Alternative Restoration Plan for the Fishing Creek Watershed
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FISHING CREEK WATERSHED ALTERNATIVE RESTORATION PLAN Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Prepared by: September 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................................................... 5 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................................................... 6 THREATENED AND RARE SPECIES ........................................................................................................................... 7 CLASSIFICATION AND POLLUTION STATUS ............................................................................................................. 8 TABLE 1. INTEGRATED WATER QUALITY MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT REPORT LISTED SEGMENTS SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................................. 8 BASIC STEPS FOR DETERMINING AN ARP ............................................................................................................................ 9 ARP ELEMENTS: AL = UF + SL ................................................................................................................................................ 9 FUTURE MODIFICATIONS ................................................................................................................................................... 10 ARP APPROACH ................................................................................................................................................................... 10 SELECTION OF THE REFERENCE WATERSHED ................................................................................................................... 10 TABLE 2. COMPARISON OF THE FISHING CREEK WATERSHED AND MARSH CREEK WATERSHED.................... 11 Figure 1. Fishing Creek Watershed (left side/impaired) and Marsh Creek Watershed (right side/reference), not to scale. ....................................................................................................................................................... 12 HYDROLOGIC / WATER QUALITY MODELING .................................................................................................................... 12 WATERSHED ASSESSMENT AND MODELING ..................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 2. Unstable streambanks and cattle with free access to the stream in the Fishing Creek Watershed ........................................................................................................................................................................... 15 TABLE 3. EXISTING SEDIMENT LOADING VALUES FOR FISHING CREEK, IMPAIRED.......................................... 16 TABLE 4. EXISTING SEDIMENT VALUES FOR MARSH CREEK, REFERENCE ........................................................ 16 DEVELOPMENT OF ARP ....................................................................................................................................................... 17 TABLE 5. AL VALUES FOR THE FISHING CREEK WATERSHED ........................................................................... 17 UNCERTAINTY FACTOR ....................................................................................................................................................... 18 SOURCE LOAD ..................................................................................................................................................................... 18 LOADS NOT REDUCED AND ADJUSTED SOURCE LOAD ..................................................................................................... 18 TABLE 6. SL, LNR AND ASL ................................................................................................................................. 19 ARP SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................................................... 19 TABLE 7. AL COMPONENTS FOR THE FISHING CREEK WATERSHED ................................................................. 20 CALCULATION OF LOAD REDUCTIONS NEEDED ................................................................................................................ 20 TABLE 8. SEDIMENT REDUCTIONS NEEDED FROM SOURCES IN THE FISHING CREEK WATERSHED, ANNUAL VALUES ................................................................................................................................................................... 21 CRITICAL CONDITIONS ........................................................................................................................................................ 21 SEASONAL VARIATIONS ...................................................................................................................................................... 21 BACKGROUND CONTRIBUTIONS ........................................................................................................................................ 22 PHASED RESTORATION MILESTONES ................................................................................................................................. 22 Figure 3. Project partners in watershed restoration at a stream stabilization site in Fishing Creek. ............. 24 Figure 4. Stream Restoration Design. This has been successfully constructed. ............................................... 25 Figure 5. Unstable streambanks carving through legacy sediments pre-construction. Before photo ........... 26 Figure 6. Stabilized streambanks post-treatment at the same site. After photo ............................................ 26 TABLE 9. PHASED SEDIMENT LOAD REDUCTIONS ............................................................................................... 27 ECOLOGICAL MONITORING ................................................................................................................................................ 27 Figure 7. Macroinvertebrate and habitat assessment results in the Fishing Creek Watershed pre-BMP implementation. ................................................................................................................................................ 28 RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................................................................................................... 28 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ....................................................................................................................................................... 29 ATTACHMENT A .................................................................................................................................................................. 30 MAPS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 30 Figure A1. Fishing Creek Watershed Impairments and ARP Zone ...................................................................... 31 Figure A2. Fishing Creek Watershed Designated Uses and ARP Zone ................................................................ 32 Figure A3. Marsh Creek Watershed, Reference for ARP ..................................................................................... 33 ATTACHMENT B ................................................................................................................................................................... 34 EQUAL MARGINAL PERCENT REDUCTION METHOD ............................................................................................ 34 TABLE B1. SEDIMENT EQUAL MARGINAL PERCENT REDUCTION CALCULATIONS FOR THE FISHING CREEK WATERSHED ........................................................................................................................................................... 36 ATTACHMENT C ................................................................................................................................................................... 37 STREAM RESTORATION PROJECTS AND BMPS .................................................................................................... 37 FIGURE C1. STREAM RESTORATION DESIGN. CONSTRUCTION WAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED. .................. 38 FIGURE C2. STREAM RESTORATION DESIGN. CONSTRUCTION WAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED. DRONE VIDEO OF CONSTRUCTION CAN BE FOUND AT THIS LINK: HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=YBE90H62KJM&FEATURE=YOUTU.BE ................................................. 39 FIGURE C3. FUTURE STREAM RESTORATION DESIGN. CONSTRUCTION IN LATE 2019. ..................................... 40 TABLE C4. WATERSHED BMPS MODELED INTO PHASES 1 AND 2. ...................................................................... 41 ATTACHMENT D .................................................................................................................................................................. 42 PENNSYLVANIA INTEGRATED WATER QUALITY MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT REPORT - STREAMS, CATEGORY 5 WATERBODIES ................................................................................................................................. 42 TABLE D1. FISHING CREEK WATERSHED LIST OF IMPAIRED STREAM SEGMENTS ..........................................