GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA Berry H. (Nick) Tew, Jr. State Geologist WATER QUALITY ANALYSIS AND HABITAT THREATS CONCERING CAMBARUS CRACENS ON SAND MOUNTAIN IN NORTHEAST ALABAMA by Rebecca A. Bearden, Anne Wynn, Pat O’Neil, and Stuart W. McGregor with geochemical analyses by Mirza A. Beg, Rick Wagner, and Robert E. Meintzer Prepared in cooperation with U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alabama Ecological Services Field Office 1208-B Main Street Daphne, AL 36526 Tuscaloosa, Alabama 2017 CONTENTS Measurement Conversion Chart ...................................................................................................... v Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ vii Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 Life History ................................................................................................................................ 3 Water Quality Threats ............................................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................... 5 Study Area ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Methods ........................................................................................................................................ 11 Crayfish Surveys ...................................................................................................................... 11 Water Quality ........................................................................................................................... 12 Pesticides and Bacteria ............................................................................................................ 13 Land Use Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 17 Results and Discussion ................................................................................................................... 17 Crayfish Surveys ....................................................................................................................... 17 Water Quality ........................................................................................................................... 18 High Flow ........................................................................................................................... 21 Low Flow ............................................................................................................................ 22 Pesticides ................................................................................................................................. 23 High Flow ........................................................................................................................... 24 Intermediate Flow .............................................................................................................. 24 Low Flow ............................................................................................................................ 24 Bacteria .................................................................................................................................... 25 High Flow ........................................................................................................................... 25 Intermediate Flow .............................................................................................................. 26 Low Flow ............................................................................................................................ 26 Land Use Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 26 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 31 Water Quality ........................................................................................................................... 31 Land Use Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 33 Crayfish Surveys ....................................................................................................................... 33 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 33 References Cited ............................................................................................................................ 34 Appendix A ..................................................................................................................................... 39 Water Quality Data Collected from Sampling Sites for the 2015-2016 Cambarus cracens Survey Conducted in Scarham, Short, and Town Creek Watersheds in the Sand Mountain Area of Dekalb and Marshall Counties, Alabama………………..............................................39 Appendix B ..................................................................................................................................... 48 Pesticide and Bacteria Data Collected from Sampling Sites for the 2015-2016 Cambarus cracens Survey Conducted in Scarham, Short, and Town Creek Watersheds in the Sand Mountain Area of Dekalb and Marshall Counties, Alabama ........................................................................................................................................... 48 iv CONTENTS—Continued TABLES Table 1. Known historical locations for Cambarus cracens ............................................................. 3 Table 2. Sampling locations for Cambarus cracens from a 2011 status survey and number of individuals collected ............................................................................................................. 4 Table 3. Cambarus halli life history data ......................................................................................... 5 Table 4. Sampling locations for the 2015-17 Cambarus cracens survey conducted in various watersheds in the Sand Mountain area of DeKalb, Etowah, Jackson, and Marshall Counties, Alabama, and Dade and Walker Counties, Georgia ................................................................................................................................................... 8 Table 5. Water-quality parameters, lower limits of detection, and analytical methods............... 15 Table 6. Density estimates for Cambarus cracens from selected streams in the Scarham and Town Creek watersheds in the Sand Mountain area of DeKalb County, Alabama .......... 18 Table 7. Water-use classification and applicable water-quality criteria for the Scarham, Short and Town Creek watersheds in the Sand Mountain area of DeKalb and Marshall Counties, Alabama…………………...…...……………….......................................................................................19 Table 8. Farm statistics for DeKalb and Marshall Counties, Alabama, from 1950 to 2012 ........... 27 Table 9. Density of poultry farms in each HUC 12 subwatershed for the 2015-2017 Cambarus cracens survey conducted in various watersheds in the Sand Mountain area of DeKalb, Etowah, Jackson, and Marshall Counties, Alabama, and Dade and Walker Counties, Georgia ................................................................................................................................... 30 FIGURES Figure 1. Crayfish sampling sites for historic Cambarus cracens collections conducted in the Scarham, Short, and Town Creek watersheds in the Sand Mountain area of DeKalb and Marshall Counties, Alabama .............................................................................................. 2 Figure 2. Physiography of the Sand Mountain area of DeKalb, Etowah, Jackson, and Marshall Counties, Alabama, and Dade and Walker Counties, Georgia ................................................. 6 Figure 3. Land use/land cover of the Sand Mountain area of DeKalb, Etowah, Jackson, and Marshall Counties, Alabama, and Dade and Walker Counties, Georgia .................................. 7 Figure 4. Crayfish sampling sites for the 2015-2017 Cambarus cracens survey conducted in various watersheds in the Sand Mountain area of DeKalb, Etowah, Jackson, and Marshall Counties, Alabama, and Dade and Walker Counties, Georgia………………………………….................................................................................................11 Figure 5. Water quality, pesticide, and bacteria sampling sites for the 2015-2017 Cambarus cracens survey conducted in various watersheds in the Sand Mountain area of DeKalb and Marshall Counties, Alabama, and Dade and Walker Counties, Georgia………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......................14 iv CONTENTS—Continued Figure 6. Location of poultry farms relative to sampling sites for the 2015-2017 Cambarus cracens survey conducted in various watersheds in the Sand Mountain area of DeKalb, Etowah, Jackson, and Marshall Counties, Alabama, and Dade and Walker Counties, Georgia ................................................................................................................................................