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Aquatic Vegetation Assessment of Putah Creek, Lake Solano, the Putah South Canal, and the Terminal Reservoir

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Aquatic Vegetation Assessment of Putah Creek, Lake Solano, the Putah South Canal, and the Terminal Reservoir Aquatic Vegetation Assessment of Putah Creek, Lake Solano, the Putah South Canal, and the Terminal Reservoir July 2011-June 2013 Prepared for: Solano County Water Agency Prepared by: Emily Peffer University of California, Davis Graduate Group in Ecology Department of Plant Sciences One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616 1 Table of Contents Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................... 2 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................ 6 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 The Solano Project ........................................................................................................................ 9 1.3 Problem Statement ...................................................................................................................... 9 1.3.1 Study Goals .......................................................................................................................... 10 1.3.2 Objectives ............................................................................................................................ 11 2 Methods ............................................................................................................................................ 13 2.1 Putah South Canal ...................................................................................................................... 13 2.1.1 Macrophyte and algae sampling ......................................................................................... 13 2.1.2 Sediment and water sampling ............................................................................................. 14 2.1.3 Physical/chemical parameters ............................................................................................ 15 2.2 Terminal Reservoir ..................................................................................................................... 16 2.2.2 Macrophyte and algae sampling ......................................................................................... 16 2.2.3 Sediment and water sampling ............................................................................................. 17 2.2.4 Physical/chemical parameters ............................................................................................ 17 2.3 Lake Solano ................................................................................................................................. 18 2.3.2 Macrophyte and algae sampling ......................................................................................... 19 2.3.3 Sediment and water sampling ............................................................................................. 19 2.3.4 Physical/chemical parameters ............................................................................................ 19 2.4 Putah Creek ................................................................................................................................ 22 2.4.2 Macrophyte sampling .......................................................................................................... 22 2.4.3 Sediment and water sampling ............................................................................................. 22 2 2.4.4 Physical/chemical parameters ............................................................................................ 23 3 Results and Discussion ....................................................................................................................... 24 3.1 Putah South Canal ...................................................................................................................... 24 3.1.1 Algae .................................................................................................................................... 24 3.1.2 Macrophytes ........................................................................................................................ 27 3.1.3 Comparison of 2011 PSC vegetation survey with 2007 survey ........................................... 33 3.1.1 Water samples ..................................................................................................................... 33 3.1.2 Sediment samples ............................................................................................................... 33 3.1.3 Physical/chemical parameters ............................................................................................ 34 3.2 Terminal Reservoir ..................................................................................................................... 37 3.2.1 Plants and Algae .................................................................................................................. 37 3.2.2 Sediment samples ............................................................................................................... 38 3.2.3 Water samples ..................................................................................................................... 39 3.2.4 Physical/chemical parameters ............................................................................................ 39 3.3 Lake Solano ................................................................................................................................. 42 3.3.1 Algae .................................................................................................................................... 42 3.3.2 Macrophytes ........................................................................................................................ 42 3.3.3 Sediment .............................................................................................................................. 48 3.3.4 Water samples ..................................................................................................................... 55 3.3.5 Physical/chemical parameters ............................................................................................ 56 3.3.6 Year-long temperature data ................................................................................................ 68 3.3.1 Light ..................................................................................................................................... 70 3.4 Putah Creek (IDR) ....................................................................................................................... 72 3.4.1 Macrophytes ........................................................................................................................ 72 3.4.2 Sediment .............................................................................................................................. 75 3.4.3 Water samples ..................................................................................................................... 78 3 3.4.4 Physical/chemical parameters ............................................................................................ 78 4 Data Modeling ................................................................................................................................... 81 4.1 Modeling approach .................................................................................................................... 81 4.2 Modeling results ......................................................................................................................... 84 4.3 Model performance.................................................................................................................... 94 5 Recommendations for Management ................................................................................................ 97 5.1 Interdam Reach .......................................................................................................................... 97 5.1.1 Direct removal or reduction of macrophytes in the IDR ..................................................... 97 5.1.2 Scouring flows ..................................................................................................................... 98 5.1.3 Increasing the depth of Lake Solano ................................................................................... 99 5.1.4 Shading macrophytes with benthic barriers ..................................................................... 100 5.1.5 Converting wide, shallow areas of Lake Solano to marsh or floodplain ........................... 100 5.2 Putah South Canal and Terminal Reservoir .............................................................................. 102 5.2.1 Scouring flows ................................................................................................................... 102 5.2.2 Physical dislodging of macrophytes .................................................................................. 102 5.2.3 Repairing, sealing, or covering cracks and seams in the PSC ............................................ 102 5.2.4 Reducing sediment input from upstream sources ............................................................ 102 5.2.5 Improving canal
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