Erwin National Fish Hatchery, Unicoi County, Tennessee
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Water Resource Inventory and Assessment (WRIA): Erwin National Fish Hatchery, Unicoi County, Tennessee Water Resource Inventory and Assessment: Erwin National Fish Hatchery Unicoi County, Tennessee Lee Holt U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Inventory and Monitoring Network Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge 2700 Refuge Headquarters Road Decatur, AL 35603 Kirsten J. Hunt Atkins North America, Inc. 1616 East Millbrook Road, Suite 310 Raleigh, NC 27609 February 2015 U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Please cite this publication as: Holt, R.L., and K.J. Hunt. 2015. Water Resource Inventory and Assessment (WRIA): Erwin National Fish Hatchery, Unicoi County, Tennessee. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Region. Atlanta, Georgia. 54 pp. COVER PHOTO: Aerial View of Erwin National Fish Hatchery. Photo credit: Herbert Bollin (retired), USFWS 1990. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This work was completed through contract PO# F11PD00794 and PO# F14PB00569 between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Atkins North America, Inc. Information for this report was compiled through coordination with multiple state and federal partners and non-governmental agencies. Significant input and support for this process was provided by Norm Heil, David Teague and other staff at the Erwin National Fish Hatchery. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. iii Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Findings ......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Key Water Resources Issues of Concern ....................................................................................... 2 1.3 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................ 3 2 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 4 3 Facility Information ............................................................................................................................... 6 4 Natural Setting ...................................................................................................................................... 8 4.1 Region of Hydrologic Influence (RHI) ............................................................................................ 8 4.2 Topography and Landforms .......................................................................................................... 8 4.3 Geology and Hydrogeology ......................................................................................................... 10 4.4 Soils ............................................................................................................................................. 13 4.5 Hydrology and Geomorphology .................................................................................................. 16 4.6 Anthropogenic Landscape Changes ............................................................................................ 16 4.7 Climate ........................................................................................................................................ 17 4.7.1 Historical Climate ................................................................................................................ 17 4.7.2 Climate Change Projections ................................................................................................ 22 5 Inventory Summary and Discussion .................................................................................................... 25 5.1 Water Resources ......................................................................................................................... 25 5.1.1 Rivers/Streams/Creeks ........................................................................................................ 25 5.1.2 Lakes/Ponds ........................................................................................................................ 27 5.1.3 Springs and Seeps ............................................................................................................... 27 5.1.4 Groundwater ....................................................................................................................... 27 5.2 Infrastructure .............................................................................................................................. 28 5.3 Water Monitoring ....................................................................................................................... 29 5.3.1 Surface Water ..................................................................................................................... 29 5.3.2 Groundwater ....................................................................................................................... 32 5.4 Water Quantity and Timing ........................................................................................................ 35 5.4.1 Historical Streamflows ........................................................................................................ 35 5.4.2 Historical Groundwater ....................................................................................................... 35 5.4.3 Hydrologic Alterations ........................................................................................................ 35 5.4.4 Land Use Activities Affecting Water Quantity and Timing .................................................. 36 iv 5.5 Water Quality Conditions............................................................................................................ 36 5.5.1 Federal and State Water Quality Regulations ..................................................................... 36 5.5.2 Impaired Waters, TMDLs, and NPDES Permits ................................................................... 37 5.5.3 Groundwater Quality .......................................................................................................... 40 5.5.4 Land Use Activities Affecting Water Quality ....................................................................... 41 5.6 Water Law/Water Rights ............................................................................................................ 41 5.6.1 State Water Law Overview ................................................................................................. 41 5.6.2 Legal or Regulatory Issues Potentially Affecting the Hatchery ........................................... 42 5.6.3 Aspects of State Water Law That May Negatively Affect the Station ................................ 42 6 Assessment ......................................................................................................................................... 44 6.1 Water Resource Issues of Concern ............................................................................................. 44 6.1.1 Urgent/Immediate Issues ................................................................................................... 44 6.1.2 Long Term Issues ................................................................................................................. 46 6.2 Needs/Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 47 6.2.1 Immediate ........................................................................................................................... 47 6.2.2 Long Term ........................................................................................................................... 47 7 Literature Cited ................................................................................................................................... 50 List of Figures Figure 1. Location of Erwin NFH in relation to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Region 4 Landscape Conservation Cooperative Boundaries. ...................................................................................... 5 Figure 2. Erwin NFH location map. ............................................................................................................... 7 Figure 3. Topographic overview map showing Erwin NFH in relation to its Region of Hydrologic Influence (RHI), major named streams, and physiographic provinces. ........................................................ 9 Figure 4. Generalized geology in the vicinity of Erwin NFH. ....................................................................... 11 Figure 5. Regional aquifers in the vicinity of Erwin NFH. ............................................................................ 12 Figure 6. Soil hydrologic groups with proximity to Erwin NFH.. ................................................................. 14 Figure 7. Mean and distribution of monthly temperature for 1893 – 2012 for U.S. Historical Climatology Network (USHCN) Station 406534 at Newport, TN. ............................................................... 18 Figure 8. Average daily maximum, mean, and minimum temperature by water year (1893 – 2012) at Newport, TN (USHCN Station 406534). .......................................................................................