National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resources Program Center Assessment of Coastal Water Resources and Watershed Conditions at Katmai National Park and Preserve (Alaska) Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NRWRD/NRTR—2007/372 Cover photo: Glacier emerging from the slopes of Mt Douglas toward the Katmai coastline. August 2005. Photo: S.Nagorski 2 Assessment of Coastal Water Resources and Watershed Conditions at Katmai National Park and Preserve (Alaska) Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NRWRD/NRTR-2007/372 Sonia Nagorski Environmental Science Program University of Alaska Southeast Juneau, AK 99801 Ginny Eckert Biology Program University of Alaska Southeast Juneau, AK 99801 Eran Hood Environmental Science Program University of Alaska Southeast Juneau, AK 99801 Sanjay Pyare Environmental Science Program University of Alaska Southeast Juneau, AK 99801 This report was prepared under Task Order J9W88050014 of the Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (agreement CA90880008) Water Resources Division Natural Resource Program Center 1201 Oakridge Drive, Suite 250 Fort Collins, CO 80525 June 2007 U.S. Department of Interior Washington, D.C. 3 The Natural Resource Publication series addresses natural resource topics that are of interest and applicability to a broad readership in the National Park Service and to others in the management of natural resources, including the scientific community, the public, and the NPS conservation and environmental constituencies. Manuscripts are peer-reviewed to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the audience, and is designed and published in a professional manner. The Natural Resource Technical Reports series is used to disseminate the peer-reviewed results of scientific studies in the physical, biological, and social sciences for both the advancement of science and the achievement of the National Park Service’s mission. The reports provide contributors with a forum for displaying comprehensive data that are often deleted from journals because of page limitations. Current examples of such reports include the results of research that addresses natural resource management issues; natural resource inventory and monitoring activities; resource assessment reports; scientific literature reviews; and peer reviewed proceedings of technical workshops, conferences, or symposia. Views and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect policies of the National Park Service. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the National Park Service. Printed copies of reports in these series may be produced in a limited quantity and they are only available as long as the supply lasts. This report is also available from the Natural Resource Publications Management Web site (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/NRPM) on the Internet, or by sending a request to the address on the back cover. Nagorski, S., G. Eckert, E. Hood, and S. Pyare, 2007. Assessment of Coastal Water Resources and Watershed Conditions at Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NRWRD/NRTR—2007/372. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS D-109, June 2007 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. 7 List of Figures................................................................................................................................9 List of Appendices....................................................................................................................... 14 Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................... 15 I. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... 17 II. Purpose and Scope................................................................................................................ 25 III. Park Description and History ............................................................................................ 27 A. Setting ................................................................................................................................. 27 A1. Geographic setting ........................................................................................................ 27 A2. Human utilization.......................................................................................................... 28 B. Hydrologic information....................................................................................................... 29 B1. Oceanographic setting................................................................................................... 29 B2. Climatic setting ............................................................................................................. 34 B2a. Precipitation, temperature data................................................................................. 34 B3. Streams and Streamflow................................................................................................ 35 B3a. Descriptions and lists of streams and stream habitat............................................... 35 B3b. Streamflow .............................................................................................................. 38 B4. Lakes and Ponds............................................................................................................ 40 B5. Groundwater and springs .............................................................................................. 43 B6. Wetlands........................................................................................................................ 43 B7. Snow, Ice, and Glaciers................................................................................................. 45 C. Biological Resources........................................................................................................... 50 C1. Marine Resources.......................................................................................................... 51 SWAN monitoring of marine resources, including a description of vital signs and site maps, is described in section A1c. SWAN I&M nearshore marine monitoring............... 51 C1a. Marine mammals...................................................................................................... 51 C1b. Marine fishes............................................................................................................ 60 C1c. Marine birds.............................................................................................................. 65 C1d. Marine intertidal resources...................................................................................... 79 C2. Upland Resources.......................................................................................................... 92 C2a. Plants and forest types............................................................................................. 92 C2b. Animal communities ............................................................................................... 93 C3. Freshwater Resources.................................................................................................... 94 C3a. Fishes....................................................................................................................... 94 C3b. Amphibians ............................................................................................................. 98 C3c. Aquatic invertebrates, chlorophyll, phytoplankton, zooplankton ........................... 99 IV. Water Resources Assessment ............................................................................................ 100 A. Water and Sediment Quality............................................................................................. 100 A1. Intertidal and Marine................................................................................................... 100 A1a. EMAP in southcentral and southwestern Alaska .................................................. 100 A1b. Other offshore sediment quality data.................................................................... 103 A1c. SWAN I&M nearshore marine monitoring........................................................... 108 A2. Streams and lakes........................................................................................................ 109 A2a. Overview of SWAN water quality component of I&M program .......................... 109 5 A2b. Water quality of streams and lakes ........................................................................ 110 A3. Precipitation chemistry ............................................................................................... 118 B. Water quality stressors and effects on biological resources and human health issues...... 118 C. Available GIS data pertaining to water resources.............................................................. 118 V. Threats to Water Resources............................................................................................... 119 A. Sources of past, current, and potential future pollutants................................................... 119