WWeett WWaaddeerrss aanndd BBeeyyoonndd TThhee CCoonnddiittiioonn ooff OOuurr SSttaattee’’ss WWaatteerrss AA CCiittiizzeenn’’ss PPeerrssppeeccttiivvee 1 WV Department of Environmental Protection Division of Water and Waste Management, Nonpoint Section 601 57th Street, SE Charleston, WV 25304 The document was prepared by Tim Craddock, WV DEP’s Citizens’ Monitoring Coordinator and is available electronically in Portable Document Format (PDF). To request your copy send e-mail to Tim Craddock at: [email protected]. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Color photographs provided by: Alana Hartman, DEP’s Potomac Basin Coordinator; Abby Chappel, WV River Network; Sherry Evasic, Blue Heron Environmental Network; Neil Gillies, Cacapon Institute; Suzanne Hubbard, The Mountain Institute; Renee Cain, Lower West Fork Watershed Association; Martin Christ, Friends of Deckers Creek; Bobby Bonnett, Heizer-Manila Watershed Organization; Diana Green, Davis Creek Watershed Association; James Grey, Morris Creek Watershed Association; Larry Orr, Kanawha Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited; Valerie Wilson, Science Teacher, Oak Hill Catholic Center; Brad Durst, WV Conservation Agency and Curtis Canada, Upper Guyandotte Watershed Association. WV Save Our Streams would like to recognize all the volunteer monitors, not only those directly associated with the program, but any others who have given their time and energy in an effort to protect our state’s streams and rivers. WV Save Our Streams would also like to recognize all of the agency and other partners who have provided assistance of any kind, to help guide volunteers through the myriad of processes involved with water quality issues. “Perception is not acquired by formal education, nor is it reserved for persons learned in the arts or sciences. Perception is a recognition of the values found in natural things, and it is something that grows through our experiences at various stages of development.” Adapted from Round River: From the Journals of Aldo Leopold, preface by Luna Leopold. TABLE OF CONTENTS PROGRAM OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................. 1 The Workshops ............................................................................................................................... 1 ASSESSMENT METHODS........................................................................................................... 3 Biological Integrity......................................................................................................................... 3 Habitat Assessment......................................................................................................................... 5 Physiochemical Monitoring............................................................................................................ 7 PROGRAM ASSESSMENT METHODS...................................................................................... 8 VOLUNTEER DATA SUMMARIES............................................................................................ 9 THE POTOMAC BASIN ............................................................................................................. 11 Potomac Direct Drain ................................................................................................................... 12 Back Creek Watershed.................................................................................................................. 12 Sleepy Creek Watershed............................................................................................................... 13 Cacapon......................................................................................................................................... 14 North and South Branch of the Potomac ...................................................................................... 16 Shenandoah................................................................................................................................... 17 Jefferson County Streams ............................................................................................................. 17 THE MONONGAHELA BASIN ................................................................................................. 21 West Fork...................................................................................................................................... 22 Cheat ............................................................................................................................................. 25 Tygart Valley ................................................................................................................................ 27 Sandy Creek and Watkins Run ..................................................................................................... 27 The Buckhannon Watershed......................................................................................................... 28 Monongahela................................................................................................................................. 29 Deckers Creek............................................................................................................................... 29 THE KANAWHA BASIN............................................................................................................ 32 Upper and Lower Kanawha .......................................................................................................... 33 Heizer Creek ................................................................................................................................. 33 Davis Creek................................................................................................................................... 34 Paint Creek.................................................................................................................................... 34 Morris Creek ................................................................................................................................. 36 Upper Elk River ............................................................................................................................ 36 Lower Coal River.......................................................................................................................... 38 New River ..................................................................................................................................... 38 Laurel and Wolf Creeks................................................................................................................ 39 THE OHIO BASINS..................................................................................................................... 43 Lower Ohio ................................................................................................................................... 44 Upper Ohio.................................................................................................................................... 45 i Appalachian Clean Streams Program ........................................................................................... 48 WV SAVE OUR STREAMS WORKSHOPS.............................................................................. 49 THE FINAL ASSESSMENT ....................................................................................................... 50 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 52 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1. Orders and Classes of Commonly Collected Macroinvertebrates .................................... 4 Table 2. The WV Save Our Streams Index of Biological Integrity................................................ 5 Table 3. Potomac Overall Assessment.......................................................................................... 19 Table 4. Results from samples collected at the North Fork of Greens Run project site............... 25 Table 5. Monongahela Overall Assessment.................................................................................. 30 Table 6. Interstitial sediment analysis on Upper Elk tributaries................................................... 37 Table 7. Water quality results from Wolf Creek mine drainage................................................... 40 Table 8. Kanawha Overall Assessment ........................................................................................ 41 Table 9. Lower Ohio Overall Assessment .................................................................................... 44 Table 10. Upper Ohio Overall Assessment................................................................................... 47 Table 11. WV Watershed groups with OSM interns .................................................................... 48 Figure 1. Program Summary Sheet.................................................................................................8 Figure 2. Basin Divisions for This Report.................................................................................... 10 Figure 3. Volunteer Stations in the Potomac ................................................................................ 11 Figure 5. Buffer and bank stability conditions along Sleepy Creek ............................................. 14 Figure 5. Volunteer Monitoring Stations in the upper Cacapon..................................................