Water Quality of Rivers in the Duck River Catchment
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Water Quality of Rivers in the Duck River Catchment A Report Forming Part of the Requirements for ‘State of Rivers’ Reporting PART 4 Authors: Christopher Bobbi David Andrews Mark Bantich Environmental & Resource Analysis, Hydro Tasmania December 2003 Copyright Notice: Material contained in the report provided is subject to Australian copyright law. Other than in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 of the Commonwealth Parliament, no part of this report may, in any form or by any means, be reproduced, transmitted or used. This report cannot be redistributed for any commercial purpose whatsoever, or distributed to a third party for such purpose, without prior written permission being sought from the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment, on behalf of the Crown in Right of the State of Tasmania. Disclaimer: Whilst DPIWE has made every attempt to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information and data provided, it is the responsibility of the data user to make their own decisions about the accuracy, currency, reliability and correctness of information provided. The Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment, its employees and agents, and the Crown in the Right of the State of Tasmania do not accept any liability for any damage caused by, or economic loss arising from, reliance on this information. Preferred Citation: DPIWE (2003) State of the River Report for the Duck River Catchment. Water Assessment and Planning Branch, Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment, Hobart. Technical Report No. WAP 03/08 ISSN: 1449-5996 The Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment The Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment provides leadership in the sustainable management and development of Tasmania’s resources. The Mission of the Department is to advance Tasmania’s prosperity through the sustainable development of our natural resources and the conservation of our natural and cultural heritage for the future. The Water Resources Division provides a focus for water management and water development in Tasmania through a diverse range of functions including the design of policy and regulatory frameworks to ensure sustainable use of the surface water and groundwater resources; monitoring, assessment and reporting on the condition of the State’s freshwater resources; facilitation of infrastructure development projects to ensure the efficient and sustainable supply of water; and implementation of the Water Management Act 1999, related legislation and the State Water Development Plan. i 2.5 Diurnal Water Quality Variations During the study, continuous monitoring equipment was deployed at three sites within the Duck River. The sites investigated were: DR1 – Duck River at Bass Highway; DR4 – Duck River at Scotchtown Rd; and DR20 – Duck River at Roger River On one occasion, two multi-parameter loggers were deployed simultaneously to compare diurnal changes at a location in the upper reaches of the Duck River (DR20) with that occurring lower down the river (DR4), where nutrient input to the river was likely to be higher. The following section presents the data collected during these logging events and discusses the time series in relation to the nutrient data discussed in earlier sections. The diurnal pattern of change in water temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH at DR1 was recorded in February 1999. The traces from this logging event are shown in Figure 2.40 and Figure 2.41, and were recorded during stable weather conditions. These data can be compared to a similar (but longer) logging event carried out site DR4 in February the following year (Figures 2.42 & 2.43). These traces show that the daily variation in water temperature in the lower reaches of the river during the middle of summer are typically about 2 oC. The traces also clearly show that the pattern and scale of daily changes is influenced by the prevailing weather conditions (Figure 2.42), and this also has some influence on changes in other parameters. The scale of daily variation in dissolved oxygen saturation is similar at both DR1 and DR4, with diurnal changes of about 10-15%. The minimum saturation levels at both sites tended to occur in the early hours of the morning (between 2AM and 6AM), although the minimum saturation level at DR4 was much lower than at DR1 downstream. Daily minimum saturation levels at DR4 fell below 70% on all four days of monitoring, and may be an indication of the impact of the heavy siltation and nutrient enrichment that has occurred at this site. There is a stream-gauging weir at this site that has encouraged the deposition of silt at this site, and prolific growth of Cumbungi (Typha spp.) and stock access immediately upstream are likely to have compounded this problem. The pH at both sites is alkaline, with daily changes mirroring that of changes in dissolved oxygen. Peaks in pH levels tend to coincide with peaks in dissolved oxygen. The data from all three logging events carried out in the upper Duck River at DR20 (Roger River) are plotted together to better illustrate seasonal changes as well as the diurnal variations at this site. These data were collected in January, February and March of 2000, when low flows and warm water temperatures were likely to have resulted in ‘high stress’ conditions. The data from this site (Figure 2.45) indicates that oxygen levels during the logging periods are consistently lower than those found downstream at site DR1 and DR4, with peak saturation only reaching about 68% and minimum levels of about 56%. The dissolved oxygen data from this site is confusing when considered in terms of riparian cover and instream condition, both of which are in a moderately healthy state (see other chapters of the ‘State of Rivers’ report). Unlike the two downstream sites that were examined (DR1 & DR4), there is no evidence of excessive deposition of silt at this site, and there appears to be a good input of native large woody debris to the river here. However, these data do corroborate the monthly monitoring data recorded at this site (see Figure 2.12), which shows that dissolved oxygen at this site is generally depressed compared to other sites in the catchment that were examined. Further examination of this situation may be warranted, though there is no indication that the low dissolved oxygen levels at this site are impacting on the health of the aquatic macroinvertebrate community. 54 19 100 18.5 18 90 17.5 Dissolved Oxygen (%Sat) Dissolved Water Temperature (Deg C) (Deg Temperature Water 17 80 16.5 Temperature DO% 16 70 23/02/99 9:00 23/02/99 21:00 24/02/99 9:00 24/02/99 21:00 25/02/99 9:00 25/02/99 21:00 Figure 2.40: Diurnal variation in temperature and dissolved oxygen during late February 1999 in the Duck River at Bass Highway (DR1). 19 8.2 18.5 8.1 18 17.5 8 Field pH Field Water Temperature (Deg C) (Deg Temperature Water 17 7.9 16.5 Temperature pH 16 7.8 23/02/99 9:00 23/02/99 21:00 24/02/99 9:00 24/02/99 21:00 25/02/99 9:00 25/02/99 21:00 Figure 2.41: Diurnal variation in temperature and pH during late February 1999 in the Duck River at Bass Highway (DR1). 55 21 90 20 80 19 70 Dissolved Oxygen (%Sat) Dissolved Water Temperature (Deg C) (Deg Temperature Water 18 60 Temperature DO% 17 50 21/02/00 12:00 22/02/00 12:00 23/02/00 12:00 24/02/00 12:00 25/02/00 12:00 Figure 2.42: Diurnal variation in temperature and dissolved oxygen during late February 2000 in the Duck River at Scotchtown (DR4). 20.5 8.05 8 20 7.95 19.5 7.9 19 7.85 18.5 7.8 Field pH 7.75 18 Water Temperature (Deg C) Temperature Water 7.7 17.5 7.65 17 Temperature 7.6 pH 16.5 7.55 21/02/00 12:00 22/02/00 12:00 23/02/00 12:00 24/02/00 12:00 25/02/00 12:00 Figure 2.43: Diurnal variation in temperature and pH during late February 2000 in the Duck River at Scotchtown (DR4). 56 18 16 14 Water Temperature (Deg C) (Deg Temperature Water 12 January February March 10 3:00 15:00 3:00 15:00 3:00 15:00 3:00 15:00 3:00 15:0 Time (24 Hour) Figure 2.44: Diurnal variation in water temperature in the Duck River at Roger River (DR20) recorded during temporary deployment of monitoring equipment in January, February and March 2000. 75.00 70.00 65.00 60.00 Dissolved Oxygen (%Sat) Oxygen Dissolved 55.00 January February March 50.00 3:00 15:00 3:00 15:00 3:00 15:00 3:00 15:00 3:00 15:00 Time (24 Hour) Figure 2.45: Diurnal variation in dissolved oxygen saturation in the Duck River at Roger River (DR20) recorded during temporary deployment of monitoring equipment in January, February and March 2000. 57 3 Nutrient Load Estimates 3.1 Background Nutrient load estimates were derived from nutrient, suspended solids, turbidity and flow data collected from the Duck River at the Scotchtown Rd stream gauging site, 8 km upstream of the Smithton township (DR4). Nutrient data was collected by two methods; through regular monthly sampling and opportunistic sampling targeting flood events. Turbidity data was collected manually during monthly and flood sampling in addition to being logged continuously in conjunction with flow data from the site. Thirty five monthly nutrient samples were collected from DR4 between March 1999 and December 2001 in addition to 13 trimonthly general ions samples.