Tygart Valley River Watershed Assessment Final Report December 31, 2013
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West Virginia Watershed Assessment Pilot Project: Tygart Valley River Watershed Assessment Final Report December 31, 2013 WVWAPP Tygart Valley River Watershed Assessment Final Report West Virginia Watershed Assessment Pilot Project: Tygart Valley River Watershed Assessment December 31, 2013 Report Prepared by The Nature Conservancy for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and the United States Environmental Protection Agency Misty Downing Keith Fisher Diane Packett Ruth Thornton The Nature Conservancy 194 Airport Rd Elkins, WV 26241 Phone: (304) 637-0160 E-mail: Keith Fisher, [email protected] ii WVWAPP Tygart Valley River Watershed Assessment Final Report Acknowledgments The project team would like to acknowledge the participation of several individuals and agencies who have contributed their time and expertise throughout the assessment process, from design to completion. Special thanks to our WVDEP Project Managers, Dennis Stottlemyer, Teresa Koon and Christopher Harvey, for their ongoing support and enthusiasm. Thanks also to contributing USEPA staff: Joy Gillespie, Christine Mazzarella, and Tom DeMoss. Special acknowledgment to Terry Messinger (USGS), Greg Pond (USEPA), Michael Strager (WVU), Michael Whitman (WVDEP), and Mitch Blake (WVGES), who participated in our workshops, provided valuable datasets, and made themselves available to answer questions and provide technical expertise, even outside of the workshops. Additional thanks go out to all the participants of our technical advisory meeting, expert workshops, and end user workshops, as well as those who provided key datasets, including: Anne Wakeford (WVDNR) Larry Orr (Trout Unlimited) Nate Taylor (WVDNR) Danny Bennett (WVDNR) Frank Jernejcic (WVDNR) John Wirts (WVDEP) Tim Craddock (WVDEP) Charles Somerville (Marshall University) Martin Christ (WVDEP) Todd Petty (WVU) Michael Whitman (WVDEP) Eddie Grey (Triana Energy) Karen Miller (USACE) Michael Hatten (USACE) Rebecca Rutherford (USACE) Michael Schwartz (The Conservation Fund) Sherry Adams (USACE) Jackie Strager (WVU) Megan Rice (USACE) Braven Beaty (TNC) Herbert Andrick (NRCS) Analie Barnett (TNC) John King (WVDEP) Tamara Gagnolet (TNC) G. Paul Richter (Buckhannon River Watershed Mark Anderson (TNC) Association) Arlene Olivero (TNC) Paul & Fran Baker (Save the Tygart Watershed Association) iii WVWAPP Tygart Valley River Watershed Assessment Final Report List of Tables Table 1. Tygart Valley River Watershed Timeline ......................................................................................... 2 Table 2. Tygart Valley River Watershed - Land Use/Land Cover 2009-2010 (Maxwell et al. 2011) ........... 10 Table 3. Invasive Species in Tygart Valley River Watershed (WVDA 2011) ................................................ 12 Table 4. National Wetland Inventory (NWI) Wetland Types – Tygart Valley Watershed (USFWS 2010) ... 15 Table 5. Northeast Terrestrial Habitat Types – Tygart Valley River Watershed (TNC 2011c) .................... 16 Table 6. Tygart Valley River Watershed – HUC12 Watershed Information (NRCS 2009, USGS 2011) ....... 19 Table 7. Watershed Characterization Priority Models and Indices ............................................................ 21 Table 8. Definition of Objective Method Categories (Foundations of Success 2009) ................................ 25 Table 9. WVDEP Reference Stream Criteria (Pond et al. 2012) .................................................................. 26 Table 10. WVDEP Stressed Stream Criteria (Pond et al. 2012) ................................................................... 26 Table 11. Reference and Stressed Distribution Examples for Three Types of Metrics ............................... 29 Table 12. Critical Metrics for Priority Model Analysis ................................................................................. 30 Table 13. Principal Components Analysis of Streams Condition Metrics ................................................... 32 Table 14. Metrics Included in the Current Condition Analysis ................................................................... 33 Table 15. Example Values, Relative Scores, Objective Categories, and Objective Scores for Selected Catchments and Metrics ............................................................................................................................. 39 Table 16. Example Index Objective, Relative, and Combined Results for Selected Catchments for the Streams/Riparian Areas Model ................................................................................................................... 40 Table 17. Example Model Objective, Relative, and Combined Results for Selected Catchments for the Streams/Riparian Areas Model ................................................................................................................... 42 Table 18. Example Streams Water Quality Metrics for Catchment C1235 with Value, Objective Category, Objective Score, and Relative Score for Each Metric .................................................................................. 47 Table 19. Metrics Included in the Consolidated Analysis ........................................................................... 51 iv WVWAPP Tygart Valley River Watershed Assessment Final Report List of Figures Figure 1. West Virginia Watershed Assessment Pilot Project HUC8 Watersheds (NRCS 2009) ................... 3 Figure 2. Tygart Valley River Watershed Study Area (USGS 2005) ............................................................... 4 Figure 3. Average Annual Temperature Tygart Valley River Watershed (USDA/NRCS 2006a) .................... 7 Figure 4. Average Annual Precipitation Tygart Valley River Watershed (USDA/NRCS 2006a) ..................... 7 Figure 5. The Nature Conservancy Ecoregions – West Virginia (TNC 2009) ................................................. 8 Figure 6. USEPA Level III Ecoregions – West Virginia (USEPA 2011) ............................................................. 9 Figure 7. Tygart Valley River Watershed – Land Use/Land Cover 2009-2010 (Maxwell et al. 2011) ......... 11 Figure 8. Tygart Valley River Watershed – Impaired Streams .................................................................... 14 Figure 9. Tygart Valley River Watershed – NWI Wetlands (USFWS 2010) ................................................. 15 Figure 10. Tygart Valley River HUC12 Watersheds (NRCS 2009) ................................................................ 18 Figure 11. Reference and Stressed Stream Catchments ............................................................................. 27 Figure 12. Threshold Definition Model ....................................................................................................... 28 Figure 13. Streams/Riparian Areas Priority Model Flowchart .................................................................... 44 Figure 14. Wetlands Priority Model Flowchart ........................................................................................... 45 Figure 15. Uplands Priority Model Flowchart ............................................................................................. 46 Figure 16. Consolidated Analysis Flowchart ............................................................................................... 49 Figure 17a. Streams Overall Results – HUC12 Level ................................................................................... 55 Figure 17b. Streams Overall Results – Catchment Level ............................................................................ 56 Figure 18. Tygart Valley River Watershed - Mining Activity ....................................................................... 57 Figure 19a. Streams Water Quality Index Results – HUC12 Level .............................................................. 58 Figure 19b. Streams Water Quality Index Results – Catchment Level ....................................................... 59 Figure 20a. Streams Water Quantity Index Results – HUC12 Level ............................................................ 61 Figure 20b. Streams Water Quantity Index Results – Catchment Level ..................................................... 62 Figure 21a. Streams Hydrologic Connectivity Index Results – HUC12 Level .............................................. 63 Figure 21b. Streams Hydrologic Connectivity Index Results – Catchment Level ........................................ 64 Figure 22a. Streams Biodiversity Index Results – HUC12 Level .................................................................. 65 Figure 22b. Streams Biodiversity Index Results – Catchment Level ........................................................... 66 Figure 23a. Streams Riparian Habitat Index Results – HUC12 Level ........................................................... 68 Figure 23b. Streams Riparian Habitat Index Results – Catchment Level .................................................... 69 Figure 24a. Wetlands Overall Results – HUC12 Level ................................................................................. 71 Figure 24b. Wetlands Overall Results – Catchment Level .......................................................................... 72 Figure 25a. Wetlands Water Quality Index Results – HUC12 Level ............................................................ 73 Figure 25b. Wetlands Water Quality Index Results – Catchment Level ..................................................... 74 Figure 26a. Wetlands Hydrology Index Results