Introducing My Healthy Stream A Handbook for Streamside

Introducing: My Healthy Stream A Handbook for Streamside Owners

Streams are the ‘life blood’ of the land, carrying the water that all life depends on Healthy streams require good stewards My Healthy Streams provides basic principles and practices towards good stewardship 2 nd expanded edition includes new chapter on Urban Stream Rehabilitation Joint project of: Trout Unlimited and the Aldo Leopold Foundation Authors: Jack E. Williams • Michael P. Dombeck • Christopher A. Wood Editing and Design: Jeannine Richards 2

Why do we need What isstreams? a healthy Healthy Stream? C Fish and wildlife Make our property more livable Recreation Clean water A place to play 3

What does a healthy stream look like? Habitat diversity Floodplains Riparian areas Logs s k n cu r e d Un a b t Pools Boulders 4

Many streams need our help In 2004, 44% of U. S. streams were not clean enough for fishing or swimming. 5

What is a watershed? An area bounded by mountains or hills where surface water from rains or melting snow converges into a single point. 6

A Watershed has a job… Receive, store, release water Job performance factors • Soil • Terrain steepness • Wetlands • Vegetation types and density • Land use 7

The 3 W’s – Water Quality, Wetlands, & Wildlife • Water Quality - Two Sources of Pollution – Non-Point Source occurs as water flows over land picking up silt, nutrients, and pollutants. – Point Source is easier to identify as a specific point (e. g. pipe or irrigation canal). • Wetlands or riparian areas filter out the pollutants before they enter the stream. • Wildlife and fish depend on healthy streams to create migration corridors and connect riparian areas. 8

Map shows the native range of trout – but there are many introductions beyond these areas 9

Trout Habitat Requirements • Cold Water • Clean Water • Dissolved Oxygen • Food • Holding Habitat • Spawning Habitat 10

Small streams in good condition can be fun! Thick overhanging vegetation keeps the water cool for trout 11

What can monitoring tell you? • What condition your stream is in and whether it is improving or degrading over time; • Water quality problems and their sources; • What kind of restoration work is most needed; and • How effective management changes are in achieving the desired condition 12

Indicators of a Healthy Stream Habitat Complexity Width-to-depth ratio < 10 Streambank Vegetation Mayflies, caddisflies, and stoneflies 13

Benefits of Long Term Monitoring Baseline conditions Seasonal variability Annual variability Management effectiveness • Impacts from floods and droughts • • Careful observation, repetition, and accurate recording are critical 14

4 Steps to Habitat Mapping 1. Conduct Visual Assessment Bank erosion Bank undercuts In-stream boulders/large wood Aquatic vegetation 3. Quantify Habitat Types Pools Runs Riffles Rapids Waterfalls 2. Measure Stream Channel Maximum depth of larger pools Transects Channel widths 4. Classify Substrates (streambed material) Clay Silt Sand Gravel Cobble Boulder Bedrock 15

Water Quality Monitoring • Pollutants • Macroinvertebrates • Temperature • Sediment 16

Monitoring Macroinvertebrates are small animals without backbones. • Aquatic insects • Snails • Clams • Worms • Crayfish 17

Aquatic Insects • Feed on algae, bacteria, leaves and a variety of decomposing organic matter • Primary food for wide variety of fish • Often swarm upstream reversing nutrient loss caused by downstream flow Stoneflies • Different species vary in sensitivity to pollutants, which indicates health of streams Caddisflies Mayflies 18

Collecting Macroinvertebrates What you will need: • Kick-nets • D-frame nets • Plastic tub • Ice cube trays • Tweezers 19

The EPT Index: their presence indicates good conditions E – Ephemeroptera (mayflies) P – Plecoptera (stoneflies) Example: T – Trichoptera (caddisflies) After sampling all habitats you have found: • Separate and count the different 4 kinds of mayflies, stoneflies, and 3 kinds of caddisflies from all of the habitats. + 2 kinds of stoneflies • Adding the three numbers = EPT is 9 and equates to Fair 20

Riparian Habitats What is riparian habitat? • The strip of land adjacent to streams • Usually wetter and contains more lush vegetation Why is riparian habitat important? • Supports a large variety of wildlife • Protects streams by filtering harmful sediment and pollutants • Prevents erosion • Shades streams during hot days 21

How wide should riparian zones be? 22

Riparian Restoration Benefits • Trees provide shade and woody material for streams • Stream channels become narrower and deeper • Summer stream temperatures are cooler • Vegetation protects streambanks from erosion • Vegetation filters out sediment and other pollutants before they reach the stream 23

Successful Restoration Techniques Include: • Fence the riparian area • Increase the width of the riparian buffer using native plants • Narrow the channel to increase flow • Willow weaving • Instream fish habitat • Culvert replacements • Irrigation canal screening • Create shallow wetlands 24

Making Stream Restoration a SUCCESS! • Address the core problems • If root causes are out of your control, treat symptoms until the causes can be addressed • Work with the stream to heal itself • Add unrestrained large wood and boulders • Do not rely on fixed artificial structures • Monitor the results and be adaptive to future needs 25

Urban Streams: conditions and problems Common Conditions Resulting Problems • Deepened and straightened stream channels • Habitat quality declines and erosion increases • Impervious surfaces • Accelerated and flashy runoff • Non-existent native streamside plants • Lacking shade to cool water and fish habitat • Filled wetlands • No natural filtration • Accelerated runoff from streets and lawns • Polluted streams struggle to support aquatic life • Overwatering of lawns • Depleted stream flows 26

Taking Steps to Improve Urban Streams • Reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides • Manage stormwater runoff • Restore streamside vegetation • Support local stream rehabilitation efforts 27

Invasive Species • Without natural predators and competition nonnatives rapidly populate and crowd out native species • Introduction of diseases and parasites are damaging to native species American Bullfrog (problem in West) Purple Loosestrife Reed Canary Grass Chinese Mystery Snails 28

The story of the New Zealand mud snail • • • First found at aquaculture facilities along the Snake River, Idaho, in 1987 By 1995 they had spread to the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park Now found in at least 12 states Can reach densities of 300, 000 per square yard! Eliminates beneficial insects such as mayflies 29

Stopping the Spread of Invasive Species • Clean and dry waders and boots • Remove clumps of mud • Avoid felt soles • Remove and dispose of invasive plants 30

How is climate change affecting streams? • • • Increasing stream temperatures Causing earlier snowmelt and earlier peak flows Increasing the frequency and intensity of severe weather, floods and droughts 31

Combating climate change by increasing stream resiliency • Reconnect streams to their floodplains • Increase size of riparian zone • Restore degraded wetlands • Increase density and types of vegetation • Reduce stormwater runoff • Insure that culverts and bridges are of adequate size to allow floods • Keep culverts functional by using trash racks and other means Resiliency: the ability of a system to recover following disturbance 32

Stream Health Requires Planning • Long term vision for function and physical appearance • Be sure to include five to ten year achievable goals • Remember - a healthy stream is not neat and straight but complex • Put it in writing – create a stream management journal • Monitor and record existing conditions with drawings, maps, photos, stream habitat mapping • Develop a plan of action based upon goals 33

How to Make a Difference My Healthy Stream has an additional resources section in chapter 12 that provides further information and additional references. Obtain copies by contacting: Jack Williams jwilliams@tu. org Sabrina Beus sbeus@tu. org 34

Ways to Support Healthy Streams • Join and learn about land stewardship and conservation • Join groups involved in restoration projects and volunteer your time and resources with your local chapter • Join groups engaged in environmental education • Spend more time out enjoying local streams 35