MI/DEQ/WB-08/020 MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY WATER BUREAU FEBRUARY 2008 STAFF REPORT A BIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE MENOMINEE RIVER WATERSHED INCLUDING THE IRON, BRULE, PAINT, MICHIGAMME, STURGEON, AND LITTLE CEDAR RIVERS SUBWATERSHEDS BARAGA, DICKINSON, IRON, MARQUETTE, AND MENOMINEE COUNTIES, MICHIGAN JUNE 2007 INTRODUCTION Biological, chemical, and physical habitat conditions of selected streams located in the Menominee River (MR) watershed were assessed by staff from the Surface Water Assessment Section (SWAS). The habitat and macroinvertebrate community were qualitatively evaluated using the Great Lakes and Environmental Assessment Section Procedure 51 (MDEQ, 1990; Creal et al., 1996) at 37 sites, water chemistry samples were collected at 6 sites, and visual assessments of biological integrity and physical habitat conditions were made at 1 additional site (Tables 1 and 2; Figures 1, 2, and 3). Historical fish community data were also provided for the MR watershed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR, 1997; 1998). GENERAL WATERSHED HISTORY AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION The water bodies discussed in this report are located in Baraga, Dickinson, Iron, Marquette, and Menominee Counties of the Upper Peninsula (UP) (Figures 1-3). All of the water bodies are located in the Northern Lakes and Forest Ecoregion and most flow through the extensively forested landscape prior to entering the Menominee River along the Michigan and Wisconsin border. This large watershed originates near Mount Curwood (1978 feet above sea level) in central Baraga County and flows south through the Peshekee and Michigamme Rivers systems. The majority of streams in the MR watershed are protected for coldwater fish. Forty percent of Michigan’s UP “blue ribbon” trout waters are located within the MR watershed. The headwater geology of the MR watershed strongly influences its surface water quality/quantity characteristics. The watershed topography is characterized by sandy hills and elliptical ridges, called kames and drumlins, respectively, which were created by retreating glaciers during the last ice age (Albert et al., 1986). These well-drained sandy deposits have high infiltration rates (Hendrickson et al., 1973), can be up to 200 feet thick, and are the major sources of cold groundwater to the rivers. The lower Michigamme River subwatershed has a large area of pitted and flat glacial outwash plains. Most MR watershed streams originate in sedge and forested wetlands or shallow kettle lakes, which cause the water to appear stained from the presence of decaying plant material. The MR watershed also has considerable iron-bearing rock formations, known as the Marquette and Menominee Iron Ranges (Dorr and Eschman, 1970). These iron ranges were extensively mined in the late 1880s, which led to considerable development within the MR watershed at the turn of the century. Many of the iron mines ceased operating rather quickly, although a few continued until the mid-20th century. Concentrated discharges of dissolved iron from abandoned mines in the Brule and Iron Rivers subwatersheds have produced an orange paste-like precipitate called “yellow boy,” that has physically smothered and degraded bottom substrate habitat for fish and insects. The logging industry also began in the MR watershed during the late 1800s and the entire watershed was extensively logged by the early 1900s. Networks of gravel roads left over from the logging era still exist in Dickinson, Baraga, and northern Iron Counties. Large scale agriculture did not follow the cutting of the forest due to the short growing season and watershed soil type. Consequently, most of the land was abandoned in the early 1900s. In 1928, the U.S. National Forest Reservation Commission made the first purchase of deforested stump land in the Western UP. By 1935, the U.S. National Forest Reservation Commission purchased over 1.7 million acres that later became known as the Ottawa National Forest. Today, the Ottawa National Forest encompasses much of the upper Brule and Paint Rivers systems; while most of the Michigamme River system is owned by commercial forest product companies. Prior to the logging era, the lower Brule River watershed was intensely managed with fire by Native Americans to stimulate wildlife use. The name Brule (originally “Brulee”) comes from the early French explorers and means “burned woodlands” (MDNR, 1983). The predominant vegetation in the hilly uplands are sugar maple, basswood, and yellow birch, while the lowland vegetation is dominated by american elm, black ash, trembling aspen, and red maple. The vegetation of the drier outwash sand plains includes balsam fir, white pine, Brule River Random Site red pine, and paper birch. A number of point source discharges exist within the area of study. In the MR headwaters there are the West Iron County Sewer Authority Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and the National Steel-Dober pit site in Caspian on the Iron River, and the Wastewater Sewage Lagoons at Crystal Falls and Alpha. In the mid-river area of Dickinson County, there is a combination of large and small National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitted facilities, including the Iron Mountain/Kingsford WWTP, Verso Paper-Quinnesec, Niagara Paper, and Norway WWTP. The lower Menominee River has several industrial and municipal NPDES permitted facilities such as Scott Paper, Great Lakes Pulp and Fiber, Stephenson WWTP, and Menominee Paper. The Sturgeon Dam was located on the Sturgeon River near Waucedah, Michigan. This structure was to be removed as part of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission agreement with the Wisconsin Electric Power Company called, “Wilderness Shores Settlement Agreement,” dated February 10, 1997. The Sturgeon Dam removal plan called for the 50-foot dam to be removed in three stages over a period of 4-5 years. The staged removal of Sturgeon Dam began in 2003 and was completed by 2007(see dam removal images below). By removing the dam in stages, it will allow the 248-acre reservoir and associated sediment to stabilize, thereby reducing fish and wildlife impacts. The waterfall has been restored and the Sturgeon River is now free flowing in the lower stretch. 2 2005 Partial Removal 2007 Complete Removal In April 2002, the western end of the UP experienced a 50-year flood event impacting many tributaries in the MR system. The county road system washed out at numerous points including several of the 2007 survey stations (Mining Journal, 2002). Fish community assessments using Procedure 51 were not performed during the 2007 study. However, extensive fish community data have been collected by the MDNR, Fisheries Division, for many MR watershed streams, including the Brule, Iron, Paint, Pine, and Michigamme Rivers, and Armstrong Creek (MDNR, 1973, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987; Taft, 1992, 1993, 1995, and 1998; and Wagner et al., 1994). These historical fish community data clearly indicate that the majority of streams in the MR watershed support coldwater game fish, primarily brook and brown trout, either seasonally or year-round. MONITORING OBJECTIVES These watershed surveys were conducted to evaluate water quality and aquatic life within the Menominee River watershed. A total of 38 sites were either monitored or visited during this survey (Tables 1 and 2; Figures 1-3). Specifically, the survey objectives were to: 1. Produce a statistical summary of biological integrity using a probabilistic sampling design to assess the current status and condition of individual water bodies and determine whether Michigan water quality standards (WQS) are being met. 2. Support water quality-based effluent limit development for existing NPDES permits in the watershed. 3. Identify NPS of water quality impairment and evaluate the effectiveness of specific NPS water quality improvement projects. 4. Satisfy monitoring requests submitted by internal and external customers. 5. Determine if the water quality is changing over time. Funding for NPS planning and best management practice (BMP) implementation has been provided for in Dickinson and Iron Counties within the MR watershed. Numerous BMPs and stream habitat improvement projects using federal Section 319 or the state’s Clean Michigan 3 Initiative (CMI) bond monies have been implemented since 2000 by both the Dickinson County Conservation District and the Iron River Watershed Council. A cattle exclusion project along the lower Iron River at the James Shepich farm was evaluated in 2007 and is discussed below. Future enhancement projects are expected to be evaluated in the Iron River, Fumee Creek, White Creek, and Hamilton/Fitzgerald Creek watersheds by SWAS staff. RESULTS Current Status/Attainment of Standards A. Probabilistic Sites The MDEQ, Water Bureau, has recently begun to incorporate a stratified random sampling design component into the annual watershed assessments (MDEQ, 2008A). The purpose of this probabilistic monitoring is to collect biological data for attainment status and temporal trend analysis. Probability sampling allows us to extend the conclusions from a limited number of sampling stations to all sites in the watershed. The resulting data can be used to infer the condition of the state’s waters at site-specific, watershed, or statewide scales. The status and trend program utilizes river valley segments to provide the basic sampling unit. A river valley segment is defined as a stream reach that is relatively homogenous with respect to