Transcript Introducing: My Healthy Stream A Handbook for Streamside Owners Streams are the ‘life blood’ of the land, carrying the water that all life depends on Healthy.

Introducing:
My Healthy
Stream
A Handbook for
Streamside Owners
Streams are the ‘life blood’ of the land,
carrying the water that all life depends on
Healthy streams require good stewards
My Healthy Streams provides basic principles
and practices towards good stewardship
2nd expanded edition includes new
chapter on Urban Stream Rehabilitation
Joint project of:
Trout Unlimited and the
Aldo Leopold Foundation
Authors: Jack E. Williams • Michael P. Dombeck • Christopher A. Wood
Editing and Design: Jeannine Richards
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Why do we need
What isstreams?
a
healthy
Healthy Stream?
C
Fish and
wildlife
Make our
property
more livable
Recreation
Clean water
A place to play
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What does a healthy
stream look like?
Floodplains
Riparian areas
Logs
Pools
Boulders
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Many streams need our help
In 2004, 44% of U.S.
streams were not
clean enough for
fishing or swimming.
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What is a watershed?
An area bounded by
mountains or hills where
surface water from rains
or melting snow converges
into a single point.
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A Watershed has a job…
Receive, store, release water
Job performance factors
• Soil
• Terrain steepness
• Wetlands
• Vegetation types
and density
• Land use
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The 3 W’s – Water Quality, Wetlands, & Wildlife
•
Water Quality - Two Sources of Pollution
– Non-Point Source occurs as water flows
over land picking up silt, nutrients, and
pollutants.
– Point Source is easier to identify as a
specific point (e.g. pipe or irrigation canal).
•
Wetlands or riparian areas filter out the
pollutants before they enter the stream.
•
Wildlife and fish depend on healthy
streams to create migration corridors and
connect riparian areas.
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Map shows the native range of trout –
but there are many introductions beyond these areas
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Trout Habitat Requirements
• Cold Water
• Clean Water
• Dissolved Oxygen
• Food
• Holding Habitat
• Spawning Habitat
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Small streams in good condition can be fun!
Thick overhanging vegetation
keeps the water cool for trout
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What can monitoring tell you?
• What condition your stream is in and whether
it is improving or degrading over time;
• Water quality problems and their sources;
• What kind of restoration work is most needed;
and
• How effective management changes are in
achieving the desired condition
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Indicators of a
Healthy Stream
Habitat Complexity
Width-to-depth ratio < 10
Streambank
Vegetation
Mayflies,
caddisflies,
and stoneflies
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Benefits of Long Term Monitoring
•
•
•
•
Baseline conditions
Seasonal variability
Annual variability
Management
effectiveness
• Impacts from floods
and droughts
Careful observation,
repetition, and accurate
recording are critical
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4 Steps to Habitat Mapping
1. Conduct Visual Assessment
Bank erosion
Bank undercuts
In-stream boulders/large wood
Aquatic vegetation
3. Quantify Habitat Types
Pools
Runs
Riffles
Rapids
Waterfalls
2. Measure Stream Channel
Maximum depth of larger pools
Transects
Channel widths
4. Classify Substrates
(streambed material)
Clay
Silt
Sand
Gravel
Cobble
Boulder
Bedrock
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Water Quality Monitoring
• Pollutants
• Macroinvertebrates
• Temperature
• Sediment
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Monitoring Macroinvertebrates
Macroinvertebrates are small
animals without backbones.
• Aquatic insects
• Snails
• Clams
• Worms
• Crayfish
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Aquatic Insects
• Feed on algae, bacteria, leaves and a variety
of decomposing organic matter
• Primary food for wide variety of fish
• Often swarm upstream reversing nutrient
loss caused by downstream flow
Stoneflies
• Different species vary in sensitivity to
pollutants, which indicates health of streams
Caddisflies
Mayflies
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Collecting Macroinvertebrates
What you will need:
• Kick-nets
• D-frame nets
• Plastic tub
• Ice cube trays
• Tweezers
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The EPT Index: their presence indicates good conditions
E – Ephemeroptera (mayflies)
P – Plecoptera (stoneflies)
T – Trichoptera (caddisflies)
• Separate and count the different
kinds of mayflies, stoneflies, and
caddisflies from all of the habitats.
• Adding the three numbers = EPT
Example:
After sampling all habitats
you have found:
4 kinds of mayflies
3 kinds of caddisflies
+ 2 kinds of stoneflies
EPT is 9 and equates to Fair
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Riparian
Habitats
What is riparian habitat?
• The strip of land
adjacent to streams
• Usually wetter and
contains more lush
vegetation
Why is riparian habitat
important?
• Supports a large variety
of wildlife
• Protects streams by
filtering harmful
sediment and pollutants
• Prevents erosion
• Shades streams during
hot days
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How wide should riparian zones be?
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Riparian Restoration Benefits
• Trees provide shade and woody material
for streams
• Stream channels become narrower and
deeper
• Summer stream temperatures are cooler
• Vegetation protects streambanks from
erosion
• Vegetation filters out sediment and other
pollutants before they reach the stream
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Successful Restoration Techniques Include:
• Fence the riparian area
• Increase the width of the
riparian buffer using native
plants
• Narrow the channel to
increase flow
• Willow weaving
• Instream fish habitat
• Culvert replacements
• Irrigation canal screening
• Create shallow wetlands
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Making Stream Restoration a SUCCESS!
• Address the core problems
• If root causes are out of your control, treat
symptoms until the causes can be addressed
• Work with the stream to heal itself
• Add unrestrained large wood and boulders
• Do not rely on fixed artificial structures
• Monitor the results and be adaptive to
future needs
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Urban Streams: conditions and problems
Common Conditions
Resulting Problems
• Deepened and straightened
stream channels
• Habitat quality declines and
erosion increases
• Impervious surfaces
• Accelerated and flashy runoff
• Non-existent native
streamside plants
• Lacking shade to cool water
and fish habitat
• Filled wetlands
• No natural filtration
• Accelerated runoff from
streets and lawns
• Polluted streams struggle to
support aquatic life
• Overwatering of lawns
• Depleted stream flows
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Taking Steps to Improve Urban Streams
• Reduce the use of pesticides
and herbicides
• Manage stormwater runoff
• Restore streamside
vegetation
• Support local stream
rehabilitation efforts
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Invasive Species
• Without natural predators
and competition nonnatives rapidly populate
and crowd out native
species
• Introduction of diseases
and parasites are damaging
to native species
American
Bullfrog
(problem
in West)
Purple
Loosestrife
Reed Canary
Grass
Chinese
Mystery
Snails
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The story of the New Zealand mud snail
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•
•
•
•
First found at aquaculture facilities along
the Snake River, Idaho, in 1987
By 1995 they had spread to the Madison
River in Yellowstone National Park
Now found in at least 12 states
Can reach densities of 300,000 per
square yard!
Eliminates beneficial insects such as
mayflies
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Stopping the Spread of Invasive Species
• Clean and dry waders and
boots
• Remove clumps of mud
• Avoid felt soles
• Remove and dispose of
invasive plants
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How is climate change
affecting streams?
•
•
•
Increasing stream temperatures
Causing earlier snowmelt and earlier
peak flows
Increasing the frequency and
intensity of severe weather, floods
and droughts
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Combating climate change by increasing stream resiliency
• Reconnect streams to their floodplains
• Increase size of riparian zone
• Restore degraded wetlands
• Increase density and types of vegetation
• Reduce stormwater runoff
• Insure that culverts and bridges are of adequate
size to allow floods
• Keep culverts functional by using trash racks
and other means
Resiliency: the ability of a system to recover following disturbance
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Stream Health Requires Planning
• Long term vision for function and physical
appearance
• Be sure to include five to ten year achievable goals
• Remember - a healthy stream is not neat and
straight but complex
• Put it in writing – create a stream management
journal
• Monitor and record existing conditions with
drawings, maps, photos, stream habitat mapping
• Develop a plan of action based upon goals
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How to Make a
Difference
My Healthy Stream has an
additional resources section in
chapter 12 that provides further
information and additional
references.
Obtain copies by contacting:
Jack Williams [email protected]
Sabrina Beus [email protected]
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Ways to Support Healthy Streams
• Join and learn about land
stewardship and conservation
• Join groups involved in
restoration projects and
volunteer your time and
resources with your local
chapter
• Join groups engaged in
environmental education
• Spend more time out enjoying
local streams
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