BASELINE ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY IN SUPPORT OF THE ROOT RIVER WATERSHED RESTORATION PLAN

Transcription

1 BASELINE ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY IN SUPPORT OF THE ROOT RIVER WATERSHED RESTORATION PLAN Preliminary Data Report August 3, 2011 August 1, 2012 Sarah Wright, BA Julie Kinzelman, PhD, MT (ASCP) September 26, 2012

2 Root River Monitoring Sites and Rainfall Gauging Stations 2

3 Root River Monitoring Sites and Rainfall Gauging Stations City of Racine Health Department (RHD) and Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) August 3, 2011 August 1, 2012 RHD Monitoring Sites Site #1 Chartroom Charlie s Site #2 REC Center Site #3 Liberty Street Bridge Site #4 DNR Root R. Steelhead Facility Site #5 Horlick Dam Site #6 Highway 31 and 4 Mile Road Site #7 Johnson Park Site #8 Hood s Creek Site #9 5 Mile Road and E. River Road Site #10 Husher Creek Site #11 Highway 38 at Milw. Co. Line Site #12 Legend Creek Site #13 RR Canal - Main Site #14 Raymond Creek Site #15 RR Canal - West Branch (N) Site #16 RR Canal - East Branch (N) Site #17 RR Canal - West Branch (S): Union Grove WWTP Site #18 RR Canal - East Branch (S): Fonk's Home Center MMSD Monitoring Sites Site #19* Cleveland Ave, east of 124 th St. Site #20* National and Oklahoma Site #21* Coldspring Rd, east of 108 th St. Site #22* Grange Ave, west of 76 th St. Site #23** Ryan Rd, west of 60 th Site #24 County Line (8 Mile Rd) Rainfall Gauging Stations H Hales Corner Village Hall WS 1220 M MMSD Maintenance Facility WS 1222 F Franklin Public Works Yard WS 1226 (active 3/23/12) U Union Grove Wastewater Treatment Plant S Golf & Conrad - SS12 L Festival Park - L04 This Marker Color Key is used throughout the full report to designate land use. *Designated as Parkland Land Use, but sits within surrounding urban/suburban land use **Designated as Suburban Land Use, but also is sited near an industrial park 3

4 RHD and MMSD Sampling Sites in River Segments with Variance (Limited Forage Fish or Limited Aquatic Life) Water Use Classifications Same Marker Color Key applies 4

5 RHD and MMSD Sampling Sites in River Segments with Impairments Same Marker Color Key applies 5

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7 Summary of Racine Health Department (RHD) Root River Water Quality Results in Comparison to Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources State Water Quality s bacteria Sources: Recreational Use : NR , NR , DNR personnel, 2012 DNR WisCALM document: p /18 RHD sites not compliant with applicable state standards Report Data Reference: Long-Term Dataset Evaluation of table (p. 19). For the long-term dataset evaluation of chronic levels of bacteria*, all sampling sites with Full Recreational Use designations (14/18 RHD sampling locations) are in violation of the state standard of 126 cfu/100 ml geometric mean of five or more samples within one calendar month. Bacterial standards do not apply to four sampling locations because they have Limited Forage Fish (Hood s Creek (#8) and Root River Canal-East (#16)) and Limited Aquatic Life (Union Grove (#17) and Fonk s (#18)) water use classifications. These classifications have Limited Recreational Use designations. The bacterial standards do not apply to these areas as long as the bacteria levels originating from these areas do not have a significant impact on downstream bacterial levels. If the Full Recreational Use chronic standards applied to these four sites, all would break the state standards. *Short-term evaluation of bacteria is based on whether an individual water sample exceeds the state criteria of 235 MPN/100 ml. Single sample values are used for short-term purposes to determine if the water is safe for more immediate human recreational use. Single sample values are not used to determine if the water is impaired chronically. Geometric means, as described above, are used for this purpose. Single sample exceedances are included in the individual site tables (p ). Water Temperature Sources: Warm Water Fish and Aquatic Life : NR , NR , NR (1)-(2) Table 2 4/18 RHD sites not compliant with Acute Criteria applicable state standards 15/18 RHD sites not compliant with Sub-Lethal Criteria applicable state standards Report Data Reference: Water Temperature Exceedances by Site and Ambient Water Temperature and Water Quality Temperature Criteria tables (p ) The state standard for water temperature is dependent on the size of the river (large or small) and designation as a warm or cold water fishery. The Root River is considered a warm-small water by the DNR. Full Fish and Aquatic Life (FAL)- and Limited Forage Fish (LFF)-classified river segments have month-specific standards for Acute and Sub-Lethal thresholds. These tables can be found on p. 21 of this report. Limited Aquatic Life (LAL)- classified river segments have a single temperature threshold standard that may not exceed 30 C (86 F), at any point, regardless of month. For Acute criteria, four FAL and LFF sites (Chartroom (#1), REC (#2), Horlick Dam (#5), and RRC-Main (#13)) exceeded the standard % of the total 64 individual sampling events. For Sub-Lethal criteria, all FAL and LFF sites, except for Hood s Creek, had % of approximately 40 weekly-averaged values exceed the criteria. The LAL-classified river segments never broke their state standard. However, if the more stringent recommended FAL standards were applied to the LFF and LAL river segments, all of the four sites (Hood s Creek (#8), RRC-East (#16), RRC-UG (#17), and RRC-Fonk s (#18)) would meet the state standards for Acute criteria but would break the Sub-Lethal criteria % of 40 weeklyaveraged values. 7

8 Dissolved Oxygen Sources: Warm Water Fish and Aquatic Life : NR (4)(a), NR (3), NR (1) Table 4 15/18 RHD sites not compliant with applicable state standards Report Data Reference: Individual Site Tables (p ) Three state standards apply for dissolved oxygen. Full Fish and Aquatic Life (FAL)-classified river segments must not have any dissolved oxygen levels below 5.0. Every sampling site in FAL areas had dissolved oxygen levels below the state standard except for Horlick Dam. The percentage of standard violations ranged from 2% of samples (Steelhead Facility (#4) and Root River Canal-West (#16)) to 28% of samples ((Raymond Creek (#14)). Limited Forage Fish (LFF)-classified river segments must not have any dissolved oxygen levels below 3.0. Both LFF sites (Hood s (#8) and Root River Canal-East (#16)) broke the 3.0 dissolved oxygen minimum between 2%-17% of the time, respectively. Limited Aquatic Life (LAL)-classified river segments must not have any dissolved oxygen levels below 1.0. The sampling sites in LAL areas (Union Grove (#17) and Fonk s (#18)) never broke the 1.0 dissolved oxygen minimum. However, if the FAL standards applied to these sites, Union Grove would have been in compliance but Fonk s would have exceeded the standards during 34% of sampling events. and and turbidity do not have state standards but are measured and compared to recommended standards. These results can be observed in the individual site tables on p Sources: Warm Water Fish and Aquatic Life s: NR (4)(c), NR (3) 2/18 RHD sites not compliant with applicable state standards Report Data Reference: Individual Site Tables (p ) The entire Root River, regardless of water use classification, needs to meet state water quality standards of Units (SU). All sites were in compliance except for Root River Canal-Main (#13) and Root River Canal-West (#15). RRC-Main broke the standards during 6% of sampling events and RRC-West exceeded the standards during 1.5% of events. Both sites had values above 9.0 and all took place in August of Phosphorus Sources:Warm Water Fish and Aquatic Life s: NR (3)(b),NR (6)(d), NR (1) Table 4 16/18 RHD sites not compliant with applicable state standards Report Data Reference: Individual Site Tables (p ) Two out of three water use classifications (Warm Water Fish and Aquatic Life (FAL) and Limited Forage Fish (LFF)) follow a total phosphorus criterion of 75 ug/l (.075 ). Sixteen sites adhere to FAL and LFF water use classifications and 16/16 exceeded this criterion. Eight sampling events were conducted once monthly in October, November, December of 2011 and March, April, May, June, and July of All broke the criterion at least 38% of sampling events (Johnson Park (#7) and #14 Raymond Creek (#14)) and Root River Canal-West (#15) exceeded the standard 100% of the time. The Limited Aquatic Life (LAL) water use classification however is excluded from this criterion, and no phosphorus standards applies. Union Grove (#17) and Fonk s (#18) are designated as LAL and therefore do not break the state phosphorus standard. However, if the FAL and LFF state standard was applied, these two sites would exceed the criterion 100% of sampling events. 8

9 WATER QUALITY SUMMARY DATA SITES 1-18 Evaluation tables of long-term (vs. single sample) levels and water temperature results for each site are included after the following 18 tables. Single sample values are used for short-term purposes to determine if the water is safe for more immediate human recreational use and are included in the following site tables. Geometric means of 5 samples are used as the state standard to determine long-term impairment of water. #1: Chartroom Charlie's Impairment: Contaminated Fish Tissue Pollutant: PCBs Mean Med St. Dev Min Max. 3, , MPN/100mL NTU #2: Root River Environmental Education Community Center (REC) Impairment: Contaminated Fish Tissue Pollutant: PCBs Mean Med St. Dev Min Max. 6, , NTU

10 #3: Liberty Street Bridge (LSB) Impairment: Contaminated Fish Tissue Pollutant: PCBs Mean Med St. Dev. 1, Min Max. 6, , NTU #4: Steelhead Facility (SHF) Impairment: Contaminated Fish Tissue Pollutant: PCBs Mean Med St. Dev Min Max. 2, , NTU

11 #5: Horlick Dam Impairment: Contaminated Fish Tissue Pollutant: PCBs 8/3/11-8/1/12 Results (65 Events, *8 Events) Mean 2, Med St. Dev. 16, Min Max. 129, , NTU #6: Highway 31 and 4 Mile Road Proposed for Impairment: Degraded Biological Community Pollutant: Total Phosphorus Mean Med , St. Dev Min Max. 1, , NTU

12 #7: Johnson Park Proposed for Impairment: Degraded Biological Community Pollutant: Total Phosphorus Mean Med , St. Dev Min Max. 3, , NTU #8: Hood's Creek Water Use Classification: Limited Forage Fish, Limited Recreational Use No Impairments (ms/cm) Mean , Med , St. Dev. 1, Min Max. 13, , Variance Rec d N/A N/A N/A MPN/100mL NTU

13 #9: 5 Mile Road and Root River Parkway Proposed for Impairment: Degraded Biological Community Pollutant: Total Phosphorus Mean Med , St. Dev Min Max. 1, , NTU #10: Husher Creek Proposed for Impairment: Degraded Biological Community Pollutant: Total Phosphorus Mean 1, Med St. Dev. 2, Min Max. 19, , NTU

14 #11: Highway 38 at Milwaukee County Line Proposed for Impairment: Degraded Biological Community Pollutant: Total Phosphorus Mean , Med , St. Dev Min Max. 3, , NTU #12: Legend Creek No Impairments Mean 1, , Med , St. Dev. 3, Min Max. 24, , NTU

15 #13: Root River Canal - Main Impairment: Low Pollutants: Sediment/Total Suspended Solids, Total Phosphorus Mean , Med , St. Dev. 3, Min Max. 23, , NTU #14: Raymond Creek No Impairments Mean 3, , Med St. Dev. 20, Min Max. 161, , NTU

16 #15: Root River Canal - West Branch (N) Impairment: Low Pollutants: Sediment/Total Suspended Solids, Total Phosphorus Mean 4, , Med , St. Dev. 30, Min Max. 241, , NTU #16: Root River Canal - East Branch (N) Water Use Classification: Limited Forage Fish, Limited Recreational Use No Impairments (ms/cm) Mean Med St. Dev Min Max. 3, , Variance Rec d N/A N/A N/A NTU

17 #17: Root River Canal West Branch (S): Union Grove WWTP Water Use Classification: Limited Aquatic Life, Limited Recreational Use No Impairments (ms/cm) Mean 4, , Med. 3, , St. Dev. 5, Min Max. 32, , Variance Rec d N/A N/A N/A N/A NTU #18: Root River Canal East Branch (S): Fonk's Home Center Water Use Classification: Limited Aquatic Life, Limited Recreational Use No Impairments (ms/cm) Mean 1, , Med , St. Dev. 3, Min Max. 29, , Variance Rec d N/A N/A N/A N/A NTU

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21 Ranked (MPN/100mL) Summary Data by Site (by median, then mean) Site # Site Mean Median St. Dev. Minimum Maximum #17 RRC-UG 4,616 3,210 5, ,550 #18 RRC-Fonk's 1, , ,090 #10 Husher 1, , ,560 #14 Raymond 3, , ,600 #3 LSB , ,760 #15 RRC-West 4, , ,920 #12 Legend 1, , ,192 #8 Hood's , ,540 #4 SHF ,850 #13 RRC-Main , ,820 #11 At Hwy ,090 #6 At Hwy ,340 #2 REC ,440 #7 JP ,270 #9 At 5 Mile ,970 #16 RRC-East ,180 #5 HDM 2, , ,965 #1 CR ,873 Mean 1, , ,389 Median , ,150 St. Dev. 1, , ,464 Minimum ,340 Maximum 4,616 3,210 30, ,920 Limited Forage Fish, Limited Rec. Use Variances; No state bacterial standards at these sites Limited Aquatic Life, Limited Rec. Use Variances; No state bacterial standards at these sites 21

22 . Ranked Total Summary (by mean) Site # Site Mean Median St. Dev. Minimum Maximum #16 RRC-East #18 RRC-Fonk's #11 At Hwy #10 Husher #9 At 5 Mile #6 At Hwy #12 Legend #8 Hood's #14 Raymond #1 CR #17 RRC-UG #2 REC #5 HDM #4 SHF #3 LSB #7 JP #15 RRC-West #13 RRC-Main Mean Median St. Dev Minimum Maximum Limited Forage Fish Variance; is 3.0 (vs. 5.0 ) Limited Aquatic Life Variance; Minimum is 1.0 (vs. 5.0 ) 22

23 Ranked Total Phosphorus Summary Data by Site (by mean, then median) Site # Site Mean Median St. Dev. Minimum Maximum #18 RRC-Fonk's #14 Raymond #17 RRC-UG #16 RRC-East #8 Hood's #13 RRC-Main #15 RRC-West #11 At Hwy #2 REC #9 At 5 Mile #6 At Hwy #7 JP #5 HDM #10 Husher #3 LSB #4 SHF #1 CR #12 Legend Mean Median St. Dev Minimum Maximum Limited Aquatic Life Variance; No state phosphorus standards at these sites Phosphorus is one of the limiting nutrients for growth in surface water bodies. Phosphorus loading can make lakes, rivers, and streams too productive (eutrophic). Eutrophic lakes are high in nutrients and support a large biomass (all the plants and animals living in a lake). Phosphorus is a nutrient that can encourage the growth of nuisance aquatic plants such as algal blooms. While eutrophic lakes and streams may support large fish populations they may also be susceptible to oxygen depletion (which can cause fish kills). Eutrophication can also cause a change in fish species composition. Rough fish, as opposed to game/sport fish, are commonly found in eutrophic lakes and streams. Fertilizer generally contains phosphorus in the form of orthophosphate. Phosphate is not very mobile in soil; it tends to remain attached to solid particles rather than dissolving in water. However, if too much fertilizer is applied, the phosphates are carried into surface waters with storm runoff and also with melting snow. Soil erosion of fertilized fields and lawns can also carry a considerable amount of particulate phosphate to streams. The WI Department of Natural Resources has set a total phosphorus criterion of.075 for many streams in the state, including the Root River. 23

24 Potential Pollution Impairments and Predominant Land Use Potential Impairments and Land Use by Site Site Potential Impairment Predominant Surrounding Land Use* #1 Chartroom Human Sewage Urban/Business/Industrial #2 REC Center Human Sewage Urban/Business/Industrial #3 Liberty Street Bridge Human Sewage Urban/Parkland #4 WDNR Steelhead Facility Human Sewage Urban/Parkland #5 Horlick Dam Ecological/Habitat Suburban/Business/Parkland #6 Hwy 31/4 Mile Rd. Ecological/Habitat Suburban/Agricultural #7 Johnson s Park Ecological/Habitat Parkland/Suburban #8 Hood's Creek Ecological/Habitat Suburban/Agricultural #9 Root River Parkway/5 Mile Rd. Ecological/Habitat Suburban #10 Husher Creek Ecological/Habitat Suburban #11 Hwy Milwaukee Co. Line Ecological/Habitat Suburban/Agricultural #12 Legend Creek Ecological/Habitat Suburban #13 RR Canal -Main Agricultural Agricultural #14 Raymond Creek Agricultural Agricultural #15 RR Canal West Branch Agricultural Agricultural #16 RR Canal East Branch Agricultural Agricultural #17 RR Canal Union Grove WWTP Human Sewage Suburban/Agricultural #18 RR Canal -Fonk's Home Center Human Sewage Suburban/Agricultural #19 Cleveland Ave Ecological/Habitat Suburban/Urban within Parkland #20 Bridge@ National and Oklahoma Ecological/Habitat Suburban/Urban within Parkland #21 Coldspring Rd Ecological/Habitat Suburban/Urban within Parkland #22 Grange Ave Ecological/Habitat Suburban/Urban within Parkland #23 Ryan Rd Ecological/Habitat Suburban/Industrial Park #24 County Line Rd Ecological/Agricult. Suburban Transition to Agricultural *Land use was ranked by observed predominant use at the point of sample collection starting with the largest observable use. The Root River watershed encompasses a variety of land uses and, as such, is subject to a variety of pollutant sources potentially responsible for the beneficial use impairments resulting in its placement on the Clean Water Act impaired waters list (CWA, Section 303(d)). Monitoring stations were chosen to reflect the changing landscape with the watershed in an effort to identify, and quantify where possible, potential pollution sources. 24