Biological and Water Quality Study of the East Fork Little Miami River and Select Tributaries, 2012 Brown, Clermont, Clinton, Highland and Warren Counties, Ohio
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Biological and Water Quality Study of the East Fork Little Miami River and Select Tributaries, 2012 Brown, Clermont, Clinton, Highland and Warren Counties, Ohio Ohio EPA Technical Report EAS/2014-05-05 Division of Surface Water Ecological Assessment Section May 16, 2014 EAS/2014‐05‐05 East Fork Little Miami River TSD May 16, 2014 Biological and Water Quality Study of the East Fork Little Miami River Watershed Brown, Clermont, Clinton, Highland, and Warren Counties May 16, 2014 Ohio EPA Technical Report EAS/2014‐05‐05 Prepared by State of Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Division of Surface Water Lazarus Government Center 50 West Town Street, Suite 700 Mail to: P.O. Box 1049, Columbus, Ohio 43216‐1049 Central District Office Lazarus Government Center 50 West Town Street, Suite 700 Columbus, Ohio 43215 Southwest District Office 401 East Fifth Street Dayton, Ohio 45402 Ecological Assessment Section Groveport Field Office 4675 Homer Ohio Lane Groveport, Ohio 43125 John R. Kasich Governor, State of Ohio Craig W. Butler Director, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency i EAS/2014‐05‐05 East Fork Little Miami River TSD May 16, 2014 Table of Contents Forward ......................................................................................................................................... xvi Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... 1 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................ 11 EAST FORK LITTLE MIAMI RIVER (11‐100‐000) .......................................................................... 11 TURTLE CREEK (050902021001) ........................................................................................... 12 HEADWATERS EAST FORK LITTLE MIAMI RIVER (050902021002) ................................................ 12 HEADWATERS DODSON CREEK (050902021003) ...................................................................... 12 ANTHONY RUN‐DODSON CREEK (050902021004) .................................................................... 13 WEST FORK EAST FORK LITTLE MIAMI RIVER (050902021005) ................................................... 13 GLADY CREEK‐EAST FORK LITTLE MIAMI RIVER (050902021006) ................................................ 13 DOWNSTREAM SOLOMON RUN‐EAST FORK LITTLE MIAMI RIVER (050902021101) ......................... 15 FIVEMILE CREEK‐EAST FORK LITTLE MIAMI RIVER (050902021102) ............................................. 15 TODD RUN‐EAST FORK LITTLE MIAMI RIVER (050902021103) .................................................... 15 POPLAR CREEK (050902021201) ........................................................................................... 15 CLOVERLICK CREEK (050902021202) ..................................................................................... 16 LUCY RUN‐EAST FORK LITTLE MIAMI RIVER (050902021203) ..................................................... 16 BACKBONE CREEK‐EAST FORK LITTLE MIAMI RIVER (050902021204) ........................................... 16 HEADWATERS STONELICK CREEK (050902021301) .................................................................... 17 BRUSHY FORK (050902021302) ............................................................................................ 17 MOORES FORK‐STONELICK CREEK (050902021303) ................................................................. 17 LICK FORK‐STONELICK CREEK (050902021304) ........................................................................ 18 SALT RUN‐EAST FORK LITTLE MIAMI RIVER (050902021305) ..................................................... 18 Study Area ..................................................................................................................................... 23 Methods ........................................................................................................................................ 28 Pollutant Loadings Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 31 Surface Water Quality Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 45 East Fork Little Miami River .......................................................................................................... 53 Organic Contaminants .................................................................................................................. 53 Sediment Chemistry ...................................................................................................................... 58 Public Drinking Water Supplies ................................................................................................... 60 ii EAS/2014‐05‐05 East Fork Little Miami River TSD May 16, 2014 Village of Blanchester ................................................................................................................... 60 Clermont County ........................................................................................................................... 63 Recreational Use Assessment ...................................................................................................... 64 Physical Habitat Quality for Aquatic Life East Fork Little Miami River .......................................................................................................... 68 Tributaries ‐ Overview .................................................................................................................. 68 Biological Quality – Fish Assemblages Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 76 East Fork Little Miami River Mainstem ......................................................................................... 86 Biological Quality – Macroinvertebrates Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 95 East Fork Little Miami River Mainstem ....................................................................................... 100 References .................................................................................................................................. 108 iii EAS/2014‐05‐05 East Fork Little Miami River TSD May 16, 2014 List of Tables Table 1. Attainment status by 12‐digit hydrologic assessment unit ............................................. 1 Table 2. Attainment status of sites sampled during the 2012 East Fork Little Miami River survey. The aquatic life use is Warmwater Habitat unless otherwise noted ....................... 3 Table 3. Use designations for waterbodies in the East Fork Little Miami River drainage basin. Use changes or new streams with recommendations based on the results of the 2010 survey are noted by a delta ( ) symbol ....................................................................... 19 Table 4. Watershed Assessment Units (WAUs) in the 2012 East Fork Little Miami River study area. .................................................................................................................................... 26 Table 5. Median daily effluent flows and loadings for dischargers in the East Fork Little Miami River basin, 1995‐1999 and 2008‐2012 ............................................................................. 33 Table 6. NPDES permit compliance indicators compiled for January 2008 – October 2012 .............................................................................................................................................. 41 Table 7. Exceedences of Ohio EPA Water Quality Standards ...................................................... 49 Table 8. Frequency of organic compounds detected in stream water samples in the East Fork Little Miami River watershed during 2012 .................................................................... 57 Table 9. Frequency of metal and PAH detections in sediment samples collected during the East Fork LMR survey, 2012 .................................................................................................... 59 Table 10. Summary of available water quality data for parameters of interest at sampling sites near/at PWS intakes .............................................................................................. 62 Table 11. Ohio EPA bacteriological (E. coli) sampling results in the East Fork Little Miami River study area during 2012 ............................................................................................. 66 Table 12. Matrix of habitat attributes and QHEI scores for sites sampled in the East Fork Little Miami River survey, 2012 ............................................................................................ 70 Table 13. Analysis of variance table the model IBI~Flow+TKN+QHEI+N:P ratio ......................... 80 Table 14. Sites failing the IBI biocriterion, and probable causes based on available indicators ...................................................................................................................................... 84 Table 15. Mean (±SE) IBI and MIwb scores by year for the East Fork LMR downstream from Harsha Lake .........................................................................................................................