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Geist Reservoir Restoration Long-Term Capital and Maintenance Plan Town of Fishers

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Geist Reservoir Restoration Long-Term Capital and Maintenance Plan Town of Fishers Geist Reservoir Restoration Long-Term Capital and Maintenance Plan Town of Fishers Project Number: 140104200 Geist Reservoir Restoration Long-Term Capital Maintenance Plan Document Information Prepared for Town of Fishers Project Name Geist Reservoir Restoration Long-Term Capital Maintenance Plan Project Number 140104200 Project Manager Matt Kwiatkowski Date 1/06/2015 Prepared for: Assistance By: Town of Fishers 1 Municipal Drive Fishers, IN 46038 Cripe VS Engineering 3939 Priority Way South Drive 4275 N. High School Road Ste. 200 Indianapolis, IN 46254 Indianapolis, IN 46240 Phone: (317) 293-3542 Phone: (317) 844-6777 Prepared by: Cardno JFNew 3901 Industrial Boulevard Indianapolis, IN 46254 Phone: (317)-388-1982 Fax: (317)-388-1986 Geist Reservoir Restoration Long-Term Capital Maintenance Plan Table of Contents Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................1 Project Purpose and Location ................................................................................................. 2 Project Purpose ................................................................................................................2 Project Location ...............................................................................................................2 Current Conditions of Geist Reservoir .................................................................................... 3 Trophic State ....................................................................................................................3 Nutrients ...........................................................................................................................3 Dissolved Oxygen ............................................................................................................4 Vegetation and Algae .......................................................................................................5 Fish Community ...............................................................................................................6 Designated Uses ..............................................................................................................6 Current and Future Subwatershed Nutrient Loads ................................................................. 6 STEPL Model ....................................................................................................................6 Current Subwatershed Nutrient and Sediment Loads ................................................... 6 Future Subwatershed Nutrient and Sediment Loads ..................................................... 7 BMP Summary and Load Reductions ...................................................................................... 8 BMP Summary ..................................................................................................................8 External Phosphorus Load Reductions .......................................................................... 8 External Nitrogen and Sediment Load Reductions ...................................................... 10 Geist Reservoir Response to Load Reductions .................................................................... 11 BATHTUB Model ............................................................................................................. 11 Results ............................................................................................................................13 Water Quality and Designated Use Improvement Projects .................................................. 14 Literature Cited .......................................................................................................................16 Tables Table 1. Epilimnion and hypolmnion total phosphorus concentration (mg/L) in Geist Reservoir collected between 1991 and 2009. .................................. 4 Table 2. Carlson’s Trophic State and Indiana Trophic State Index (ITSI) values from 1991 through 2009. ...................................................................... 5 Table 3. STEPL estimated phosphorus (lbs/yr), nitrogen (lbs/yr) and sediment (tons/yr) loads for each subwatershed of the Geist Reservoir watershed. ........................................................................................ 7 Geist Reservoir Restoration Long-Term Capital Maintenance Plan Table 4. Phosphorus reductions (lbs/yr) for each potential BMP identified during the watershed tour separated by subwatershed. ............................... 8 Table 5. Phosphorus reductions (lbs/yr) of each potential management practice in the Geist Reservoir watershed identified during the watershed tour. ..................................................................................................9 Table 6. Nitrogen reductions (lbs/yr) for each potential BMP identified during the watershed tour separated by subwatershed. ......................................... 10 Table 7. Sediment reductions (tons/yr) for each potential BMP identified during the watershed tour separated by watershed. .................................... 11 Table 8. Geist Reservoir watershed input values for each variable of the STEPL model separated by subwatershed.. .............................. Appendix B, 3 Table 9. Nutrient and sediment efficiency rates for each of the proposed BMP practices. ............................................................................... Appendix B, 4 Table 10. Description of the empirical relationships used for key variables in the BATHTUB model (Walkert 1996). ......................................... Appendix B, 5 Figures Figure 1. Location of the Geist Reservoir watershed (HUC: 0512020108) in central, Indiana. ................................................................................................. 2 Figure 2. Linear regression of the relationship between the predicted Secchi disk transparencies (m) and the observed historical Secchi disk transparencies (m) with upper and lower 90% prediction intervals (dashed). .......................................................................................................... 12 Figure 3. Shifts in trophic state to Geist Reservoir expressed in terms of Secchi disk transparency (m). Reductions in water column phosphorus range from a 0% reduction to a 90% reduction. The dashed line indicates the Secchi disk transparency necessary to shift to a mesotrophic state.. ........................................................................... 13 Figure 4. Linear regression of the relationship between the predicted Secchi disk transparencies (m) and the observed historical Secchi disk transparencies (m) with upper and lower 90% prediction intervals (dashed). ........................................................................................Appendix B, 9 List of Appendices Appendix A: Project Maps & Sheets Appendix B: Methods Appendix C: BMP Practice Standards Appendix D: External Review 1/06/2015 Cardno JFNew Table of Contents iii Geist Reservoir Restoration Long-Term Capital Maintenance Plan Executive Summary This project was initiated by the Geist Impoundment Fund Board with the objective to describe specific capital and maintenance projects, designed to achieve specific levels of restoration to Geist Reservoir. Due to the large nutrient reductions necessary to alter the trophic state of Geist Reservoir the project evolved to also include a description of projects to improve the designated use value of Geist Reservoir. Geist Reservoir has a history of water quality, sedimentation and nuisance vegetation issues. Ecological sampling of Geist Reservoir has occurred sporadically over the last 10-20 years and is generally characterized as a eutrophic reservoir. Eutrophic reservoirs are highly productive, shallow and turbid. Geist Reservoir is an impoundment that was created in 1944 to supply water to the Indianapolis area. The reservoir spans approximately 1,900 acres and has a storage capacity of 6.9 million gallons of water. The entire volume of Geist Reservoir is replaced by precipitation approximately every 58 days. The 140,194 acre Geist Reservoir watershed (HUC: 0512020108) is dominated by agricultural land-uses. Due to the large size of the watershed relative to the size of Geist Reservoir, water quality is greatly influenced by land use practices higher in the watershed. There are multiple populated areas in the Geist Reservoir watershed including Middletown, Anderson, Markleville, Pendleton, Ingalls, Fortville, McCordsville, Lawrence, Fishers and Indianapolis. A watershed tour was conducted during the spring of 2014 to identify locations for potential projects that would reduce nutrient and sediment runoff or improve the designated use value of Geist Reservoir. Because the Geist Reservoir watershed is largely agricultural, many of the potential projects were agricultural best management practices (BMP’s) such as stream buffers, grassed waterways, livestock exclusion, cover crops, conservation tillage, wetland restoration, stream bank stabilization, two-stage ditches, and detention basins. Additional practices such as golf course buffers, dredging, low-impact development (LID), phosphorus-free fertilizer and vegetation management were also considered. Each project was used in the EPA’s Spreadsheet Tool for Estimating Pollutant Loads (STEPL) model to predict the nutrient and sediment reductions that could be obtained from each project. Nutrient reductions were then applied to the Army Corps of
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