MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Evaluating Timber Harvesting Effects on Water Quality in Low-Order Streams in the Missouri Ozarks John Bowders, David Hammer, Ryan Mueller, Craig Bunger, Abe Smith Civil & Environmental Engineering University of Missouri-Columbia

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Collaborating Entities Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) Institute for Interdisciplinary Geotechnics (I2G) Civil and Environmental Engineering

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Problem Statement

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Objectives Determine if measurable and significant impacts exist Evaluate equipment and refine sample collection methodology Evaluate BMPs

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Study Location Angeline & Current River Conservation Areas Current River Hills and Breaks LTAs

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Project Design 2 to 3 years of pre-harvest background data Complete timber harvest and slashing (ROCC prescription) 3 years of post-harvest data 10 harvest sites, 5 control sites 4 sites intensively monitored 11 site extensively monitored Nigh, 2000

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Typical Ephemeral Channel

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Intensively Monitored Sites 4 sites, close geographic proximity ISCO ® automated sampling devices Hand-built equipment for verification

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Extensively Monitored Sites 11 sites, discretely distributed Hand-built instrumentation Gather “coarse data” for comparison with intensively monitored sites

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Sediment Trap Sediment Trap Catchment Sediment Filter Cone Sediment Trap

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Rising Gauge Water Sampler Sample Collection BottlesInlet Ports

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Additional Instrumentation Stream crest gauges Rain gauges Silt Fencing

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Typical Equipment Layout Site boundary Harvest boundary Sediment trap In-stream sampler (bottle sampler/ISCO) Ephemeral Stream Extensively Monitored Study Site

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Site Characterization LTA: Current River Breaks Avg. basin area: 50 acres Stream Order: 2 nd and 3 rd Avg. relief: 280 ft. Drainage density: 0.01 m -1 Predominant slope range: 20 – 30 percent

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Ground Cover Estimate

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Analytical Testing Sediment: Total Suspended Solids Nitrogen: NH4+, NO3-, Total Nitrogen Cations: Ca2+, Mg2+ Nutrients: K, P pH, Conductivity

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Benefits Evaluation of cause-and- effect relationships of timber harvesting on water quality for low-order watersheds Provide data to meet public expectations of sustainable quality and environmental stewardship Determine if modification of BMPs is necessary

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Key Findings Threshold precipitation event ~ 2 inches Discrete Recharge (karst) Features can ‘swallow’ the entire channel flow Baseline sediment (from traps) almost non-existent Cut-banks appear to be responsible for sediment

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Challenges Effectively instrumenting the sites Response time & sample collection frequency Setting detection limits for water analyses Harvest period disruption Frequency of threshold level precipitation events

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004 Developing Research Issues Applicable Water Quality Standards Discrete Recharge (karst) Features (DRF) Aley 1978

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004

MOFEP Annual Meeting 11/30/2004