Stream Side Science

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Stream Side Science
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Utah is the second driest state in the U.S.
with the second highest per capita water use.
Stream Side Science brings a water focus to the
study of Earth Systems Science. This includes
explorations of both water quantity and water
quality.
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Watershed 101 basics

• What is a watershed
• How do watersheds function?
• How water moves through a watershed?
• What is clean water?
• What can you measure and why?

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What is a watershed?

• Geographic area within which all water drains to
  a common point.

Defined by structure and by function
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Elements of watershed structure
Size, latitude, longitude, elevation, aspect,
Geography

• Total precipitation, precipitation patterns

Climate
Formation - volcanic, sedimentary, basic rock
types, soil types and depth, erosion potential
Geology
Vegetation / Animals
Type, native/non native, riparian areas, uplands,
patterns of use and migration
Human uses
Development and land use patterns,
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Functions of watersheds

• Water
• Sediments, soils
• Dissolved minerals, metals, nutrients
• Biological material

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Stream Order helps characterize types of streams
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How does a river change as it moves from
headwaters to base of watershed?
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Natural Hydrographs
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Natural variability
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Modified Hydrographs
Urbanization
Reservoirs
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What is Clean Water?
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There is no single definition of clean water.
The Clean Water Act defines clean water
according to how we use it.
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How do we use water?
Beneficial uses Drinking water Agriculture Indus
try Recreation Fisheries and other aquatic
life Aesthetics
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How do you know if youve got clean water?
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Water column monitoring (water chemistry)

• Advantages
• Standardized methods
• ? repeatable , comparable
• Easy to collect
• Related to toxicity or other impacts
• Disadvantages
• Discontinuous in time and space

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Physical habitat monitoring (Stream form,
substrate)

• Advantages
• Reflects hydrologic impacts
• Relatively low cost
• Disadvantages
• May not reflect actual water quality
• May be subjective, lack of repeatability

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Biological monitoring (macroinvertebrates,
algae, fish)

• Advantages
• Integrates impacts over time
• Biological impacts loss of beneficial use
• Easy to collect
• Disadvantages
• Need for reference sites
• High degree of heterogeneity in samples

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What pollutants affect the beneficial use of
agriculture?
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What pollutants affect the beneficial use of
recreation?
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What pollutants affect the beneficial use of
drinking water source?
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What pollutants affect the beneficial use of
aquatic life?
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What water measurements are made in Stream Side
Science?
Temperature Dissolved Oxygen pH Turbidity
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Dissolved Oxygen
Sources Any source of biological material that
generates biological oxygen demand, night time
oxygen uptake by plants, high temperatures, low
flows
UNCE, Reno, NV
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• Fish and other aquatic animals require oxygen in
  a dissolved form.
• Dissolved oxygen enters water through
• Mixing with atmosphere
• Produced by plants
• Dissolved oxygen is removed from water by
• Respiration (both plants and animals)
• Bacterial decomposition of organic material

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Dissolved Oxygen criteria in Utah Minimum
Dissolved Oxygen (MG/L) Cold
Warm Nongame Other water
water 3A 3B 3C 3D 30 Day
Average 6.5 5.5 5.0
5.0 1 Day Average 8.0/4.0 5.0/3.0
3.0 3.0
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• Variability in dissolved oxygen
• Warmer water can hold less oxygen
• May see significant daily variation
• due to plant production and uptake
• Oxygen can sag in rivers below significant
  sources
• of organic material (not common anymore)
• May have very low oxygen in the bottom of lakes
  
• during summer stratification
• Entire lake/reservoir may become anoxic during
  winter
• if ice covered

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pH
Sources Acid precipitation, acid mine drainage
UNCE, Reno, NV
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pH the level of acidity or alkalinity in a
solution.
Low pH can affect membranes (eg. gills of fish or
macroinvertebrates and eggs). May also result in
toxic metals dissolving from sediments, causing
additional toxicity effects.
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pH Scale
pH criteria in Utah An acceptable range is
considered 6.5 8.5
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• Variability in pH in streams and lakes
• Water that flows over or through most Utah
  soils
• is buffered (dissolves carbonate minerals that
• stabilize pH swings).
• Rapid snow melt may result in a drop in pH.
• High rates of photosynthesis in water may cause
• pH to rise during late afternoon.

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Nutrients
UNCE, Reno, NV
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Phosphorus and Nitrogen
Essential nutrients for all plants, including
aquatic plants Typically one or the other is
limiting to aquatic plant production Adding
more of the limiting nutrient ? increased plant
growth until another nutrient or other factor
limits growth
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Excess nutrients
excess aquatic plants
Fish kills
Dead plants decay
Low dissolved oxygen
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Nitrogen Cycle
BR Sources animal waste atmospheric deposition
fertilizers sediment septic systems wwtps
Sources animal waste atmospheric deposition
fertilizers sediment septic systems wwtps
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• Nitrogen is found in different inorganic forms
• Ammonia/ Nitrite Nitrate Nitrogen gas
  Nitrous oxide
• Ammonium
• (NH3) (NO2-) (NO3-) (N2)
  (N2O)
• (NH4)
• Very soluble
• Move rapidly through soils into groundwater
• Nitrate / nitrite can be toxic at high
  concentrations
• Ammonia toxicity depends on pH and temperature
  and how long fish are exposed.

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Nitrogen criteria in Utah Ammonia Criteria
established for specific pH and temperature
conditions Nitrate No criteria set for most
uses Indicator concentration of 4
mg/liter Nitrate drinking water source
criteria 10 mg/liter
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• Variability in nitrogen
• Generally ammonia and nitrite very low in
  unpolluted waters
• Nitrate may decline during growing season
• Toxic forms of ammonia (NH3) may vary due to
  daily and seasonal fluctuations in pH and
  temperature

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Temperature
Sources runoff from heat-absorbing impervious
surfaces, removal of streamside vegetation,
shallow water impoundments, decreased base flow
UNCE, Reno, NV
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Temperature criteria in Utah Criteria
established for cold water and warm
water beneficial uses specific pH and
temperature conditions Coldwater (3A) 20o
C (max change 2o C) Warmwater (3B, 3C) 27o
C (max change 4o C)
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• Variability in temperature
• Primarily seasonal
• May get daily fluctuations, especially when
• stream is fed by snow melt
• Seasonal temperature variability may affect
• toxicity of ammonia

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Sediment (Turbidity)
USDA NRCS
Sources road sand, construction sites,
agricultural fields, disturbed areas
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• Sediments enter water from
• runoff (construction, agriculture, forestry,
  mining)
• stream banks
• remobilized bedload sediment
• Total sediment suspended bedload
• Rivers naturally carry sediment
• Capacity increases with flow
• Excess sediment drops smothers stream substrate
• Causes increased turbidity

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Total Suspended Solids in Utah Total
Suspended Sediment Indicator Concentration Coldw
ater fishery (3A) 35 mg/liter Warmwater
fishery (3B) and recreation (1 and 2B) 90
mg/liter
75th percentile values for Little Bear,
Blacksmith Fk, High Creek, Logan River 75th
percentile value for Bear River and Cub River
(3B)
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• Variability in suspended sediment
• High flows
• Storm events
• change in gradient (lower velocity)
• May see variability from irrigation return
  flows

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Other approaches to monitoring Physical
Biological
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• Focus on phosphorus
• Phosphorus assumed to be limiting in many
  pristine waters in mid-latitudes and in many
  cases, reducing phosphorus reduces aquatic plants
• Phosphorus removal much more feasible and less
  expensive

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Phosphorus Cycle
BR Sources animal waste atmospheric deposition
fertilizers sediment septic systems wwtps
BR Sources animal waste atmospheric deposition
fertilizers sediment septic systems wwtps
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• Variability in Phosphorus
• Higher concentrations of TP during high flows
• (associated with high sediment)
• Biologically available forms may be extremely
  low
• during growing season
• Daily and seasonal fluctuations in DO, pH
• may result in fluctuations of some forms of
• phosphorus

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• For more information, contact USU Water Quality
  Extension at
• [phone]