Biomonitoring in New Jersey: Status, Gaps, and Refinements

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1 Biomonitoring in New Jersey: Status, Gaps, and Refinements Dean Bryson New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Water Monitoring and Standards Bureau of Freshwater and Biological Monitoring January 19, 2017

2 Overview Status of NJDEP s Biomonitoring Ambient Macroinvertebrate Network (AMNET) Macroinvertebrate Indices Coastal Plain Macroinvertebrate Index (CPMI) Probabilistic Monitoring Bionutrient Correlation Project Analysis of Index and Metric Variability Identified Gaps/Refinements

3 Status of NJDEP s Biomonitoring Resource Category Biomonitoring Gap Matrix Freshwater Wadeable Freshwater NonWadeable Headwaters Lakes Freshwater Tidal Barnegat Bay NY/NJ Harbor Atlantic Ocean Coastal Bays (other than Barnegat) Assemblage Macroinvertebrates Fish High Gradient Coastal Plains Pinelands Marine High Gradient Coastal Plains Pinelands Algae Key Monitored/Assessed Method/Index in development Gap

4 Ambient Macroinvertebrate Network (AMNET) Established in the early 1990 s, shortly after release of USEPA s Rapid Bioassessment Protocols (RBP) Regional sampling- Upper Delaware (Northwest), Northeast, Raritan, Atlantic, and Lower Delaware Currently, 745 sites statewide sampled once every 5 years Refinements have been made to network Three regionally-specific indices now used Sampling window currently April-November Re-locate sites away from the influence of lake outfalls Established sites, where possible, near pour points of all HUC14 s Scheduled to finish the 5 th complete statewide round of sampling June, 2017

5 Benthic Macroinvertebrate Multimetric Indices High Gradient Macroinvertebrate Index (HGMI) Pinelands Macroinvertebrate Index (PMI) Coastal Plain Macroinvertebrate Index (CPMI)- 2000

6 Coastal Plain Macroinvertebrate Index (CPMI) Developed by a multi-state workgroup for the freshwater, nontidal, low gradient rivers and streams of the Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain ecoregion (New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina) CPMI re-scaled in 2015 by Tetra Tech to 0-100, as HGMI and PMI Sites with ph < 4.5 not included in index development due to variability (almost all sites used ph>5.0) Limited selection of reference sites in NJ Therefore, cannot be applied to Pinelands of NJ, leading to PMI PMI utilized for sites within the Pinelands Reserve and within 5 km buffer surrounding this boundary

7 Statistical Survey- Probabilistic Water Quality and Biological Network (PWQBN) Generalized Random Tessellation Stratified (GRTS) survey design Panel of 50 river/stream sites statewide every two years Design enables statewide statistical estimates of condition every two years Target criteria Freshwater, non-tidal excluding Delaware River At least one square mile drainage area No canals, ditches, pipelines, or intermittent streams, lakes or impoundments At least 100 feet upstream of inlet to an impoundment and at least 500 feet downstream of an outlet of an impoundment

8 Statistical Survey- Probabilistic Water Quality and Biological Network (PWQBN) Physical/Chemical Monitoring (conventional parameters) conducted quarterly (8 times in 2 years) Benthic macroinvertebrate sampling conducted once in the same two year period, within the April-November sampling window, and applying the appropriate index.

9 Bionutrient Correlation Project Summer, 2014 began collecting nutrient samples concurrent with biological sampling (FIBI, HIBI, and AMNET) Objectives: Establish possible relationship between biological impairments (indices and metrics) and nutrient concentrations Test applicability of NYDEC s Nutrient Biotic Index in New Jersey Inform nutrient criteria development

10 Analysis of Index and Metric Variability Starting in 2015, began collecting a quality control duplicate sample at 10% of sites Duplicate is collected from an adjacent similar reach as the primary sample Primary sample is used for reporting and assessments Duplicate sample is to be used for precision calculations Goal is to have quantitative estimates of index and metric variability to: Establish program-specific acceptance criteria Determine the magnitude of difference that can be considered significant

11 Macroinvertebrate Monitoring- Identified Gaps/Refinements Re-calibration of CPMI Are current metrics effective in detecting biological impairments in non-pinelands, coastal plain streams of New Jersey Pinelands/Non-Pinelands boundary Where should we apply PMI vs CPMI? Tidal, freshwater rivers and streams Head-of-tide currently based on surveys done in late 1970 s/early 1980 s Are these determinations still applicable? How close to head-of-tide can we locate sites, especially near freshwater/brackish interface?

12 AN0769 Old Robbins Br., Cape May Co.

13 June 30, 2016, ph-4.24, SC-72 us/cm

14 Continuous Conductivity Data- AN0769, Old Robbins Branch

15 Questions?