Crow Wing River Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Report • January 2014 Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
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Crow Wing River Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Report January/2014 Authors Contributors / Acknowledgements Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) The MPCA is reducing printing and mailing costs by Crow Wing River Watershed Report Team: using the Internet to distribute reports and Karsten Klimek, Scott Niemela, Kelly O’Hara, information to wider audience. Visit our website for Jim MacArthur, Bruce Monson, Kevin Stroom, more information. Bonnie Finnerty, Ben Lundeen, MPCA reports are printed on 100 percent post- Dave Christopherson, Andrew Streitz consumer recycled content paper manufactured and Shawn Nelson without chlorine or chlorine derivatives. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Minnesota Department of Health Minnesota Department of Agriculture Becker Soil and Water Conservation District Cass Environmental Services District Clearwater Soil and Water Conservation District Crow Wing County Planning and Zoning Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District Hubbard Soil and Water Conservation District Morrison Soil and Water Conservation District Otter Tail Soil and Water Conservation District Todd Soil and Water Conservation District Wadena Soil and Water Conservation District Citizen Stream Monitoring Program Volunteers Project dollars provided by the Clean Water Fund (from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment). Minnesota Pollution Control Agency 520 Lafayette Road North | Saint Paul, MN 55155-4194 | www.pca.state.mn.us | 651-296-6300 Toll free 800-657-3864 | TTY 651-282-5332 This report is available in alternative formats upon request, and online at www.pca.state.mn.us Document number: wq-ws3-07010106c List of acronyms AUID Assessment Unit Identification MINLEAP Minnesota Lake Eutrophication Determination Analysis Procedure BMP Best Management Practices MLRA Major Land Resource Areas CCSI Channel Condition and Stability Index MPCA Minnesota Pollution Control Agency CD County Ditch MSHA Minnesota Stream Habitat Assessment CI Confidence Interval MTS Meets the Standard CLMP Citizen Lake Monitoring Program MWS Mixed Wood Shield CR County Road MWP Mixed Wood Plains CSAH County State Aid Highway N Nitrogen CSMP Citizen Stream Monitoring Program Nitrate-N Nitrate Plus Nitrite Nitrogen CWA Clean Water Act NA Not Assessed CWLA Clean Water Legacy Act NHD National Hydrologic Dataset DO Dissolved Oxygen NH3 Ammonia DOP Dissolved Orthophosphate NLF Northern Lakes and Forests E Eutrophic NS Not Supporting EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency NT No Trend EQuIS Environmental Quality Information OP Orthophosphate System P Phosphorous EX Exceeds Criteria (Bacteria) PCB Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls EXP Exceeds Criteria, Potential Impairment PFC Perfluorochemicals EXS Exceeds Criteria, Potential Severe PFO Perfluorooctane Impairment PFOS perfluorooctane sulfonate FS Full Support PWI Protected Waters Inventory FWMC Flow Weighted Mean Concentration RNR River Nutrient Region H Hypereutrophic SWAG Surface Water Assessment Grant HGM hydrogeomorphic SWCD Soil and Water Conservation District HUC Hydrologic Unit Code SWUD State Water Use Database IBI Index of Biotic Integrity TALU Tiered Aquatic Life Uses IF Insufficient Information TKN Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen K Potassium TMDL Total Maximum Daily Load LRVW Limited Resource Value Water TP Total Phosphorous M Mesotrophic TSS Total Suspended Solids MCES Metropolitan Council Environmental TSVS Total Suspended Volatile Solids Services USDA United States Department of Agriculture MDA Minnesota Department of Agriculture USGS United States Geological Survey MDH Minnesota Department of Health WPLMN Water Pollutant Load Monitoring MDNR Minnesota Department of Natural Network Resources Crow Wing River Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Report • January 2014 Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Table of Contents Authors ................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Contributors / Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................ 2 List of acronyms .................................................................................................................................1 Executive summary ............................................................................................................................6 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................7 I. The watershed monitoring approach ......................................................................................... 1 Pollutant load monitoring network ........................................................................................................................................ 1 Intensive watershed monitoring ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Citizen and local monitoring ................................................................................................................................................... 4 Assessment methodology ...................................................................................................................................................... 6 Water quality standards ......................................................................................................................................................... 6 Assessment units .................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Determining use attainment .................................................................................................................................................. 7 Data management .................................................................................................................................................................. 9 Period of record ..................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Watershed overview .............................................................................................................................................................. 9 Land use summary ............................................................................................................................................................... 14 Surface water hydrology ...................................................................................................................................................... 16 Climate and precipitation ..................................................................................................................................................... 16 Hydrogeology and groundwater quality............................................................................................................................... 19 High capacity withdrawals.................................................................................................................................................... 19 Watershed-wide data collection methodology .................................................................................... 21 Pollutant load monitoring .................................................................................................................................................... 21 Stream water sampling ........................................................................................................................................................ 22 Stream biological sampling .................................................................................................................................................. 22 Fish contaminants ................................................................................................................................................................ 23 Lake water sampling............................................................................................................................................................. 24 Groundwater monitoring ..................................................................................................................................................... 24 Wetland monitoring ............................................................................................................................................................. 28 Individual watershed results ............................................................................................................... 31 HUC-11 Watershed units ...................................................................................................................................................... 31 Stream assessments ............................................................................................................................................................. 32 Channelized stream evaluations .......................................................................................................................................... 32 Stream habitat results .........................................................................................................................................................