Lac Qui Parle River Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Report
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Watershed health July 2018 Lac qui Parle River Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Report The MPCA is reducing printing and mailing costs Authors by using the Internet to distribute reports and Brett Nagle information to wider audience. Visit our Jordan Donatell website for more information. John Genet MPCA reports are printed on 100% post- David Duffey consumer recycled content paper Kelli Nerem manufactured without chlorine or chlorine Bruce Monson derivatives. Shawn Nelson Contributors/acknowledgements Lac qui Parle- Yellow Bank Watershed District Project dollars provided by the Clean Water Fund (from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment). 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-ws3-07020003b Contents List of acronyms ...................................................................................................................................... iii Executive summary .................................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 3 The watershed monitoring approach ............................................................................................................... 4 Assessment methodology ................................................................................................................................ 9 Watershed overview ...................................................................................................................................... 13 Watershed-wide data collection methodology .............................................................................................. 26 Individual Aggregated 12-HUC Subwatershed results .............................................................................. 31 Aggregated 12-HUC subwatersheds .............................................................................................................. 31 County Ditch 5 subwatershed Group ID: 0702000303-02 ........................ 32 Lost Creek subwatershed Group ID: 0702000303-03 ........................ 35 Upper West Branch Lac qui Parle River subwatershed Group ID: 0702000303-01 ........................ 38 Tributary to West Branch Lac qui Parle River Subwatershed Group ID: 0702000305-02 ........................ 41 Florida Creek Subwatershed Group ID: 0702000304-01 ........................ 44 Lower West Branch Lac qui Parle River subwatershed Group ID: 0702000305-01 ........................ 47 Tributary to Lac qui Parle River subwatershed Group ID: 0702000301-02 ......................... 51 Upper Lac qui Parle River subwatershed Group ID: 0702000301-01 ......................... 54 County Ditch 4 subwatershed Group ID: 0702000307-02 ......................... 57 Tenmile Creek subwatershed Group ID: 0702000306-01 ......................... 60 Lower Lac qui Parle River subwatershed Group ID: 0702000307-01 ......................... 64 Lazarus Creek subwatershed Group ID: 0702000302-01 ......................... 68 Watershed-wide results and discussion .................................................................................................. 72 Stream water quality ...................................................................................................................................... 72 Lake water quality .......................................................................................................................................... 73 Fish contaminant results ................................................................................................................................ 75 Pollutant load monitoring .............................................................................................................................. 78 Groundwater monitoring ............................................................................................................................... 81 Stream flow .................................................................................................................................................... 81 Wetland condition .......................................................................................................................................... 82 Transparency trends for the Lac Qui Parle River Watershed ......................................................................... 89 Priority Waters for Protection and Restoration in the Lac Qui Parle River Watershed ................................. 89 Summaries and recommendations .......................................................................................................... 91 Literature Cited ...................................................................................................................................... 94 Appendix 1 – Water chemistry definitions ..................................................................................................... 96 Appendix 2.1 – Intensive watershed monitoring water chemistry stations in the Lac Qui Parle River Watershed ...................................................................................................................................................... 97 Appendix 2.2 – Intensive watershed monitoring biological monitoring stations in the Lac qui Parle River Watershed ...................................................................................................................................................... 98 Appendix 3.1 – Minnesota statewide IBI thresholds and confidence limits ................................................ 101 Appendix 3.2 – Biological monitoring results – fish IBI (assessable reaches) .............................................. 102 Appendix 3.3 – Biological monitoring results-macroinvertebrate IBI (assessable reaches) ........................ 105 Appendix 4.1 – Fish species found during biological monitoring surveys .................................................... 108 Appendix 4.2 – Macroinvertebrate species found during biological monitoring surveys ........................... 109 Appendix 5 – Minnesota Stream Habitat Assessment results ..................................................................... 116 ii Figures Figure 1. The Intensive Watershed Monitoring Design. ....................................................................................... 5 Figure 2. Intensive watershed monitoring sites for streams in the Lac qui Parle River Watershed. .................... 6 Figure 3. Monitoring locations of local groups, citizens and the MPCA lake monitoring staff in the Lac qui Parle River Watershed. .................................................................................................................................................. 8 Figure 4. Flowchart of aquatic life use assessment process. .............................................................................. 12 Figure 5. The Lac qui Parle Watershed within the Northern Glaciated Plains and Western Corn Belt Plains ecoregions of southwest Minnesota. ................................................................................................................. 14 Figure 6. Land use in the Lac qui Parle River Watershed. ................................................................................... 16 Figure 7. Map of percent modified streams by major watershed (8-HUC). ....................................................... 18 Figure 8. Comparison of natural to altered streams in the Lac qui Parle River Watershed (percentages derived from the Statewide Altered Water Course project). .......................................................................................... 19 Figure 9. Statewide precipitation levels during the 2015 water year. ................................................................ 20 Figure 10. Precipitation trends in west central Minnesota (1995-2015) with five-year running average. ........ 20 Figure 11. Precipitation trends in West-Central Minnesota (1916-2015) with ten-year running average (Source: WRCC, 2017). ........................................................................................................................................ 21 Figure 12. Locations of permitted groundwater withdrawals in the Lac qui Parle River Watershed. ................ 23 Figure 13. Total annual groundwater (above) and surface water (below) withdrawals in the Lac qui Parle River Watershed (1996-2015) ...................................................................................................................................... 24 Figure 14. Wetland types and their distribution across the Lac qui Parle River Watershed. ............................. 25 Figure 15. Estimated historic wetland loss in each subwatershed based on a comparison of “poorly drained” and “very poorly drained” soil types (SSURGO database) to wetland extent in 2011 (NWI update). ............... 26 Figure 16. Currently listed impaired waters by parameter and land use characteristics in the County Ditch 5 subwatershed. ...................................................................................................................................................