Targeted Biological Assessment for Streams Within the West And
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Targeted Biological Assessment of Streams in the West River and Rhode River Watersheds, Anne Arundel County, Maryland: 2012 Anne Arundel County, Maryland Department of Public Works Watershed, Ecosystem, and Restoration Services Targeted Biological Assessment of Streams in the West River and Rhode River Watersheds, Anne Arundel County, Maryland: 2012 August 2012 - Final Report Prepared for: Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works Watershed, Ecosystem, and Restoration Services Watershed Assessment and Planning Program 2662 Riva Road, P.O. Box 6675 Annapolis, Maryland 21401 Prepared by: KCI Technologies, Inc. 936 Ridgebrook Road Sparks, Maryland 21152 West and Rhode Rivers Watersheds Year 2012 Targeted Biological Monitoring and Assessment CONTENTS Background and Objectives .................................................................................................................... 4 1 Methods ...................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Selection of Sampling Sites.................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Impervious Surface/GIS Analysis ........................................................................................... 9 1.3 Water Quality Sampling ........................................................................................................ 9 1.4 Physical Habitat Assessment ............................................................................................... 10 1.5 Benthic Macroinvertebrate Sampling ................................................................................. 11 1.5.1 Sample Processing and Laboratory Identification .......................................................... 12 1.5.2 Biological Data Analysis................................................................................................... 12 1.6 Correlations ......................................................................................................................... 13 2 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 14 2.1 Impervious Surface Analysis ................................................................................................ 14 2.2 Water Quality ...................................................................................................................... 18 2.3 Physical Habitat Assessment ............................................................................................... 20 2.4 Benthic Macroinvertebrates ............................................................................................... 25 2.5 Quality Assurance/Quality Control ...................................................................................... 32 3 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 32 3.1 Land Use and Impervious Surface ....................................................................................... 32 3.2 Water Chemistry ................................................................................................................. 32 3.3 Physical Habitat ................................................................................................................... 34 3.4 Biological Condition ............................................................................................................. 35 3.5 Integrated Assessment ........................................................................................................ 36 4 References ................................................................................................................................ 43 1 West and Rhode Rivers Watersheds Year 2012 Targeted Biological Monitoring and Assessment FIGURES Figure 1 – Study Area Vicinity Map .......................................................................................................... 7 Figure 2 – West and Rhode Rivers Subwatershed Map ........................................................................... 8 Figure 3 - Histogram showing the distribution of percent imperviousness for 26 targeted sites in the Rhode River watershed and 24 targeted sites in the West River watershed. ............................... 15 Figure 4 – Bioassessment Results Map .................................................................................................. 17 Figure 5 - RBP scores for 26 targeted sites in the Rhode River watershed and 24 targeted sites in the West River watershed .................................................................................................................... 21 Figure 6 - PHI scores for 26 targeted sites in the Rhode River watershed and 24 targeted sites in the West River watershed .................................................................................................................... 21 Figure 7 (a-f) – Histograms showing distributions of selected RBP metric values for 26 targeted sites in the Rhode River watershed and 24 targeted sites in the West River watershed. ..................... 24 Figure 8 - BIBI scores for 26 targeted sites in the Rhode River watershed and 24 targeted sites in the West River watershed .................................................................................................................... 25 Figure 9 (a-g) – Histograms showing distributions of individual BIBI metric values for 26 targeted sites in the Rhode River watershed and 24 targeted sites in the West River watershed. ..................... 28 Figure 10 - Natural Soil Groups in Anne Arundel County ...................................................................... 33 Figure 11 – Comparison of RBP and PHI habitat assessment scores for 50 targeted sites in the West and Rhode Rivers watersheds. ....................................................................................................... 35 Figure 12 – Correlation between RBP habitat assessment score and BIBI score for 50 targeted sites in the West and Rhode Rivers watersheds. ....................................................................................... 39 Figure 13 – Correlation between PHI habitat assessment score and BIBI score for 50 targeted sites in the West and Rhode Rivers watersheds. ....................................................................................... 40 Figure 14 - Correlation of Epifaunal Substrate Score with BIBI Score for 50 targeted sites in the West and Rhode Rivers watersheds. ....................................................................................................... 41 TABLES Table 1 – Sampling Sites and Corresponding Subwatersheds ................................................................. 5 Table 2 – RBP Low Gradient Habitat Parameters .................................................................................. 10 Table 3 – RBP Habitat Score and Ratings ............................................................................................... 11 Table 4 – PHI Coastal Plain Parameters ................................................................................................. 11 Table 5 – PHI Score and Ratings ............................................................................................................. 11 Table 6 - Biological Condition Scoring for the Coastal Plain Benthic Macroinvertebrates .................... 13 Table 7 – BIBI Scoring and Rating........................................................................................................... 13 Table 8 – Drainage Area and Imperviousness ........................................................................................ 15 Table 9 – Instream Water Quality Results ............................................................................................. 19 Table 10 – Physical Habitat Assessment Results ................................................................................... 22 Table 11 – Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (BIBI) Summary Data ........................................................ 25 Table 12 – Percent Abundance (by top 30 taxa) .................................................................................... 29 Table 13 – Percent Occurrence (by top 30 taxa) ................................................................................... 30 Table 14 – Chironomidae Analysis ......................................................................................................... 31 Table 15 - Baltimore average monthly precipitation and temperature data ........................................ 34 Table 16 – Consolidated Assessment Results ........................................................................................ 36 Table 17 – Station Biological Potential Matrix ....................................................................................... 37 Table 18 - Water quality exceedences by site. Colors correspond with the biological potential matrix in Table 14 using the RBP rating. ................................................................................................... 42 2 West and Rhode Rivers Watersheds Year 2012 Targeted Biological Monitoring and Assessment APPENDICES Appendix A: Site Summaries Appendix B: Bioassessment Results Maps Appendix C: QA/QC Procedures and Results Appendix D: Natural Soil Groups of Maryland Appendix E: Kendall Rank Correlations