COMPREHENSIVE WATER QUALITY MONITORING PLAN FOR THE KOOTENAI RIVER BASIN BRITISH COLUMBIA, MONTANA AND IDAHO June 2000 COMPREHENSIVE WATER QUALITY MONITORING PLAN FOR THE KOOTENAI RIVER BASIN BRITISH COLUMBIA, MONTANA AND IDAHO Prepared for: KOOTENAI RIVER NETWORK, Inc. Prepared by: Century West Engineering - Portland, OR Aqua-Tex Scientific Consulting, Ltd. - Kimberley, BC Summit Environmental - Boise, ID EcoAnalysts, Inc. - Moscow, ID June 2000 Kootenai River Basin Water Quality Monitoring Plan The Kootenai River Network, Inc. Page i TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTROUCTION .........................................................................................1-1 1.1 OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................1-1 1.2 MONITORING PLAN GOALS AND OBJECTIVES....................................................1-2 1.3 PLAN/STUDY OBJECTIVES .................................................................................1-3 2.0 KOOTENAI RIVER BASIN ........................................................................2-1 2.1 LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION............................................................................2-1 2.2 HISTORY OF LAND USE .....................................................................................2-2 2.3 EXISTING AND HISTORIC MONITORING PROJECTS...........................................2-15 3.0 POLLUTANTS AND HABITAT REDUCTION........................................3-1 3.1 SOURCES OF POLLUTANTS AND HABITAT REDUCTION ......................................3-1 3.2 DATA GAP ANALYSIS........................................................................................3-4 4.0 MONITORING STRATEGY.......................................................................4-1 4.1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................4-1 4.2 DEFINITION OF WATER QUALITY MONITORING ................................................4-2 4.3 COMPLEXITY OF WATER QUALITY MONITORING..............................................4-6 4.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF WATER QUALITY MONITORING ............................................4-7 4.5 WATER QUALITY MONITORING NETWORKS .....................................................4-7 4.6 SHORTCOMINGS OF CURRENT MONITORING PRACTICES .................................4-12 4.7 CURRENT METHODS IN THE DESIGN OF WATER QUALITY MONITORING NETWORKS .....................................................................................................4-14 4.8 REQUIREMENTS FOR BETTER DESIGNS............................................................4-16 4.9 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF WATER QUALITY MONITORING SYSTEMS.........................................................................................................4-18 5.0 SAMPLING PLAN........................................................................................5-1 5.1 BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................5-1 5.2 PROPER FUNCTIONING CONDITION....................................................................5-6 5.3 GROUND-BASED PHOTOGRAPHIC MONITORING..............................................5-11 5.4 PROJECT ORGANIZATION AND RESPONSIBILITY ..............................................5-11 5.5 TYPES, NUMBERS AND LOCATIONS OF SAMPLES TO BE COLLECTED...............5-12 5.6 FIELD DOCUMENTATION .................................................................................5-21 5.7 METHODS........................................................................................................5-21 5.8 BIOLOGICAL ....................................................................................................5-22 5.9 FIELD SAMPLING PROTOCOLS .........................................................................5-34 5.10 SAMPLE IDENTIFICATION ................................................................................5-35 5.11 SUMMARY .......................................................................................................5-42 5.12 RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................5-43 6.0 ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES..................................................................6-1 Kootenai River Basin Water Quality Monitoring Plan The Kootenai River Network, Inc. Page ii 7.0 QUALITY ASSURANCE PROJECT PLAN..............................................7-1 7.1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................7-1 7.2 PROJECT ORGANIZATION AND RESPONSIBILITY................................................7-2 7.3 DATA QUALITY OBJECTIVES .............................................................................7-5 7.4 QUALITY CONTROL PROCEDURES FOR SAMPLE COLLECTION, HANDLING AND PRESERVATION .................................................................................................7-7 7.5 QUALITY CONTROL SAMPLES ...........................................................................7-9 7.6 QUALITY CONTROL PROCEDURES FOR SAMPLE CUSTODY ..............................7-13 7.7 QUALITY CONTROL PROCEDURES FOR SAMPLE ANALYSIS .............................7-14 7.8 DATA REDUCTION AND VALIDATION .............................................................7-16 7.9 DATABASE MANAGEMENT ..............................................................................7-21 7.10 RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................7-23 8.0 DATA USE AND REPORTING ..................................................................8-1 8.1 REPORTING........................................................................................................8-1 8.2 MAXIMIZING THE USEFULNESS OF INFORMATION .............................................8-3 8.3 REPORTING CHECKLIST.....................................................................................8-5 REFERENCES............................................................................................................ AI-1 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................AII-1 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1-1. KOOTENAI RIVER BASIN MONITORING PLAN PROJECT AREA ..................1-4 FIGURE 2-1. THE KTUNAXA TERRIRTORIES ................................................................2-17 FIGURE 5-1. SAMPLING PLAN FLOW CHART ...............................................................5-45 FIGURE 5-2. WATER QUALITY MONITORING NETWORK DESIGN SCHEME ..................5-46 FIGURE 7-1. FOURTEEN-ELEMENT ITERATIVE CYCLE MODEL OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY PROCESS .....................................................................................7-24 FIGURE 7-2. SOURCES OF TOTAL ASSAY ERROR; TOTAL ASSAY ERROR IS THE SUM OF SAMPLING ERROR PLUS ANALYTICAL ERROR ........................................7-25 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 2-1. THE USGS HYDROLOGIC UNIT CODES FOR THE US PORTION OF THE KOOTENAI RIVER BASIN .........................................................................2-18 TABLE 2-2. AGENCIES RESPONSIBLE FOR WATER QUALITY MONITORING IN THE KOOTENAI RIVER WATERSHED ...............................................................2-18 TABLE 3-1. CRESTBROOK FOREST INDUSTRIES’ ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE...3-16 TABLE 3-2. SUMMARY OF DATA AVAILABILITY FOR STREAMS IN THE EAST KOOTENAY REGION ...................................................................................................3-17 TABLE 3-3. UPPER KOOTENAI WATERSHED - WATERSHED HEALTH INDEX ..............3-20 TABLE 3-4. FISHER WATERSHED - WATERSHED HEALTH INDEX ...............................3-20 TABLE 3-5. YAAK WATERSHED - WATERSHED HEALTH INDEX.................................3-21 TABLE 3-6. UPPER KOOTENAI WATERSHED - TMDL ................................................3-22 Kootenai River Basin Water Quality Monitoring Plan The Kootenai River Network, Inc. Page iii TABLE 3-7. FISHER WATERSHED – TDML ................................................................3-25 TABLE 3-8. YAAK WATERSHED – TMDL..................................................................3-26 TABLE 3-9. LOWER KOOTENAI WATERSHED - WATERSHED HEALTH INDEX.............3-29 TABLE 3-10. MOYIE WATERSHED - WATERSHED HEALTH INDEX ..............................3-29 TABLE 3-11. SUMMARY OF ACTIVE USGS MONITORING STATIONS IN IDAHO HUCS OF THE KOOTENAI RIVER BASIN ..................................................................3-30 TABLE 3-12. BULL TROUT HABITAT INFORMATION FOR THE IDAHO SEGMENT OF THE KOOTENAI RIVER BASIN .........................................................................3-31 TABLE 3-13. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF IDAHO SEGMENTS OF THE KOOTENAI RIVER BASIN ...................................................................................... 3-34 TABLE 3-14. KOOTENAI RIVER BASIN IDAHO LISTED LIMITED WATER QUALITY SEGMENTS...............................................................................................3-37 TABLE 3-15. KOOTENAI RIVER BASIN IDAHO WATER BODIES PROPOSED FOR DELISTING FROM THE 1996 303(D) LIST ...................................................................3-38 TABLE 4-1. IMPLICATIONS OF ALTERNATIVE GOALS FOR DESIGN AND OPERATION OF A ROUTINE MONITORING SYSTEM..............................................................4-21 TABLE 4-2. POTENTIAL EFFECTS ON WATER QUALITY OF COMMON WASTE DISCHARGES AND LAND USES ................................................................4-22