Charting the Course to Stream Health

Why Monitor?

Monitoring Superior’s Streams

Stream Monitoring Methods

Become a Volunteer Stream Monitor

Take a Virtual Tour of Superior’s Streams

Why Monitor?

h     Though the Nemadji River in the City and its tributaries are known to carry a tremendous sediment load, little or no information exists on nonpoint source loadings of sediment and other pollutants from the City of Superior’s streams into Lake Superior. 

h     In addition, few residents know where the majority of the City’s streams are located or how healthy or degraded they are.  Many of the streams are inaccessible or unappealing. 

h     We need continuous water quality data showing long-term trends.  With these data, we can develop criteria for the “normal” flow and sediment load for the City’s streams.  We will also be able to show the cause and effect relationship between human actions and suspected environmental problems, and devise a plan to improve water quality.

The website www.lakesuperiorstreams.org highlights the monitoring program in Duluth and provides comprehensive information on Duluth’s streams, but it gives only half the picture of water quality for the streams that feed into Western Lake Superior. Monitoring efforts are underway in Wisconsin, but there is a lot of work yet to be done!

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Monitoring Superior’s Streams

In 2005 and 2006, we got our feet wet!

How does stormwater affect the City of Superior’s streams?  This was the question we asked when we chose the monitoring parameters we wanted to measure.  The ones we chose (see below) give us a well-rounded picture of how stormwater changes the streams.  We also wanted to get a sense for the baseline, or average condition of the stream.  We followed standard quality assurance/quality control measures as well as recommendations made by the monitoring instrument manufacturers.  All monitoring methods follow Water Action Volunteers (2003 a) protocols except where noted.

Between July 2005 and May 2006, we monitored 12 sites on 8 waterways in the City of Superior on a monthly basis.  Ice cover prevented monitoring during December 2005, January 2006, and February 2006.  The parameters we monitored included turbidity (both with a transparency tube and a turbidimeter), pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, total suspended solids (TSS), fecal coliform, and phosphorous.  Dissolved oxygen and turbidity using the turbidimeter were not measured until September 2005 because we did not obtain the monitoring equipment until that time.  We sampled the streams at the same location each time, and made notes about current conditions and any changes to the physical conditions of the site.  To see how stormwater changed the waterways, we also sampled after rain events as staff time allowed.  In addition, Faxon Creek, Newton Creek, and Bear Creek were sampled for macroinvertebrates in spring 2006. 

All monitoring data were compiled in a database and graphed with rainfall data (which was gathered from a sampling site at the City of Superior Wastewater Treatment Plant).  The background knowledge we gained on of the health of Superior’s streams helped us to secure a grant from the Great Lakes Commission to conduct a soil erosion project along Faxon Creek.

Still have questions about our monitoring data?  Some of the flukes and foibles are explained HERE.

To view monitoring data and other information about Superior’s streams,
 visit the Interactive Map.

This project was funded by a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

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Stream Monitoring Methods

PARAMETERS

The EPA lists suspended sediment as the number one impairment to water quality in streams and rivers. For some good pictures of turbid water on the Nemadji River, click HERE.  If turbidity exceeds a certain level over a long period of time, it indicates that a particular stream is severely impaired.  

We use a transparency tube (also called a turbidity tube) to measure water clarity.  The tube is filled with water and then drained until the user can see the secchi disk at the bottom of the tube. We take the first measurement in centimeters when we can just begin to see the secchi disk, and we take the second measurement when we have released enough water to see the secchi disk clearly.  We use an average of the two values for our final turbidity reading (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 2005, Water Action Volunteers 2003 a).  A larger transparency tube reading indicates higher water clarity.

Halfway through the first monitoring season we also started using a turbidimeter.  A turbidimeter is an optical instrument that takes measurements in Nephelometric turbidity units (NTU), which is the amount of light scattered by suspended materials in the sample.  Using the turbidimeter gives us a way to calibrate our transparency tube measurements against a more accurate and precise instrument.  We used a Micro TPI/Micro TPW turbidimeter, which is manufactured by HF Scientific, Inc.  The turbidimeter is calibrated on a monthly basis using samples with known NTU values.  On the day of sampling, the cuvette is washed out with deionized water, filled with sample water, analyzed in the turbidimeter, and then rinsed with deionized water. A lower NTU value indicates higher water clarity when using a turbidimeter, which is opposite from a turbidity tube, where a higher value indicates higher water clarity.

Below: Pouring river water in a turbidity tube.

Dissolved Oxygen: Dissolved oxygen (DO) is a measure of the amount of oxygen dissolved in the water and available to aquatic organisms.  Because streams in areas with high impervious surface receive less water from groundwater, these streams experience low flow conditions and stagnant water.  Slow moving water has a lower DO concentration than turbulent water because it does not mix as frequently with the atmosphere.  Low DO concentrations can also be attributed to warm water temperature and increased nutrient inputs.  When less dissolved oxygen is available for aquatic organisms, it leads to stress, increased susceptibility to disease, and population decline. 

The dissolved oxygen meter (YSI Incorporated, 550A) has an electrode that measures the concentration of oxygen molecules that pass through the electrode to give us a reading for dissolved oxygen in the water in mg/L.   The electrode is lowered below the water surface of the stream/water sample and swirled to keep fresh water passing over the electrode’s surface.  A reading is taken when it settles to a constant value.  The electrode is rinsed with deionized water between each use and is kept wet while in storage.  The DO meter is calibrated whenever the electrode has not been used for a month or more, by putting the electrode in a solution of known DO concentration. 

Below: The dissolved oxygen meter, which also measures water temperature.

Temperature: Turbid water is warmer than clear water because suspended solids darken the water and cause it to absorb more heat from sunlight.  Stormwater warmed by blacktop on parking lots and roads will cause temperature spikes when they reach a nearby stream, as will thermal pollution from industries and wastewater treatment plants.  As water temperatures rise, less oxygen is available for aquatic organisms.  Our dissolved oxygen meter has an electrode that also measures temperature in Centigrade.  We simply lower the electrode into the water and take a measurement.

pH:  pH is a measure of the acidity of the water.  Nonpoint source pollution can cause an increase in temperature or nutrient levels, which can lead to an increase in pH as hydrogen ions are used for photosynthesis.  Increased pH affects the availability and solubility of all chemical forms in a stream, including phosphorous.  When algae populations increase due to a rise in phosphorous availability, they draw down the oxygen levels in the water; drastic reductions can lead to fish kills.  Monitoring for pH can also alert us to point discharges from an industry that might be discharging water with an abnormally high or low pH.

pH measurements are taken with a portable electrode (Oakton Instruments, Waterproof pHTestr 3+ Double Junction).  The pH electrode is calibrated at the beginning each sampling day by using solutions of known pH (both pH 4 and pH 7).  The electrode is lowered below the water surface of the stream/water sample and held until the pH reading settles to a constant value.

Below: The pH electrode

Fecal Coliform: Fecal coliform bacteria live in the digestive tracts of humans and animals; finding this type of bacteria in streams indicates that untreated waste is entering the water.   Fecal coliform bacteria indicate the possibility for the presence of more harmful pathogens.  Beach closures due to harmful bacteria along the Western Lake Superior coast have received considerable media attention over the past few years, and these closures are related to sewer overflows and animal waste.  When stormwater inundates the combined sewer system, it can lead to sewer backups and overflows of contaminated water into Lake Superior.  Animal waste that washes into waterways is also a concern.  After the 2005 spring thaw along the lake walk in Duluth, City of Duluth crews carted away a winter’s worth of pet waste – it took three truckloads to remove it all (Marnie Lonsdale, stormwater runoff coordinator for Duluth, MN).  Such a mess indicates the need for more intensive stormwater education.  By measuring fecal coliform in the City’s streams, we will be able to determine if contaminated water is getting into the Lake via streams or if the inputs are more direct.

Plastic fecal coli (F. coli) Whirlpak bags are put into each stream/water sample, opened underwater, filled, and sealed shut.  They are kept on ice and then refrigerated at the Environmental Services Division lab, and analyzed in the lab using Superior Environmental Services Division’s book of Standard Methods.  The suggested dilutions for streamwater sampling are 0.1mL and 1.0mL, so that when the samples are plated on Petri dishes and incubated, some plates will have counts between 20 and 60 colonies.  CFU/100mL denotes the number of colonies per 100mL of water.

Total Suspended Solids: A measurement similar to turbidity that indicates how much particulate matter is in the water.  Total Suspended Solids (TSS) are solids in water that can be trapped by a filter. TSS can include a wide variety of material, such as silt, decaying plant and animal matter, industrial wastes, and sewage. High concentrations of suspended solids can cause many problems for stream health and aquatic life.

Samples between 50mL and 1000mL are taken from each stream, depending on stream clarity (larger samples are taken from clearer streams).  These plastic bottles are kept cool on ice and analyzed in the lab.  A piece of filter paper is tared and then we use a vacuum pump to suck a measured volume of the stream water through it.  The filter is then dried and re-weighed to calculate the weight of particulate material that was in the water sample.  A given amount of water from each stream should yield 1mL of suspended solid when it is poured through a filter paper.  This amount is then calculated to mg of solid per L of water.   This is the standard method used by the Environmental Services Division lab.

Below: Taking a sample out of Newton Creek to measure TSS.

Phosphorous: When phosphorous exists in streams at high concentrations, it can cause algae blooms.  When the algae decomposes it draws down the DO concentration in the water.  Though the City’s streams have a lower nutrient load compared to streams in agricultural areas, the St. Louis River Citizens Action Committee Remedial Action Plan states that “nutrient loadings from the system to Lake Superior are of concern.”

We use the standard ascorbic acid method, where the sample water is run through a spectrophotometer at the visible wavelength of 880, which gives the concentration of phosphorous in the water, measured as mg/L.

Below: Sampling during an algae bloom at Faxon Creek.

Biotic Index:  Aquatic macroinvertebrate organisms, such as caddisfly larvae and mayflies, are small animals without backbones.  They form the base of the food web in streams and have amazing adaptations for living in fast-moving water.  Different types of macroinvertebrates are more tolerant of pollution than others, so determining what types of macroinvertebrates live in a stream can help us determine the health of the stream. The biotic index of a stream lists the number and type of each macroinvertebrate found in it.

Using the WAV method, one person stands in the stream with a D-net while a second person stands upstream, kicking loose sediment and rocks in both riffles and pools.  The person with the D-net catches this debris as the other person kicks, until 3 separate samples have been collected.  The entire contents of the net are put in a tray and all macroinvertebrates are separated out by taxonomic order.  Using the data sheet provided by WAV (Recording Form for the Citizen Monitoring Biotic Index, 2003), the stream’s water quality can be determined by the diversity and type of aquatic macroinvertebrates found in the stream.

Below: Stream monitors assess the macroinvertebrates collected in their water sample (left) while a stonefly larva lingers in an ice cube try before being returned to the stream (right).

Literature Cited

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.  2005.  Citizen Stream-Monitoring Program Instruction Manual.  URL: http://www.pca.state.mn.us/publications/wq-csm1-05.pdf

Water Action Volunteers, 2003 a.  Recording Form for the Citizen Monitoring Biotic Index.  URL: http://watermonitoring.uwex.edu/pdf/level1/data-Biotic.pdf
 

Water Action Volunteers, 2003 b.  Stream Monitoring Protocols.  URL: http://watermonitoring.uwex.edu/wav/monitoring/sheets.html

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Become a Volunteer Stream Monitor

A group of volunteer monitors learns how to assess streambank
habitat during a training session on the Amnicon River.

Interested in becoming a volunteer stream monitor along Lake Superior's South Shore?

It doesn't take a lot of time -- about one or two days a month from spring to fall.  Take a look at Water Action Volunteers’ (WAV) monitoring protocols to get an idea of what is involved.

All necessary equipment is provided.  As a volunteer you will need to have your own transportation to the monitoring site, you will be responsible for all safety precautions while monitoring, as well as for the quality of the data you record.

Contacts:

WAV Coordinator for Lake Superior Basin:

h     Amy Eliot by e-mail

City of Superior Environmental Services Division of Public Works

h      Carrie Sanda by e-mail or by calling 715-394-0392 ext. 141.

Lake Superior Research Institute

h     Sue O'Halloran by e-mail or by calling 715-394-8525

In 2006 we had about 14 volunteer monitors on streams along the south shore of Lake Superior.  After a classroom session and an outdoor training event, each volunteer was given the equipment and directions needed to monitor at the stream of their choice.  Data submitted by the monitors will go in WAV’s statewide online database for volunteer stream monitors. 

We need to know more about Lake Superior’s south shore streams.  Please help us in this effort!

For a list of other volunteer monitoring programs in the area, click HERE.

Volunteer monitors play with bugs as they learn how to sample for macroinvertebrates.

The volunteer monitoring project was funded in part by a Wisconsin Coastal Management Grant and was made possible by a partnership between the University of Wisconsin-Extension, Water Action Volunteers, and the City of Superior.

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Website Created by Kari Hedin, 2007