(Headwaters) Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Report
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Mississippi River (Headwaters) Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Report January 2017 Authors The MPCA is reducing printing and mailing costs by using the Internet to distribute reports and MPCA Mississippi River (Headwaters) Watershed information to wider audience. Visit our Report Team: Chad R. Anderson, Lee Engel, Nathan Sather, website for more information. Kevin Stroom, Jim MacArthur, Sophia Vaughan, MPCA reports are printed on 100% post- John Genet, Dave Christopherson, Bruce Monson, consumer recycled content paper Shawn Nelson manufactured without chlorine or chlorine derivatives. Contributors/acknowledgements Citizen Stream Monitoring Program Volunteers Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Minnesota Department of Health Minnesota Department of Agriculture Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Leech Lake Department of Natural Resources Itasca County SWCD Hubbard County SWCD Headwaters Science Center Minnesota Pollution Control Agency 520 Lafayette Road North | Saint Paul, MN 55155-4194 | 651-296-6300 | 800-657-3864 | Or use your preferred relay service. | [email protected] This report is available in alternative formats upon request, and online at www.pca.state.mn.us. Document number: wq-ws3-07010101b List of acronyms AUID Assessment Unit Identification MINLEAP Minnesota Lake Eutrophication Determination Analysis Procedure 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 N Nitrogen CR County Road Nitrate-N Nitrate Plus Nitrite Nitrogen CSAH County State Aid Highway NA Not Assessed CSMP Citizen Stream Monitoring Program NHD National Hydrologic Dataset CWA Clean Water Act NH3 Ammonia CWLA Clean Water Legacy Act NS Not Supporting DNR Minnesota Department of Natural NT No Trend Resources OP Orthophosphate DOP Dissolved Orthophosphate P Phosphorous E Eutrophic PCB Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls EQuIS Environmental Quality Information PWI Protected Waters Inventory System RNR River Nutrient Region EX Exceeds Criteria (Bacteria) SWAG Surface Water Assessment Grant EXP Exceeds Criteria, Potential Impairment SWCD Soil and Water Conservation District EXS Exceeds Criteria, Potential Severe Impairment SWUD State Water Use Database FS Full Support TALU Tiered Aquatic Life Uses FWMC Flow Weighted Mean Concentration TKN Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen H Hypereutrophic TMDL Total Maximum Daily Load HUC Hydrologic Unit Code TP Total Phosphorous IBI Index of Biotic Integrity TSS Total Suspended Solids IF Insufficient Information USGS United States Geological Survey K Potassium WPLMN Water Pollutant Load Monitoring LRVW Limited Resource Value Water Network M Mesotrophic MCES Metropolitan Council Environmental Services MDA Minnesota Department of Agriculture MDH Minnesota Department of Health Contents Executive summary ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 2 I. The watershed monitoring approach ....................................................................................................... 3 II. Assessment methodology ........................................................................................................................ 7 III. Watershed overview .......................................................................................................................... 12 IV. Watershed-wide data collection methodology.................................................................................. 25 V. Individual subwatershed results ............................................................................................................ 36 Little Mississippi River Subwatershed HUC 0701010101-01 ............................. 38 Grant Creek Subwatershed HUC 0701010101-02 ........................................................... 43 Headwaters Mississippi River Subwatershed HUC 0701010102-01 ................................................... 49 Hennepin Creek Subwatershed HUC 0701010102-02 ...................................................... 54 Schoolcraft River Subwatershed HUC 0701010103-01 ...................................................................... 60 Turtle River Subwatershed HUC 0701010104-01 ............................................................................ 67 North Turtle River Subwatershed HUC 0701010104-02 .......................................................... 75 Cass Lake-Mississippi River Subwatershed HUC 0701010105-01 ..................................................... 81 Third River Subwatershed HUC 0701010106-01 ............................................................................ 88 Lake Winnibigoshish Subwatershed HUC 0701010107-01 ............................................................... 94 Deer River Subwatershed HUC 0701010108-01 ............................................................................. 99 Ball Club Lake Subwatershed HUC 0701010109-03 ...................................................................... 105 Vermillion River Subwatershed HUC 0701010109-02 ..................................................................... 109 Pokegama Lake-Mississippi River Subwatershed HUC 0701010109-01 ............................. 115 VI. Watershed-wide results and discussion........................................................................................... 122 VII. Summaries and recommendations .................................................................................................. 138 Literature cited ................................................................................................................................................. 141 Appendix 1. Water chemistry definitions ................................................................................................ 144 Appendix 2. Intensive watershed monitoring water chemistry stations in the Mississippi River (Headwaters) Watershed ............................................................................................................................. 146 Appendix 3.1 AUID table of stream assessment results (by parameter and beneficial use) ................ 147 Appendix 3.2 Assessment results for lakes in the Upper Mississippi River (Headwaters) Watershed . 151 Appendix 4.1 Minnesota statewide IBI thresholds and confidence limits ............................................ 158 Appendix 4.2 Biological monitoring results – fish IBI (assessable reaches) .......................................... 159 Appendix 4.3 Biological monitoring results – macroinvertebrate IBI (assessable reaches) .................. 162 Appendix 5.1 Minnesota’s ecoregion-based lake eutrophication standards ........................................ 164 Appendix 6. Fish species found during biological monitoring surveys .................................................... 165 Appendix 7. Macroinvertebrate species found during biological monitoring surveys ............................ 167 Appendix 8. Summary statistics of fish length, mercury, and PCBs, by waterway-species-year ............. 177 Figures Figure 1. WPLMN monitoring sites in the Mississippi River (Headwaters) Watershed ........................................ 3 Figure 2. The intensive watershed monitoring design. ........................................................................................ 5 Figure 3. Intensive watershed monitoring sites for streams in the Mississippi River (Headwaters) Watershed. 6 Figure 4. Monitoring locations of local groups, citizens and the MPCA lake monitoring staff in the Mississippi River (Headwaters) Watershed. ........................................................................................................................... 7 Figure 5. Flowchart of aquatic life use assessment process. .............................................................................. 11 Figure 6. Location of feedlots and permitted facilities in the Mississippi River (Headwaters) Watershed within the Northern lakes and Forest ecoregion of North-Central Minnesota Land use summary. ............................. 13 Figure 7. Land use in the Mississippi River (Headwaters) Watershed. ............................................................... 14 Figure 8. Map of percent modified streams by major Watershed (8-HUC)........................................................ 16 Figure 9. Comparison of natural to altered streams in the Upper Mississippi River (Headwaters) Watershed (percentages derived from the Statewide Altered Water Course project). ....................................................... 17 Figure 10. Statewide precipitation levels during the [2013] water year. ........................................................... 18 Figure 11. Precipitation trends in North Central Minnesota (1995-2014) with five-year running average. ...... 18 Figure 12. Precipitation trends in North Central Minnesota (1915-2014) with ten-year running average. ....... 19 Figure 13. Quaternary geology, glacial sediments within the Mississippi River (Headwaters) Watershed (GIS Source: MGS, 1982) ............................................................................................................................................ 20 Figure 14. Bedrock geology of the Mississippi River-Headwaters