FINAL REPORT EEL RIVER BASELINE TEMPERATURE MONITORING Submitted To: California Department of Fish and Game Agreement No. P0110546 Submitted By: The Humboldt County Resource Conservation District Gary L. Friedrichsen, Jacoby Creek Biologists, Project Director 2002-2003 Humboldt County Resource Conservation District 5630 South Broadway Eureka, Ca. 95503 (707) 444-9708 FAX (707) 442-7514 Working with USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Eel River Temperature Monitoring Project (2002-2003) Humboldt County Resource Conservation District for the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts Resource Conservation District Stream Temperature Assessment 2002 Overview Map B$ B$B$B$ B$ Humboldt Co. B$B$ B$ B$ B$B$B$B$B$B$B$ B$ B$B$ B$B$ B$ B$ Trinity Co. B$ B$B$B$ B$ B$ B$B$B$ B$B$ B$ B$B$ B$ B$B$B$B$B$B$B$ B$ B$ B$ B$ B$ B$ B$ B$B$ B$ B$ B$B$ B$ B$ B$ B$B$B$B$ B$ B$ B$B$ B$ B$ B$ B$ B$ B$ B$B$ B$ B$ B$ B$ B$ P B$ a c i B$ f B$B$ B$ i c Mendocino Co. O B$B$ B$B$B$ B$ c B$B$ B$B$ e B$ B$ Glenn Co. a B$B$ n B$ B$ B$ B$B$ B$ B$ B$ B$ B$ B$ B$ B$B$ B$ B$B$ B$B$B$ B$ B$ B$ B$ Lake Co. 0 5 10 15 20 25 Miles MWAT Institute for Forest 10 - 14 and B$ Watershed Management B$ 14 - 16 N 16 - 18 Data Sources: B$ Hydrography -- USGS 500K Digital Line Graphs (DLG). B$ 18 - 20 MWAT -- IFWM Cooperator Stream Temperature Data 20 - 22 (Highest 7-day moving average of daily average). B$ B$ 22 - 24 B$ >24 Compiled by Scott Webb and David Lamphear Hydrography E-Mail: [email protected] February 2004 Major Rivers Homepage: www.humboldt.edu/~fsp Eel River Water Quality Monitoring Project (2002) 2 Humboldt County Resource Conservation District for the California Department of Fish and Game Agreement #P0110546 Table of Contents: Cover Topographic map of the Eel River watershed showing 2002 placements of temperature data loggers------------------------------------------------------- 2 Table of Contents----------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Overview and 2002-2003 Field Seasons---------------------------------------- 4 Protocols and Quality Control -------------------------------------------------- 4-5 List of Cooperators ---------------------------------------------------------------- 5 Estimated Cost Share and In-kind Contributions----------------------------- 6 Institute For Forest and Watershed Management Data Packages----------- 6-7 Stream Temperature Monitoring Site Report Explanation------------------- 7-8 Sub-basin Summary (Including Tables and Maps): Main Stem Eel River-------------------------------------------------------------- 8-11 South Fork Eel River------------------------------------------------------------- 12-13 Middle Fork Eel River----------------------------------------------------------- 14-15 North Fork Eel River------------------------------------------------------------- 15 Van Duzen River----------------------------------------------------------------- 16 MWAT Overview---------------------------------------------------------------- 17-22 Summary of the Three-Year Project: General Project Activity-------------------------------------------------------- 22 A. Cooperators--------------------------------------------------------- 24 B. Hardware, Software, and Deployment Issues------------------ 25 C. Sites and Site Selection ------------------------------------------ 25 D. Use of the Data ---------------------------------------------------- 26 E. Operations and Procedures --------------------------------------- 26-28 Appendices: (1) MWAT Comparison----------------------------------------------------------- 29-31 (2) IFWM Product Deliverables------------------------------------------------- 32-33 (3) Field Form---------------------------------------------------------------------- 34 Eel River Water Quality Monitoring Project (2002) 3 Humboldt County Resource Conservation District for the California Department of Fish and Game Agreement #P0110546 Overview The Humboldt County Resource Conservation District (HCRCD) has now completed eight field seasons (1996-2003) of temperature monitoring in the Eel River watershed. This report is the summation of the last two years of this multi-year project Stream temperature has been a concern in watersheds throughout the Pacific Northwest in relation to salmon and steelhead populations. The effects of past land use activities and potential future impacts to these watersheds have led to a number of regulatory actions that are intended to mitigate the adverse affects of increased temperatures. Restoration activities and resource extraction need to be designed after scientifically based assessment and monitoring is in place. With the advent of relatively inexpensive continuous temperature recorders, such as the “Onset” HoboTemp series, temperature monitoring has been shown to be one of the most cost effective tools available to land use managers for accessing present conditions and health of existing fisheries and other constituents of the aquatic habitat. Monitoring protocols developed over the past few years by researchers in government and the resource industry have been refined and completed by the Institute for Forest and Watershed Management (IFWM) at Humboldt State University. They provide a sound scientific basis for gauge deployment and data management. (See appendix 2) In general, the study involved the placement and retrieval of temperature data loggers in upwards to two hundred locations throughout the Eel River’s 3,684 square mile watershed. After logger retrieval, the data was downloaded, archived in summary form, and made available to all “stake holders”. Many cooperators have assisted the HCRCD these past two years in accomplishing this very large project and our thanks to them, especially the California Department of Fish and Game, cannot be overstated. The real success of this project is being realized as researchers, watershed stewards, and landowners alike use this large data set to probe the health of the Eel River. Information gathered from the first two years of this study is presently being used by many of the Eel Rivers “share holders” including California Department of Fish and Game, researchers at the University of California (Berkeley), Redwood State Park, Trout Unlimited, Eel River Salmon Restoration, and several private landowners. Protocols and Quality Control In an effort to standardize fieldwork and logger accuracy with regard to stream temperature monitoring, the HCRCD has adopted the protocols as set forth by the IFWM at Humboldt State University. These protocols were designed with assistance from the Fish, Farms, and Forest Communities Technical Committee and adaptations from similar protocols in Washington and Oregon. Quality control tests were run on all HCRCD temperature data loggers prior to the field season. Results of these tests are available for review but are so voluminous they are not included here. The tests were conducted in the following manner. June 17, 2002 and May 23, 2003 the data loggers were “launched”, placed in a cooler and left for three hours. Gauges were then down loaded and checked for relative accuracy. This test proved to be very accurate with regard to the NIST traceable thermometer as temperatures “flat lined” for at least an hour. This type of procedure, without ice, tests the gauges in a relatively close thermal unit as encountered with the field Eel River Water Quality Monitoring Project (2002) 4 Humboldt County Resource Conservation District for the California Department of Fish and Game Agreement #P0110546 deployment. All gauges responded positively to this test and random sampling of gauge accuracy was found to be within the manufacturer’s specifications (+/-1 degree C). Cooperators Cooperators in the Eel River Temperature Monitoring Program for 2002 and the 2003 field seasons included: Pacific Lumber Company- SCOPAC, Scotia, CA. Robert Darby Barnum Timber, Arcata, CA. Robert Barnum University of California, Berkley Nature Center (Elder Creek). Camille McNeely, Peter Steele Mendocino Water Agency, Ukiah, CA. Dennis Slota California State Parks, North Coast Redwoods, Dyerville Section, Weott, CA. Rocco Fiori California Department of Fish and Game, Fortuna, CA. Trevor Tollefson California Department of Fish and Game, Willits, CA. Scott Harris Eel River Salmonid Restoration Project, Bill Eastwood and Harry Vaughn U.S. Forest Service, Eureka Field Office, Adam Dresser, Andrew Bundshu U.S. Forest Service, Covelo Ranger District, Covelo, CA. Round Valley Tribe, Covelo, CA. Skip Thompson, Warren Mitchell Kyle Keegan and Jack Monskie Assorted private landowners: Tom Long Road Association Many of the above cooperators have obtained their own gauges for internal studies and share their data with the HCRCD for this compilation. In addition to their own gauges the HCRCD loans out additional loggers to help cooperators extend their studies. The combined total of loggers successfully retrieved, downloaded and archived by these cooperators provides the HCRCD much better sampling coverage. Results of the 2002 and 2003 field seasons are presented with little discussion as this project was designed to coordinate the deployment of temperature data loggers and compile results. Attempts to interpret findings are beyond the scope of this project. Therefore, there will be no analysis provided here outside noting trends when evident. Each of the major sub-basins (Mainstem, South Fork, North Fork, Middle Fork, and Van Duzen) are treated independently and data are grouped to define the general progressive heating