Upper Deschutes Watershed Council Technical Report City of Bend Ambient Water Quality Monitoring: Deschutes River and Tumalo Creek 2005‐2008 (Bend, Oregon) Prepared for: City of Bend Public Works Department 575 NE 15th Street Bend, OR 97701 Prepared by: Lesley Jones and Ryan Houston Upper Deschutes Watershed Council PO Box 1812 Bend, OR 97709 June 30, 2010 Acknowledgements There are numerous individuals and organizations that have helped support the water quality monitoring that is part of this report. The City of Bend staff, including the team at Public Works, the Laboratory and Water Divisions, were instrumental in project planning, implementation, and final documentation. In particular, the following team members have dedicated a tremendous amount of time and energy to the monitoring work presented in this report: Steve Prazak, Jeff Buystedt, Drexell Barnes, Ollie Fick, Patrick Griffiths, Wendy Edde and Tom Hickmann. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Laboratory and field crews contributed a great deal of guidance with methodologies and assistance in the development and adaptation of field protocols. In particular, the following contributors are appreciated: Steve Hanson, Greg Pettit, and Michael Tichenor. Bonnie Lamb, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Natural Resource Specialist Eastern Region and Joanne Richter of Richter Environmental Consulting, assisted with the early development of the monitoring program in the City of Bend. The UDWC Water Quality Monitoring Program relies on funding from the City of Bend, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality 319 Grant Program and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board to make the monitoring in this report possible. The UDWC Water Quality Monitoring Program is guided by the Upper Deschutes Water Quality Committee who provide invaluable guidance and input: Michelle McSwain (Bureau of Land Management), Wendy Edde (City of Bend), Brett Golden (Deschutes River Conservancy), Bonnie Lamb (Oregon Department of Environmental Quality), Ted Wise (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife), Kyle Gorman (Oregon Water Resources Department), Lori Campbell (Portland General Electric), Ryan Houston, (Upper Deschutes Watershed Council), Marc Wilcox (U.S. Forest Service, Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests). City of Bend Ambient Water Quality Monitoring Report ii Abbreviations and Acronyms Organizations BLM Bureau of Land Management COID Central Oregon Irrigation District DRC Deschutes River Conservancy EPA Environmental Protection Agency ODEQ Oregon Department of Environmental Quality ODFW Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife OWEB Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board OWRD Oregon Water Resources Department PGE Portland General Electric TID Tumalo Irrigation District UDWC Upper Deschutes Watershed Council USFS United States Forest Service USGS United States Geological Survey Technical Terminology 7DMAX Seven day moving average maximum BMP Best management practice °C Degree Celsius cfs Cubic feet per second DMA Designated management agency DO Dissolved oxygen °F Degree Fahrenheit FWS Fall, winter, and spring mg/L Milligrams per liter Ln Natural logarithm NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology NTU Nepthleometric turbidity units OAR Oregon Administrative Rules QA/QC Quality assurance / quality control S Summer TKN Total Kjeldahl nitrogen TMDL Total Maximum Daily Load QD Mean daily flow UGB Urban growth boundary μg/L Micrograms per liter City of Bend Ambient Water Quality Monitoring Report iii Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ vii 1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 2.0 Study Area ................................................................................................................... 1 2.1 Upper Deschutes River ........................................................................................... 4 2.2 Tumalo Creek .......................................................................................................... 4 2.3 Existing 303(d) Listings ............................................................................................ 6 3.0 Monitoring Methods .................................................................................................... 9 3.1 Quality Assurance and Quality Control ................................................................... 9 3.2 Monitoring Stations and Parameters ................................................................... 12 4.0 Results: 303(d) List Parameters ................................................................................. 15 4.1 Temperature ......................................................................................................... 15 4.1.1 Background ............................................................................................... 15 4.1.2 Upper Deschutes River ............................................................................. 16 4.1.3 Tumalo Creek ............................................................................................ 23 4.2 Upper Deschutes River Dissolved Oxygen ............................................................ 30 4.2.1 Background ............................................................................................... 30 4.2.2 Status ........................................................................................................ 31 4.3 Upper Deschutes River pH .................................................................................... 39 4.3.1 Background ............................................................................................... 39 4.3.2 Status ........................................................................................................ 39 4.4 Upper Deschutes River Sedimentation and Turbidity .......................................... 47 4.4.1 Background ............................................................................................... 47 4.4.2 Evaluation ................................................................................................. 48 4.5 Summary of Results .............................................................................................. 53 5.0 Results: Nutrients, Other Compounds and Biological Indicators ................................ 55 5.1 Nutrients ............................................................................................................... 55 5.1.1 Nitrogen .................................................................................................... 55 5.1.2 Phosphorus ............................................................................................... 57 5.2 Other Compounds ................................................................................................. 57 5.2.1 Ammonia ................................................................................................... 57 5.2.2 Chloride ..................................................................................................... 57 5.2.3 Fluoride ..................................................................................................... 59 5.2.4 Sulfate ....................................................................................................... 59 5.3 Biological Indicators .............................................................................................. 59 5.3.1 Escherichia coli .......................................................................................... 59 City of Bend Ambient Water Quality Monitoring Report iv 5.3.2 Primary Productivity (Chlorophyll‐a and Pheophytin‐a) .......................... 61 6.0 Discussion .................................................................................................................. 62 7.0 Recommendations for Further Study ......................................................................... 64 8.0 Bibliography ............................................................................................................... 66 List of Figures Figure 1. Upper Deschutes River Seven Day Moving Average Maximum Temperature 1997 – 2008 ......................................................................................................................... 17 Figure 2. City of Bend Area Seven Day Moving Average Maximum Temperature 1997 – 2008 .................................................................................................................................. 18 Figure 3. Upper Deschutes River Hottest Seven Day Moving Average Maximum Temperature by River Mile ............................................................................................................ 19 Figure 4. City of Bend Area Hottest Seven Day Moving Average Maximum Temperature by River Mile ................................................................................................................. 20 Figure 5. Upper Deschutes River Rate of Temperature Change on the Hottest Day ............. 21 Figure 6. City of Bend Area Deschutes River Rate of Temperature Change on the Hottest Day .................................................................................................................................. 22 Figure 7. Tumalo Creek Temperature Compared to Salmon and Trout Standards ................ 24 Figure 8. Tumalo Creek Temperature Compared to Bull Trout Standards ............................