Brush Creek Stream Health Survey SUBMITTED: 5/23/2014 Prepared For: PO Box 3349 Basalt, CO 81621 Snowmass Water and Sanitation District 0177 Clubhouse Drive PO Box 5700 Snowmass Village, CO 81615 Prepared By: PO Box 1524 Carbondale, CO 81623 And 155 West Harvard, Suite 302 Fort Collins, CO 80525 ii Brush Creek Stream Health Summary Acknowledgements Funding for this report was provided by Snowmass Water and Sanitation District and Roaring Fork Conservancy. Macroinvertebrate data review was performed by Timberline Aquatics, Inc. All other data analysis was performed by S.K.Mason Environmental in conjunction with Roaring Fork Conservancy and Snowmass Water and Sanitation District. Additional thanks to Angie Fowler of SGM Inc. for technical review. Reports compiled by S.K.Mason Environmental, Roaring Fork Conservancy, and Timberline Aquatics. iii Brush Creek Stream Health Summary Table of Contents Summary ........................................................................................................................................................................ 1 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 2 1.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................................................. 2 1.2 Purpose and objectives ....................................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Existing reports and documentation ................................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Stream impairment and regulatory setting ........................................................................................................ 5 1.5 Brush Creek watershed overview ....................................................................................................................... 6 1.51 Physical and ecologic setting ........................................................................................................................ 6 1.52 Hydrology: natural and modified ................................................................................................................. 7 1.53 Water rights and diversions ......................................................................................................................... 8 1.54 Land use and land cover ............................................................................................................................... 8 2. Water quality analysis................................................................................................................................................ 9 2.1 Data sources ....................................................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Ambient water chemistry ................................................................................................................................. 10 2.21 Introduction and methods ......................................................................................................................... 10 2.22 Standards background ............................................................................................................................... 10 2.23 Results and discussion ................................................................................................................................ 15 2.3 Macroinvertebrate analysis .............................................................................................................................. 22 2.31 Introduction and methods ......................................................................................................................... 22 2.32 Standards background ............................................................................................................................... 22 2.33 Results and discussion ................................................................................................................................ 24 2.4 Impervious surface area analysis ...................................................................................................................... 29 2.41 Introduction and methods ......................................................................................................................... 29 2.42 Background ................................................................................................................................................ 29 2.43 Results and discussion ................................................................................................................................ 30 3. Water quality stressor identification ....................................................................................................................... 31 3.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................................................... 31 3.2 Ambient water chemistry ................................................................................................................................. 31 3.3 Stormwater load: urban and impervious surfaces runoff ................................................................................. 32 3.4 Stormwater load: pervious land use practices.................................................................................................. 33 3.5 Riparian degradation ........................................................................................................................................ 33 3.6 Physical alteration ............................................................................................................................................. 34 3.7 Altered hydrologic regime ................................................................................................................................ 35 4. Recommendations for monitoring .......................................................................................................................... 36 4.1 Data admissibility .............................................................................................................................................. 36 4.2 Macroinvertebrates .......................................................................................................................................... 36 4.3 Ambient water quality ...................................................................................................................................... 36 iv Brush Creek Stream Health Summary 4.4 Discharge/hydrography .................................................................................................................................... 37 4.5 Stormwater ....................................................................................................................................................... 37 4.6 Solid phase organics .......................................................................................................................................... 37 4.7 Illicit discharges ................................................................................................................................................. 37 5. Implementation plan ............................................................................................................................................... 38 5.1 Multi-criteria decision analysis ......................................................................................................................... 38 5.2 Urban drainage planning .................................................................................................................................. 39 5.3 Riparian feasibility assessment ......................................................................................................................... 40 5.4 Stormwater load estimation ............................................................................................................................. 40 5.5 Pesticide-herbicide inventory ........................................................................................................................... 40 5.6 Strategic planning ............................................................................................................................................. 41 6. Citations ................................................................................................................................................................... 43 v Brush Creek Stream Health Summary Definition of Terms AL: Aquatic Life AG: Agriculture BMP: Best Management Practice CDPHE: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment CPW: Colorado Parks and Wildlife CRWN: Colorado River Watch Network, a.k.a. River Watch CWA: Clean Water Act DM: Diurnal Maximum EPA: Environmental Protection Agency HUC: Hydrologic Unit Code LID: Low Impact Development MCDA: Multi-criteria Decision Analysis MMI: Multi-metric Index MS4: Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System MWAT: Maximum Weekly Average Temperature M&E: Monitoring and Evaluation NWCCOG: Northwest Colorado Council of Governments QA/QC: Quality Assurance and Quality Control RFC: Roaring