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Biological and Water Quality Study of the Ashtabula River and Select Tributaries, 2011

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Biological and Water Quality Study of the Ashtabula River and Select Tributaries, 2011 Biological and Water Quality Study of the Ashtabula River and Select Tributaries, 2011 Ashtabula County Ashtabula River at Benetka Road (RM 19.03) OHIO EPA Technical Report EAS/2014-01-01 Division of Surface Water December 19, 2014 EAS/2014-01-01 Ashtabula River and Select Tributaries TSD December 19, 2014 Biological and Water Quality Survey of the Ashtabula River and Select Tributaries 2011 Ashtabula County December 19, 2014 Ohio EPA Technical Report EAS/2014-01-01 Prepared by: Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Division of Surface Water Lazarus Government Center 50 West Town Street, Suite 700 Columbus, Ohio 43215 Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Ecological Assessment Section 4675 Homer Ohio Lane Groveport, Ohio 43125 and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Northeast District Office 2110 East Aurora Road Twinsburg, Ohio 44087 Mail to: P.O. Box 1049, Columbus, Ohio 43216-1049 John R. Kasich, Governor, State of Ohio Craig W. Butler, Director, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency i EAS/2014-01-01 Ashtabula River and Select Tributaries TSD December 19, 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 12 STUDY AREA ........................................................................................................................... 13 RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................. 18 RESULTS 20 Macroinvertebrate Community ........................................................................................ 20 Physical Habitat for Aquatic Life ..................................................................................... 30 Fish Community .............................................................................................................. 34 Water Chemisty .............................................................................................................. 42 Recreation Use ............................................................................................................... 52 Sediment ......................................................................................................................... 59 NPDES Permitted Facilities ............................................................................................. 66 Fish Tissue Contamination .............................................................................................. 69 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... 75 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 76 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of the aquatic life use attainment status in the free-flowing reaches of the Ashtabula River basin, 2011. .................................................................................... 5 Figure 2. Location of the Ashtabula River watershed in Ohio. ................................................. 12 Figure 3. Map of land use in the Ashtabula River watershed (Fry et al. 2011) and the aquatic life use attainment status in the free-flowing reaches. ............................................ 16 Figure 4. USGS topographic maps showing Ashtabula River changes in the Kelloggsville vicinity. ..................................................................................................................... 17 Figure 5. Longitudinal trend of the Invertebrate Community Index (ICI), number of mayfly, stonefly, and caddisfly taxa (EPT) in the qualitative samples, and number of sensitive taxa (ST) in the qualitative samples in the Ashtabula River, 1983-2011. ................ 23 Figure 6. Longitudinal trend of the Lacustuary Invertebrate Community Index (L-ICI) in the Ashtabula River lacustuary, 1989-2013. .................................................................. 24 Figure 7 Longitudinal trend of the percent insect family Chironomidae (midges) that were toxic tolerant in the Ashtabula River lacustuary, 2003-2011. ............................................ 24 Figure 8. Longitudinal trend of the number of mayfly, stonefly, and caddisfly taxa (EPT) and number of sensitive taxa (ST) in the qualitative samples in Fields Brook, 2000-2011. 25 Figure 9. Photo of the Hadlock Road ford. ............................................................................... 37 ii EAS/2014-01-01 Ashtabula River and Select Tributaries TSD December 19, 2014 Figure 10. Longitudinal trend of the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) and the Modified Index of well being (MIwb) in the Ashtabula River, 1983-2011. ................................................... 39 Figure 11. Longitudinal trend of the L-IBI and the MIwb in the Ashtabula River lacustuary, 1989- 2011. ........................................................................................................................ 40 Figure 12. Longitudinal trend of the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) in Fields Brook, 2000-2011. 41 Figure 13. Flow conditions at Fields Brook and W. Br. Ashtabula River, 2011. ....................... 42 Figure 14. Box and whisker plots of dissolved oxygen, specific conductivity, and temperature from the Ashtabula River, 2011. .............................................................................. 46 Figure 15. Longitudinal plots for averaged concentrations of nitrate-nitrite, ammonia, total phosphorus, and dissolved oxygen for the East Branch (EB), West Branch (WB), and the main stem of the Ashtabula River, 1995 and 2011. .......................................... 49 Figure 16. Sediment sampling locations in the Strong Brook watershed, 2012. Total PCB concentrations (µg/kg dry weight) are indicated for each sampling location. .......... 63 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Sampling locations for the Ashtabula River study area, 2011. .................................... 3 Table 2. Aquatic life use attainment status for stations sampled in the Ashtabula River basin based on data collected June-October 2011. ............................................................ 6 Table 3. Ashtabula watershed land use. .................................................................................. 15 Table 4. Waterbody use designation recommendations for the Ashtabula River watershed. .. 19 Table 5. Intolerant or uncommonly collected sensitive macroinvertebrate taxa and all freshwater mussel collection locations in the Ashtabula River basin, 2011. ............................. 26 Table 6. Summary of macroinvertebrate data collected from artificial substrates (quantitative sampling) and natural substrates (qualitative sampling) in the Ashtabula River study area, July to October, 2011. .................................................................................... 27 Table 7. Ashtabula River lacustuary L-QHEI, 2011. ................................................................. 31 Table 8. QHEI attributes for the Ashtabula River basin, 2011. ................................................ 32 Table 9. Exceedances of Ohio Water Quality Standards criteria (OAC3745-1) for chemical/physical parameters measured in Ashtabula River study area, 2011. ..... 45 Table 10. Summary statistics for nutrients sampled in the Ashtabula River, 2011 (average per site). ......................................................................................................................... 47 Table 11. Summary statistics for selected parameters sampled in the Ashtabula River, 2011. 50 Table 12. Recreation beneficial use attainment table for 27 locations in the Ashtabula River watershed, May 1 through October 31, 2011. ........................................................ 55 Table 13. Approximate location information for identified sanitary sewer overflows (SSO’s) within the City of Ashtabula WWTP service area. ................................................... 58 Table 14. Sediment sampling locations in the Strong Brook watershed, 2012. ....................... 60 iii EAS/2014-01-01 Ashtabula River and Select Tributaries TSD December 19, 2014 Table 15. Concentrations of PCB compounds in sediment samples collected from the Strong Brook basin, 2012. All results expressed in µg/kg dry weight. ............................... 62 Table 16. Concentrations of semi-volatile organic compounds and total PAHs found at detectable levels in sediment samples from Strong Brook, 2012. All concentrations are expressed in mg/kg dry weight. ......................................................................... 64 Table 17. Results for metals analytes and TOC for sediment samples from Strong Brook, 2012. All results are in mg/kg dry weight unless otherwise specified. ............................... 65 Table 18. Facilities regulated by an Individual NPDES permit in the Ashtabula River watershed. ................................................................................................................................. 67 Table 19. Concentrations of monitored chemicals in effluent discharged from two facilities in the Ashtabula River study area. Results are reported for the time period 1995-2011. 68 Table 20. Selected metals concentrations (mg/kg) in fish tissue samples collected from the Ashtabula River (US Route 20 to mouth) in 2011. ................................................. 72 Table 21. PCB concentrations
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