainment appears to be lost around
River Mile 5.00.
10
The downstream areas may still be in attainment
for habitat, but the new study did show habitat
degraded further upstream.
Attainment gt 60
French Creek WWTP
Mills Rd.
Center Ridge Rd.
11
QHEI was designed to assess fish habitat and as
expected, the Ohio EPAs IBI fish index scores
display a similar downward trend in the upstream
locations.
Attainment gt 38 to 40 for IBI, depending upon
size of drainage area
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It appears that a degradation of habitat is
affecting the health of the fish
communities. Because QHEI contains several
different sub-metrics, we can look at them to see
what is affecting the habitat.
13
Plotting the individual sub-metrics against the
overall QHEI scores shows the following
The sub-metrics that seem to have the most effect
on overall QHEI scores are Pool and Riffle. With
their more upright curves, a loss of about a
point in each sub-metric corresponds to a loss of
about 5 QHEI points.
14
Average of habitat scores of all sites 57.4
(below the attainment value of 60.0)

• From the mouth to River Mile 5.5
• QHEI average 62.8
• Pool average 6.8
• Riffle Average 6.6

• Upstream of River Mile 5.5
• QHEI average 45.3
• Pool average 4.6
• Riffle average 4.5

River Mile 5.5 (Bridge Pointe Trail / Eaton Drive
area) which is roughly half way between I-90 and
Rte. 254 (Detroit Rd.)
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Why are the habitat scores in the upstream areas
so much lower?

• Probably because of a combination of stream size,
  drainage area, development pressures and rapidly
  changing land uses.
• Near the mouth, a somewhat larger French Creek is
  offered considerable habitat protection by French
  Creek Metropark.
• The smaller upstream areas are more fragile and
  less able to assimilate impacts due to
  development, such as increased imperviousness,
  loss of riparian protection, channelization and
  other alterations to streams.

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Sediment

• Sediment to the streams comes from
• Loss or disruption of riparian corridors
• Loss or disruption of wetland areas and their
  habitat and excess storm water retention and
  filtering capabilities
• Lack of or improper use of Best Management
  Practices during and after construction
• Excessive sediment can cause
• Loss of habitat (fish and macroinvertebrates)
• Filling in of ponds and storm water basins
• Clogging of fish gills, possible fish kills and
  can smother fish spawning sites.

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Excessive Nutrients

• Excessive nutrient loads can come from
• Loss or disruption of riparian corridors
• Loss or disruption of wetland areas and their
  habitat and excess storm water retention and
  filtering capabilities
• Home sewage treatment systems (septic tanks)
• Excessive nutrient loads can cause
• Algal blooms, loss of aesthetics
• Odor problems
• Low dissolved oxygen, fish kills.

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The single biggest problem noted in the Corps
study was a loss or disruption of a natural
riparian corridor along the streams.

• Riparian corridors (a vegetative buffer around
  streams)
• Slow runoff
• Allow some storm flows to be absorbed in the
  soils
• Trap solids before they get to the streams
• Allow time for absorption of nutrients
• Provide habitat and migration pathways around
  the watershed
• Hold the stream banks in place, stopping erosion

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Other problems within the French Creek
sub-watershed
Home sewage treatment systems (HSTS or Septic
Tank Systems) - Some are suspected to be
discharging to the streams. HSTS failures are
usually due to age and/or lack of proper
operation and maintenance Suspected unknown
toxicity source - Reported in the 1994 and 1999
OEPA reports - Not noticed after 2001 - What
happened?????
20
Aesthetics

• From
• Dumping clippings yard waste into streams
• Dumping of trash into streams
• Dumping of used oils, etc. into streams or into
  storm sewers
• Leaking cars
• Invasive species (Phragmites, Purple
  Loosestrife)
• Causes
• Loss of aesthetics, odor problems
• Toxicities, low dissolved oxygen, fish kills
• Clogging of waterways, replacement of natural
  species.

21
The Corps noted finding abandoned automobiles
and automobile parts and household garbage
(appliances, etc.) on the banks.
22

• US Army Corps of Engineers Watershed-Wide
  Recommendations
• Encourage (voluntarily and with incentives) the
  development of wooded shrubby buffers
• Improve enforcement of existing sediment control
  regulations
• Improve enforcement of water resource
  regulations
• Creation of filtering wetlands
• Enforce local health department regulations on
  home sewage treatment systems (septic tank)
• Construction of bioengineering controls where
  severe erosion occurs
• Curtail direct storm water runoff to streams

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Contact Information
Ted Conlin, Black River RAP Coordinator Ohio
EPA 2110 East Aurora Rd. Twinsburg, OH
44087 330-963-1131 330-487-0769
(FAX) ted.conlin_at_epa.state.oh.us
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Gulf Road About River Mile 0.55 French Creek
Metropark From mouth to about River Mile
2.0 North Ridgeville WWTP and Abbe Rd. About
River Mile 3.2 Fly Ash From River Mile 4.0 to
River Mile 4.5 Interstate 90 About River Mile
4.5 Detroit Road About River Mile 6.1 RTE.
611 About River Mile 6.9 RTE. 83 About
River Mile 7.65 Mills Road About River Mile
10.4 Center Ridge Road About River Mile
12.4 Root Road About River Mile 12.75