THE CONDITION OF SOUTH CAROLINA’S ESTUARINE AND COASTAL HABITATS DURING 2009-2010 AN INTERAGENCY ASSESSMENT OF SOUTH CAROLINA’S COASTAL ZONE TECHNICAL REPORT NO. 107 D ATMOSPH N ER A IC IC N A A D E M C IN O I S L T A R N A T O I I O T N A N U . E S C . R D E E M PA M RT CO M ENT O F The Condition of South Carolina’s Estuarine and Coastal Habitats During 2009-2010 Technical Report Prepared by: R.F. Van Dolah, D.M. Sanger, G.H.M. Riekerk, S.E. Crowe, M.V. Levisen, D.C. Bergquist Marine Resources Division South Carolina Department of Natural Resources 217 Fort Johnson Road Charleston, SC 29412 D.E. Chestnut and W. McDermott Bureau of Water South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control 2600 Bull Street Columbia, SC 29201 M.H. Fulton and E. Wirth Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Ocean Service Laboratory 219 Fort Johnson Road Charleston, SC 29412 Technical Report No. 107 2013 This document should be cited as follows: R.F. Van Dolah, D.M. Sanger, G.H.M. Riekerk, S.E. Crowe, M.V. Levisen, D.C. Bergquist, D.E. Chestnut, W. McDermott, M.H. Fulton, E. Wirth. 2013. The Condition of South Carolina’s Estuarine and Coastal Habitats During 2009-2010: Technical Report. Charleston, SC: South Carolina Marine Resources Division. Technical Report No. 107. 64 p. Cover photo courtesy of SCDNR Staff The Condition of South Carolina’s Estuarine and Coastal Habitats During 2009-2010 Table of Contents Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................1 2. METHODS ................................................................................................................................3 2.1. Sampling Design ...........................................................................................................3 2.2. Water Quality Measurements ........................................................................................3 2.3. Sediment Quality Measurements ..................................................................................4 2.4. Biological Condition Measurements ������������������������������������������������������������������������������5 2.5. Integrated Indices of Estuarine Habitat Condition ���������������������������������������������������������5 2.6. The Presence of Litter ....................................................................................................6 2.7. Data Analysis ................................................................................................................6 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................7 3.1. Water Quality ................................................................................................................7 3.2. Sediment Quality ......................................................................................................... 14 3.3. Biological Condition .................................................................................................... 20 Benthic Communities .................................................................................................. 20 Fish and Large Invertebrate Communities .................................................................. 23 3.4. Incidence of Litter ........................................................................................................ 23 3.5. Overall Habitat Quality ................................................................................................ 28 3.6. Program Uses and Activities ....................................................................................... 34 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... 35 LITERATURE CITED ................................................................................................................. 36 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................... 39 Appendix 1. Summary of station locations and dates sampled in 2009 and 2010 .............. 39 Appendix 2. Summary of the amount of open water and tidal creek habitat scoring as good, fair or poor for each SCECAP parameter and index for the 2009-2010 survey period ............................................................................................................... 44 Appendix 3. Summary of the Water Quality, Sediment Quality, Biological Condition and Habitat Quality Index scores and their component measure scores by station for 2009 and 2010. ................................................................................................ 46 Technical Summary iii The Condition of South Carolina’s Estuarine and Coastal Habitats During 2009-2010 Introduction INTRODUCTION South Carolina’s extensive coastal zone provides a beautiful setting for residents and tourists to enjoy, and supports an abundance of natural resources that can be harvested. The economic impact of coastal tourism alone is valued in excess of 7 billion dollars, and the state’s coastal recreational and commercial fisheries contribute in excess of 1 billion and 34 million dollars in economic impact, respectively (http://asafishing.org/uploads/Sportfishing_in_ America_Jan_2008_Revised.pdf; http://www. dnr.sc.gov/green/greenreport.pdf). Most of these fishery resources rely on a variety of sensitive areas that serve as nursery or primary habitat for one or more life stages. Thus, it is critical to Urban sprawl is one of the primary protect our coastal habitats from degradation. threats to the quality of South As with most coastal states, the population in Carolina’s estuarine habitats. the coastal counties has been rapidly increasing in recent years, with more than 1.2 million people estimated to be living in South Carolina’s eight Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Gulf coastal counties in 2010 (U.S. Census data). This Ecology Division in Gulf Breeze, FL was strongly number is expected to increase another 25% by involved and utilized SCECAP data as part of their 2030 (South Carolina Budget and Control Board, National Condition Assessment (NCA) Program. 2013). The associated expansion of housing, The USEPA provided funding to this program for roads, commercial and industrial infrastructure, the period from 2000-2006 and again for the 2010 combined with increased recreational utilization sampling period. of our coastal waters, will result in increased risk for serious impacts to South Carolina’s coastal habitats. SCECAP represents an expansion of ongoing monitoring programs being conducted by both state and federal agencies and ranks among the The South Carolina Estuarine and Coastal first in the country to apply a comprehensive, Assessment Program (SCECAP) was established ecosystem-based assessment approach for in 1999 to begin evaluating the overall health of the evaluating coastal habitat condition. While the state’s estuarine habitats on a periodic basis using NCA program provides useful information at the a combination of water quality, sediment quality, national and regional scale through their National and biotic condition measures. This collaborative Coastal Condition Reports (NCCR) (http://water. program involves the South Carolina Department epa.gov/type/oceb/assessmonitor/nccr/index. of Natural Resources (SCDNR) and the South cfm), many of the parameters and thresholds Carolina Department of Health and Environmental used for the national report are not appropriate Control (SCDHEC) as the two lead state agencies, for South Carolina. Additionally, the SCECAP as well as the National Atmospheric and Oceanic initiative collects other data parameters that are Administration National Ocean Service (NOAA/ not collected by NCA. NOS) laboratories located in Charleston (Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research and the Hollings Marine Laboratory). There are several specific, yet critical, attributes Shortly after inception of the program, the U.S. of the SCECAP initiative that set it apart from other on- going monitoring programs being conducted in Technical Summary 51 Introduction The Condition of South Carolina’s Estuarine and Coastal Habitats During 2009-2010 South Carolina by SCDHEC (primarily for water economically valuable species and often represent quality) and SCDNR (primarily for fishery stock the first point of entry for runoff from upland assessments). These include: (1) sampling sites areas. Thus, tidal creek systems can provide an throughout the estuarine habitats using a random, early indication of anthropogenic stress (Sanger probability-based approach that complements et al., 1999a, b; Lerberg et al., 2000; Van Dolah et both agencies’ ongoing programs involving fixed al., 2000; 2002; 2004; Holland et al., 2004). station monitoring networks, (2) using integrated measures of environmental and biological This technical report is part of a series of condition that provide a more complete evaluation bi-annual reports describing the status of South of overall habitat quality, and (3) monitoring tidal Carolina’s estuarine habitats. Findings from all creek habitats in addition to the larger open water reports and the data obtained from those surveys bodies that have been sampled traditionally by can be obtained from the SCECAP web site http:// both agencies. This last component is of particular