Susquehanna River Health What are the Fish and Water Quality Telling Us? By John Arway, PFBC Executive Director 26 April 2011

Transcription

1 Susquehanna River Health What are the Fish and Water Quality Telling Us? A Legislative Briefing By John Arway, PFBC Executive Director 26 April 2011

2 Historical Issues

3 American Rivers Declares the Susquehanna River one of America s most Endangered Rivers in 2005.

4 Disease Discovered in YOY Smallmouth Bass in 2005

5 PFBC 2005 Smallmouth Bass Workshop

6 SUMMARY Flows were near or below Q 7 10 from July into September. River temperature was optimal for Columnaris growth but stressful for smallmouth bass. Overall, dissolved oxygen concentrations were at their lowest levels since 1998 therefore producing stressful conditionsfor smallmouth bass. Nitrogen and phosphorus levels have been decreasing since the 1980s. Macroinvertebrate community scores are within the 50 th Macroinvertebrate community scores are within the 50 percentile and communities appear to be unaffected.

7 Growth in Consumptive Water Use mgd Average 1970 Peak Current Average Current Peak 2025 Average 2025 Peak

8

9 Smallmouth Bass Y O Y Y Year per 50m Mean Catch

10 Susquehanna River 2007 Cladophora Bloom Dalmatia to Goldsboro Clarks Ferry Bridge

11

12 2005 & 2007 Diseased SMB Sampling Sites

13 What Do We Know? WATER QUALITY Nutrients

14

15 What Do We Know? Total Phosphorus vs Time (Lower Susquehanna River Basin) Total Phosphorus (mg/l) Year WQN201 - Susq Marietta WQN203 - Susq Sunbury WQN214 - Juniata Newport

16 What Do We Know? Historical Total Phosphorus - WQN201 (Susquehanna Marietta) Total Phosp phorus (m years Year

17 Liquid manure applied to frozen ground

18 Manure runoff entering Harnish Run as a point source

19 Manure pollution in Harnish Run

20 U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report By Michael J. Langland, Douglas L. Moyer, and Joel Blomquist

21

22

23

24 Chesapeake Bay Foundation Nutrient loadsto thechesapeake Bayfrom the 1980 s through 2006 show a modest downward trend. Data from the late 1990 s to 2006 shows the trendisdecidedly decidedly upward. Others have hypothesized that agricultural soils reaching phosphorus h saturation in some watersheds are indeed the main drivers for an upward trend in nutrient pollution.

25

26 Page 29 The other implication from the 2007 data, as well as from the past several years, was that there had been a dramatic increase in dissolved phosphorus and more specifically in dissolved orthophosphate. This was apparent during the time period from , at all mainstem sites and Newport. In recent years it has become more apparent at Towanda and Danville. Coupled with reductions in particulate phosphorus as seen by comparing TP, DP, and DOP loads and with reductions in SS, these observations indicate that DOP may be the nutrient of most concern in need of additional attention and managerial consideration.

27

28

29

30

31

32 What Do We Know? WATER QUALITY Dissolved Oxygen

33 Dissolved Oxygen olved Oxyg gen, mg/l Daily Min nimum Diss EPA Water Quality Criterion for WWF Susquehanna River at Clemson Island May June July MAIN CHANNEL YOY MICROHABITAT DEP Water Quality Criterion for WWF

34 What Do We Know? WATER QUALITY Water Temperature

35 Union of Concerned Scientists Northeast Climate Impact Assessment (NECIA) The parent model predicted increases in surface air temperature and sea-surface surface temperature but had no predictions for surface water temperatures. They extended d climate modeling to hydrologic modeling to predict future changes in Susquehanna River water temperatures. The simulations are based on high resolution downscaled gridded projections generated by 3 climate models: NOAA GFDL CM2.1, U.K. Met Office HadCM3, and NCAR/DOE PCM (Hayhoe 2008).

36 Union of Concerned Scientists Susquehanna River at Middletown 62 69

37 Union of Concerned Scientists Susquehanna River at Middletown 71 78

38 Union of Concerned Scientists Susquehanna River at Middletown 75 84

39 What Do We Know? Fisheries

40 Discharge ft 3 /s Y-O-Y Y Index & River Flow Year Y-O-Y CPM

41 Smallmouth Bass YOY Growth Progression (Swatara Creek 2010) May June July July

42 Lower Juniata River YOY smallmouth bass catch rates Mean

43 35 Susquehanna River (middle) YOY smallmouth bass catch rates Mean 5 0

44 300 Cth Catch per unit effort (CPUE) of smallmouth bass on the Susquehanna River downstream of the Dock Street Dam, Harrisburg, PA hour) CPUE (fish/ CPUE (total) CPUE (<175mm) Avg. CPUE Avg. CPUE (<175mm) Year

45 350 Cth Catch per unit effort (CPUE) for smallmouth bass on the Susquehanna River in the vicinity of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Bridge, Highspire, PA (Fish/hr) CPUE CPUE(total) CPUE (<175mm) Avg. CPUE Avg. CPUE (<175mm) Year

46 9 Susquehanna River (lower) YOY smallmouth bass catch rates Mean 2 1 0

47 Spatial Distribution of Disease

48 What Do We Know? Is the River Impaired?

49 Nuisance Algae Blooms Dalmatia Sept 2007 New Market July 2010

50 Sick Fish

51 35 Collapsing 30 p gfishery YOY SMB Average #/50m

52 Do We Have a Sick (Impaired?) River? We lack a method to adequately assess the health of a river like the Susquehanna. We have three rivers (West Branch, North Branch and the Mainstem) that are ecologically different. Our focus has been on the Chesapeake Bay which is a much different endpoint than a flowing river like the Susquehanna. We must better coordinate our research efforts to better understand problems so that we can begin working on solutions.

53 PFBC Resolution, January 2010 Commission i meeting Now Therefore Be It Resolved, the Board of Commissioners of the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission i asserts there is evidence showing that t the water quality of the Susquehanna River has become impaired i to the level l that t it is seriously impacting its nationally-reputed smallmouth bass fishery.

54 PFBC Resolution, January 2010 Commission meeting...the Board of Commissioners strongly recommend that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency immediately expand ongoing efforts to find the sources and causes of pollution that are contributing to the demise of the Susquehanna s smallmouth fishery and restore this national treasure to its former healthy status. t

55 What Has The PFBC Done?

56 PFBC Staff Actions Provided over $400k in funding (angler and boater dollars) to contract with USGS to conduct necessary WQ and fish pathology studies to research the problem. Petitioned both PA DEP and US EPA asking for their assistance in diagnosing and correcting the problem. Requested PA DEP to update the Commonwealth s DO standard to protect WWFs. Continue to monitor YOY and Adult SMB populations to continue the historical record. Held public workshops throughout the basin to educate our anglers and boaters about the problems and seek their help in advocating for solutions. Chair inter agency Technical and Policy Workgroups which focus on the river s problems.

57

58 Net Effect of Rule Change PFBC 2007 creel surveys estimated that 5,567 SMB were harvested in 103 miles of river (Sunbury to Holtwood) in 214 days (April through October). PFBC staff estimate that a C&R rule would save a minimum of 54 SMB per mile of river (minus 10% hooking mortality) until the end of October.

59 What Can You Do?

60 Tell DEP and EPA That We Need a TMDL for the River! A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) is the amount of pollutant loading that a waterbody can assimilate and meet our water quality standards. The TMDL process is a planning tool to The TMDL process is a planning tool to develop pollution reduction goals that will improve impaired waters to meet water quality standards.

61 Tell DEP to Adopt the National Dissolved Oxygen Criterion i to Protect our Warmwater Fisheries!

62 Provide Comments to the PFBC with Your Opinions i About Closing Fishing season for Bass during the Spawn and extending the C&R Regulations for SMB 0.5 miles up the tributaries.

63 Remember, it isn t about the Present.

64 It is about the Future!

65 What Can We Do?

66 Policy Committee Next steps/goals Sources of dissolved orthophosphate Cause of filamentous algae blooms Source of endocrine disrupting i chemicals Water quality focus on Susquehanna River /Chesapeake Bay Continued evaluation of causes of low recruitment and disease of SMB in the Susquehanna River basin

67 Technical Committee Recommendations Tributary focus passive samplers and histopathology Adult prespawn histopathology and contaminants Farming practice changes and herbicide id usage practices Periphyton analysis/nutrient (May already exist in WQN) Susquehanna/Juniata/WB/NB long term water quality gages Controlled YOY smallmouth bass experiments (temp/do/ph) Virus disease indentifications

68 Submit Comments Deadline April 30, 2011

69 The Quality of Our Fishing Reflects the Quality of Our Living!