MARYLAND STREAM WADERS TEN YEAR (2000-2009) REPORT October 2012 Maryland Stream Waders Ten Year (2000-2009) Report Prepared for: Maryland Department of Natural Resources Monitoring and Non-tidal Assessment Division 580 Taylor Avenue; C-2 Annapolis, Maryland 21401 1-877-620-8DNR (x8623) [email protected] Prepared by: Daniel Boward1 Sara Weglein1 Erik W. Leppo2 1 Maryland Department of Natural Resources Monitoring and Non-tidal Assessment Division 580 Taylor Avenue; C-2 Annapolis, Maryland 21401 2 Tetra Tech, Inc. Center for Ecological Studies 400 Red Brook Boulevard, Suite 200 Owings Mills, Maryland 21117 October 2012 This page intentionally blank. Foreword This document reports on the firstt en years (2000-2009) of sampling and results for the Maryland Stream Waders (MSW) statewide volunteer stream monitoring program managed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Monitoring and Non-tidal Assessment Division (MANTA). Stream Waders data are intended to supplementt hose collected for the Maryland Biological Stream Survey (MBSS) by DNR and University of Maryland biologists. This report provides an overview oft he Program and summarizes results from the firstt en years of sampling. Acknowledgments We wish to acknowledge, first and foremost, the dedicated volunteers who collected data for this report (Appendix A): Thanks also to the following individuals for helping to make the Program a success. • The DNR Benthic Macroinvertebrate Lab staffof Neal Dziepak, Ellen Friedman, and Kerry Tebbs, for their countless hours in DNR’s laboratory processing and identifying benthic macroinvertebrates collected by Stream Waders volunteers. They were aided in their efforts by : Rebecca Bourquin, Megan Brosh, Donna Carollo, Mark Carter, Kelly Davis, Natasha Davis, Michael Depew, Miguel Dodge, Ginny Eaton, Sarah Friend, Rachel Gauza, Patrick Graves, Sarah Grove, William Hamilton, Michelle Harlinski, Debbie Howard/McKay, Shirley Kirby, Kathryn Klauda, Heather Lhamon, Hanah Martin, Emily Mellicant, Jonathan Niles, Michelle O’Connor, Karl Routzahn, Christine Rozycki/King, and Istvan Turcsanyi. • Stream Waders Trainers: MattAshton, Kevin Boyle, Rebecca Bourquin, Rita Buckler, Pat Ciccoto, Mike Depew, Ginny Eaton, Amy Fowler, Jason Frentress, Rachel Gauza, Patrick Graves, Bill Hamiton, William Harbold, Karl Hellman, Kascie Herron, Michael Kashiwagi, Paul Kazyak, Jay Kilian, Shirley Kirby, MattKline, Katherine Laycock, Kenny Mack, Michelle O’Conner, Luke Roberson, Ann Roseberry Lincoln, Ann Schenk, John Schuster, ScottStranko, and Kerry Tebbs. • Marty Hurd, Michael Kashiwagi, Lamar Platt, Tony Prochaska, Ann Roseberry Lincoln, Luke Roberson, Ann Schenk and ScottStranko for database development, data management and analysis, GIS support, and graphic design. • Paul Kazyak, Ron Klauda, and ScottStranko for continued managerial support and words of wisdom. i Table of Contents Foreword .................................................................................................................................................i Acknowledgments....................................................................................................................................i Table of Contents.................................................................................................................................... ii List of Figures ......................................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables .......................................................................................................................................... iii Introduction ............................................................................................................................................1 Involving the Community.........................................................................................................................1 Training and Site Selection ......................................................................................................................3 Data Collection and Analytical Methods ..................................................................................................4 Quality Assurance/Quality Control...........................................................................................................7 Replicate Sampling Analysis.................................................................................................................7 Results ....................................................................................................................................................8 Volunteer Opinion survey......................................................................................................................11 Conclusions ...........................................................................................................................................13 References ............................................................................................................................................14 For More Information............................................................................................................................15 Appendix A – Volunteers Who Have Participated in the Maryland Stream Waders Program, 2000 - 2009A Appendix B - Maps – Maryland Stream Waders Sampling Sites and Stream Health Ratings by Year (2000 – 2009)....................................................................................................................................................B Appendix C - Maps – Maryland Stream Waders Sampling Watersheds, Number of Sites per Watershed and Years Sampled (2000 – 2009)............................................................................................................C Appendix D – Volunteer Survey ...............................................................................................................D Appendix E – Site-by-Site Sample Results for the Maryland Stream Waders Program (2000 – 2009) ........E ii List of Figures Figure 1. Maryland Stream Waders (2000-2009) percent of samples per watershed at different watershed scales.....................................................................................................................................6 Figure 2. Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity comparison between original Stream Waders sample (MSW BIBI – primary) and a “replicate” sample collected by an MBSS crew (MSW BIBI – replicate) at least two weeks later..............................................................................................................................................8 Figure 3. Maryland Stream Waders sampling locations and family BIBI rating (2000-2009). ....................9 Figure 4. Percent of Stream Waders sites with samples not used to calculate a BIBI. ............................10 Figure 5. Narrative ratings for MBSS and Stream Waders benthic samples collected statewide from 2000-2009.............................................................................................................................................11 Figure 6. Stream wader volunteer answers to Stream Waders Survey (2000-2009)...............................13 List of Tables Table 1. Government Agencies, Schools, and Citizen Organizations Participating in Stream Waders (2000-2009).............................................................................................................................................2 Table 2. Stream Waders training session attendance, number of sampling teams and number of trainers by year (2000-2009). ...............................................................................................................................4 Table 3. Maryland Stream Waders sampling effort by year (2000-2009). ................................................5 Table 4. Maryland Stream Waders number of samples per watershed by watershed scale (2000 – 2009). ................................................................................................................................................................6 iii Introduction Begun as a pilot in 2000, Maryland Stream Waders is a statewide volunteer stream monitoring program managed by Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Monitoring and Nontidal Assessment Division. Stream Waders is the volunteer component of the Maryland Biological Stream Survey (MBSS). Goals of Stream Waders are: • To increase the density of sampling sites for use in stream and watershed assessments; • To improve stream stewardship ethics and encourage local action to improve watershed management; • To educate the local community about the relationship between land use and stream quality; and • To provide quality assured information on stream quality to state, local, and federal agencies, environmental organizations, and others; Stream Waders data are intended for use in water quality reports (such as Maryland’s Integrated Report to Congress – the 305(b) Report), watershed restoration and protection programs, regulatory programs (such as Antidegradation Policy support), and for local government use. They are also provided to the volunteers themselves and watershed associations that may have an interest in a particular stream or watershed. A list of training sessions and volunteers is in Appendix A. Stream Waders is designed to be seamless with the MBSS and several other stream sampling programs in Maryland.