Ecological Overlay for the Trinity River for support of Development of Instream Environmental Flow Recommendations Prepared for: Trinity River Authority and Texas Water Development Board Prepared by: Environmental Institute of Houston, University of Houston Clear Lake In Cooperation with the Trinity River Authority Primary Contributors: George Guillen, Ph.D. Jenny Wrast, M.S. – GIS Support Dianna Ramirez, M.S. – Water Quality Analysis September 21, 2009 Revised November 17, 2009 Table of Contents Table of Contents............................................................................................................................ 1 List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. 3 List of Figures................................................................................................................................. 4 Executive Summary...................................................................................................................... 13 Executive Summary...................................................................................................................... 13 Introduction................................................................................................................................... 15 Background................................................................................................................................... 16 Methodology................................................................................................................................. 20 Hydrology Summary................................................................................................................. 20 Water Quality and Geomorphology.......................................................................................... 23 Focal Species Matrix................................................................................................................. 26 Results........................................................................................................................................... 38 Hydrology Summary................................................................................................................. 38 Water Quality and Geomorphological Factors ......................................................................... 61 Current Status and Major Trends.......................................................................................... 61 Elm Fork Carrolton (08055500) and W. Fork @ Grand Prairie (08049500) ....................... 66 Trinity River at Rosser (08062500) ...................................................................................... 75 Trinity River at Trinidad (08062700) ................................................................................... 84 Trinity River at Crockett (08065350) ................................................................................... 94 Trinity River at Romayor (08066500) ................................................................................ 104 Past Studies – Water Quality .............................................................................................. 116 Past Studies – Nutrient and Sediment Loading to Galveston Bay...................................... 122 Past Studies – Sediment Transport and Geomorphology ................................................... 125 Past Studies – River Geomorphology and Connectivity..................................................... 138 Focal Species Matrix and Potential Flow Relationships......................................................... 139 Historical Fish Species Distribution and Trends ................................................................ 139 Cluster Analysis and Guild Structure ................................................................................ 145 Individual Species Accounts and Hydrological Relationships ............................................... 157 Aplodinotus grunniens (Freshwater drum) ......................................................................... 157 Atractosteus spatula (alligator gar)..................................................................................... 163 Ictalurus furcatus (blue catfish).......................................................................................... 165 Lepomis megalotis (longear sunfish) .................................................................................. 167 Micropterus salmoides (largemouth bass).......................................................................... 167 Morone chrysops (white bass) ............................................................................................ 172 Notropis atrocaudalis (blackspot shiner) .......................................................................... 175 Notropis shumardi (silverband shiner) ............................................................................... 175 Percina sciera (dusky darter).............................................................................................. 178 Polyodon spathula (paddlefish) .......................................................................................... 181 Guidance on Development of Recommended Hydrological Regime......................................... 185 Major Findings and Recommendations ...................................................................................... 193 1. Water Quality and Relation to Flow Regime.................................................................... 193 2. Geomorphology and Estuarine Loading ............................................................................ 193 3. Candidate Biological Metrics for Development of Instream Flow Recommendations..... 194 Appendix 1. Listing of Primary Literature Reviewed and Cited by Bonner (2009).................. 196 Freshwater Drum .................................................................................................................... 196 1 Environmental Institute of Houston Trinity River Basin November 17, 2009 Biological Overlay Alligator Gar ........................................................................................................................... 199 Blue Catfish ............................................................................................................................ 202 Longear Sunfish...................................................................................................................... 205 Largemouth Bass .................................................................................................................... 207 White Bass .............................................................................................................................. 210 Blackspot Shiner ..................................................................................................................... 212 Silverband Minnow................................................................................................................. 213 Dusky Darter........................................................................................................................... 215 Paddlefish................................................................................................................................ 218 Literature Cited ........................................................................................................................... 222 2 Environmental Institute of Houston Trinity River Basin November 17, 2009 Biological Overlay List of Tables Table 1. Location of priority gage sites on the Trinity River utilized for hydrological analysis project (Crespo Consulting 2009)................................................................................................. 20 Table 2. List of legally defined waterbody segments within the Trinity River watershed (TNRCC 2000). Other segments referred to in the text with letter suffixes refer to unclassified tributaries of these main segments. ................................................................................................................ 25 Table 3. List of fish species previously observed or collected in the Trinity River basin........... 27 Table 4. Biological codes used in tables 3 and 5. ........................................................................ 30 Table 5. Candidate focal invertebrate species in the Trinity River. TWAP SC listings highlighted in yellow........................................................................................................................................ 34 Table 6. List of aquatic species identified in the Texas Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy that are found in the Trinity River basin but not originally nominated by TPWD biologists....................................................................................................................................... 37 Table 7. List of reservoirs and associated characteristics within the Trinity River Basin............ 39 Table 8. Preliminary list of 7Q2 estimates for various gage sites in the Trinity River Basin obtained form TCEQ in September 2009. Cell in yellow highlight are priority gage sites......... 60 Table 9. Current 303d listed impaired water bodies within the Trinity River Basin and concerns. ......................................................................................................................................................