Amazon Basin and Willamette River Macroinvertebrate Study, Oregon, Fall 2011
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AMAZON BASIN AND WILLAMETTE RIVER MACROINVERTEBRATE STUDY, OREGON, FALL 2011 JENA L. LEMKE AND MICHAEL B. COLE PREPARED FOR CITY OF EUGENE PUBLIC WORKS–WASTEWATER DIVISION EUGENE, OREGON PREPARED BY ABR, INC.–ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH & SERVICES FOREST GROVE, OREGON AMAZON BASIN AND WILLAMETTE RIVER MACROINVERTEBRATE STUDY, OREGON, FALL 2011 FINAL REPORT Prepared for City of Eugene Public Works–Wastewater Division 410 River Avenue Eugene, Oregon 97404 Prepared by Jena L. Lemke and Michael B. Cole ABR, Inc.–Environmental Research and Services P.O. Box 249 Forest Grove, Oregon 97116 December 2011 Printed on recycled paper. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................................................iii LIST OF TABLES........................................................................................................................................iii LIST OF APPENDICES...............................................................................................................................iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................................iv INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 1 STUDY AREA .............................................................................................................................................. 1 METHODS.................................................................................................................................................... 1 STUDY REACH SELECTION.................................................................................................................. 1 FIELD DATA COLLECTION .................................................................................................................. 1 PHYSICAL HABITAT ASSESSMENTS.................................................................................................. 4 STREAM REACHES............................................................................................................................... 4 RIVER REACHES................................................................................................................................... 6 WATER CHEMISTRY SAMPLING......................................................................................................... 6 MACROINVERTEBRATE COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT ................................................................... 6 FIELD SAMPLING ................................................................................................................................. 6 SAMPLE SORTING AND MACROINVERTEBRATE IDENTIFICATION ....................................... 7 QUALITY ASSURANCE ....................................................................................................................... 7 DATA ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................................. 7 RESULTS...................................................................................................................................................... 9 ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS......................................................................................................... 9 STREAM REACHES............................................................................................................................... 9 DELTA PONDS..................................................................................................................................... 10 RIVER REACHES................................................................................................................................. 10 MACROINVERTEBRATE COMMUNITY CONDITIONS .................................................................. 11 STREAM REACHES............................................................................................................................. 11 DELTA PONDS..................................................................................................................................... 13 RIVER REACHES................................................................................................................................. 13 DISCUSSION.............................................................................................................................................. 13 RECOMMENDATIONS SUMMARY....................................................................................................... 18 LITERATURE CITED................................................................................................................................ 19 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Reaches sampled for macroinvertebrates, physical habitat, and water chemistry in the City of Eugene study area, Oregon, fall 2011 .......................................................................... 3 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Study reaches sampled in the City of Eugene study area, Oregon, fall 2011........................... 2 Table 2. Environmental parameters measured in the field to characterize stream reaches in the City of Eugene study area, Oregon, fall 2011 .......................................................................... 4 Table 3. Metric set and scoring criteria used to assess condition of macroinvertebrate communities in river reaches within the City of Eugene study area, Oregon, fall 2011.......... 8 Table 4. Multimetric score ranges for assignment of macroinvertebrate community condition levels......................................................................................................................................... 9 iii City of Eugene Macroinvertebrate Study Table 5. Environmental conditions of survey stream reaches from which macroinvertebrates were sampled in the City of Eugene study area, Oregon, fall 2011 ....................................... 10 Table 6. Habitat parameter scores of Willamette River reaches from which macroinvertebrates were sampled in the City of Eugene study area, Oregon, fall 2011 ....................................... 11 Table 7. Water quality of Willamette River reaches from which macroinvertebrates were sampled in the City of Eugene study area, Oregon, fall 2011 .............................................................. 12 Table 8. Marine Western Coastal Forest O/E scores for macroinvertebrate communities sampled from eight stream reaches in the City of Eugene study area, Oregon, fall 2008 and 2011 .... 12 Table 9. Individual community metrics for macroinvertebrate communities sampled from eight stream reaches in the City of Eugene study area, Oregon, fall 2008 and 2011...................... 14 Table 10. Marine Western Coastal Forest O/E scores for macroinvertebrate communities sampled from four river reaches in the City of Eugene study area, Oregon, fall 2011 ........................ 15 Table 11. Individual community metrics for macroinvertebrate communities sampled from river reaches in the City of Eugene study area, Oregon, fall 2011 ................................................. 16 Table 12. Multimetric scores and corresponding impairment classes for macroinvertebrate communities sampled from four river reaches in the City of Eugene study area, Oregon, fall 2011.................................................................................................................... 17 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1. Reach Summaries ........................................................................................................... 21 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Tom Mendes, Environmental Data Analyst for the City of Eugene, for supporting this study, administering the contract, and serving as the Project Manager. We also thank the landowners that kindly allowed us to access their properties; private landowners include Wildish Companies, Eugene Sand and Gravel, and H. and M. Hudson. Field work was performed by ABR staff members, Jena Lemke and Katri Laukkanen. Nick Haxton processed the associated macroinvertebrate samples, while Ann Gregoire performed all of the taxonomic identification work. City of Eugene Macroinvertebrate Study iv Introduction INTRODUCTION southern portion of the Bethel-Danebo drainage basin to Amazon Creek immediately north of the In 2008, the City of Eugene initiated a biological monitoring program to better inform confluence of Amazon Creek and the Amazon stormwater management and other water quality Diversion Channel. Spring Creek originates in improvement projects (Cole and Lemke 2008). northwest Eugene and flows northward to its This effort was designed to add to historical data confluence with the Willamette River. Spencer compiled from previous studies of macro- Creek originates near the western slope of Spencer invertebrates conducted on Amazon Creek in order Butte and eventually drains into Coyote Creek and to begin to detect temporal changes in biological the Fern Ridge Reservoir west of the City of conditions. The 2008 study also established new Eugene. monitoring reaches within the basin to further characterize existing conditions and therefore METHODS better assess the effects of stormwater runoff on receiving waters as required in the City of STUDY REACH SELECTION Eugene’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Macroinvertebrate communities, physical System (NPDES), Municipal Separate Storm