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Watonwan Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Report (Wq-Ws3-07020010B)

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Watonwan Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Report (Wq-Ws3-07020010B) Watonwan Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Report October 2016 Authors The MPCA is reducing printing and mailing costs MPCA Watonwan River Watershed Report Team: by using the Internet to distribute reports and Mel Markert, Joel Chirhart, Erin Andrews, Isaac information to wider audience. Visit our website Martin, Mark Gernes, Dave Christopherson, David for more information. Duffey, Jane de Lambert, Bruce Monson, Shawn Nelson, Kris Parson, Andrew Streitz, Sophia MPCA reports are printed on 100 percent post- Vaughan, Pat Baskfield consumer recycled content paper manufactured without chlorine or chlorine derivatives. Contributors / acknowledgements Citizen Stream Monitoring Program Volunteers Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Minnesota Department of Health Minnesota Department of Agriculture Minnesota State University—Mankato Blue Earth County SWCD Cottonwood County SWCD Watonwan County SWCD Project dollars provided by the Clean Water Fund (from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment). Minnesota Pollution Control Agency 520 Lafayette Road North | Saint Paul, MN 55155-4194 | 651-296-6300 | 800-657-3864 | Or use your preferred relay service. | [email protected] This report is available in alternative formats upon request, and online at www.pca.state.mn.us. Document number: wq-ws3-07020010b List of acronyms AUID Assessment Unit Identification MNDNR Minnesota Department of Natural Determination Resources CCSI Channel Condition and Stability Index MPCA Minnesota Pollution Control Agency CD County Ditch MSHA Minnesota Stream Habitat Assessment CI Confidence Interval MTS Meets the Standard CLMP Citizen Lake Monitoring Program N Nitrogen CR County Road Nitrate-N Nitrate Plus Nitrite Nitrogen CREP Conservation Reserve Enhancement NA Not Assessed Program NHD National Hydrologic Dataset CRP Conservation Reserve Program NH3 Ammonia CSAH County State Aid Highway NS Not Supporting CSMP Citizen Stream Monitoring Program NT No Trend CWA Clean Water Act OP Orthophosphate CWLA Clean Water Legacy Act P Phosphorous DOP Dissolved Orthophosphate PCB Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls E Eutrophic PWI Protected Waters Inventory EQuIS Environmental Quality Information RNR River Nutrient Region System SWAG Surface Water Assessment Grant EX Exceeds Criteria (Bacteria) SWCD Soil and Water Conservation District EXP Exceeds Criteria, Potential Impairment SWUD State Water Use Database EXS Exceeds Criteria, Potential Severe TALU Tiered Aquatic Life Uses Impairment TKN Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen FS Full Support TMDL Total Maximum Daily Load FWMC Flow Weighted Mean Concentration TP Total Phosphorous GBERB Greater Blue Earth River Basin TSS Total Suspended Solids H Hypereutrophic USGS United States Geological Survey HUC Hydrologic Unit Code WPLMN Water Pollutant Load Monitoring IBI Index of Biotic Integrity Network IF Insufficient Information WRP Wetland Restoration Program IWM Intensive watershed monitoring K Potassium LRVW Limited Resource Value Water M Mesotrophic MCES Metropolitan Council Environmental Services MDA Minnesota Department of Agriculture MDH Minnesota Department of Health MINLEAP Minnesota Lake Eutrophication Analysis Procedure Contents Executive summary ....................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3 The watershed monitoring approach ....................................................................................................... 4 Assessment methodology ........................................................................................................................ 9 Watershed overview .............................................................................................................................. 14 Watershed-wide data collection methodology ...................................................................................... 27 Individual aggregated 12-HUC subwatershed results ................................................................................. 34 Aggregated 12-HUC subwatersheds ....................................................................................................... 34 Watonwan River, North Fork Aggregated 12-HUC HUC 070200102-01 .................................... 36 St. James Creek Aggregated 12-HUC HUC 0702001003-01 ................................. 47 Tributary to Watonwan River Aggregated 12-HUC HUC 0702001006-02 ................................. 56 Judicial Ditch 1 Aggregated 12-HUC HUC 0702001004-03 .................................. 63 Upper South Fork Watonwan Aggregated 12-HUC HUC 0702001004-02 ................................. 69 Lower South Fork Watonwan River Aggregated 12-HUC HUC 0702001004-01 .................................. 75 Spring Branch Creek Aggregated 12-HUC HUC 0702001005-02 ................................. 83 Perch Creek Aggregated 12-HUC HUC 0702001005-01 .................................. 88 Upper Watonwan River Aggregated 12-HUC HUC 0702001001-01 .................................. 94 Lower Watonwan River Aggregated 12-HU HUC 0702001006-01................................ 101 Watershed-wide results and discussion ................................................................................................... 112 Pollutant load monitoring..................................................................................................................... 112 Lake water quality ................................................................................................................................ 127 Fish contaminant results ...................................................................................................................... 130 Groundwater monitoring ..................................................................................................................... 132 Stream flow .......................................................................................................................................... 133 Wetland condition ................................................................................................................................ 135 Pollutant trends for the Watonwan River ............................................................................................ 144 Summaries and recommendations ........................................................................................................... 145 Literature cited.......................................................................................................................................... 148 Appendix 1 - Water chemistry definitions ............................................................................................ 150 Appendix 2.1 - Intensive watershed monitoring water chemistry stations in the Watonwan River Watershed ................................................................................................................................... 152 Appendix 2.2 – Intensive watershed monitoring biological monitoring stations in the Watonwan River Watershed ................................................................................................................................... 153 Appendix 3.1 - AUID table of stream assessment results (by parameter and beneficial use) ............. 156 Appendix 3.2 - Assessment results for lakes in the Watonwan River Watershed ............................... 159 Appendix 4.1 - Minnesota statewide IBI thresholds and confidence limits ......................................... 160 Appendix 4.2 - Biological monitoring results – fish IBI ......................................................................... 161 Appendix 4.3 - Biological monitoring results-macroinvertebrate IBI ................................................... 165 Appendix 5.1 - Minnesota’s ecoregion-based lake eutrophication standards ..................................... 168 Appendix 5.2 - MINLEAP model estimates of phosphorus loads for lakes in the Watonwan River Watershed ................................................................................................................................... 168 Appendix 6 – Fish species found during biological monitoring surveys ............................................... 169 Appendix 7 – Macroinvertebrate species found during biological monitoring surveys ........................ 171 Figures Figure 1. Major watersheds within Minnesota (8-Digit HUC). ............................................................................. 4 Figure 2. WPLMN monitoring sites in the Watonwan River Watershed. ............................................................. 5 Figure 3. The Intensive Watershed Monitoring Design. ....................................................................................... 6 Figure 4. Intensive watershed monitoring sites for streams in the Watonwan River Watershed. ...................... 7 Figure 5. Citizen Monitoring Watonwan Watershed. ........................................................................................... 8 Figure 6. Monitoring locations of local groups, citizens and the MPCA lake monitoring staff in the Watonwan River Watershed. .................................................................................................................................................. 9 Figure 7. Flowchart of aquatic life use assessment process. .............................................................................
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