NC Division of Water Quality Water Quality Assessments and Local Watershed Plans

DWQ Tasks 1.Compile and review existing data –What is known about the watershed –What needs to be known to help develop management strategies to improve water quality 2.Develop a monitoring plan –Conduct appropriate assessments, e.g. chemical, biological, etc. 3.Report on results integrating results of all assessments

Types of Water Quality Assessments Conducted by DWQ Chemical Monitoring (includes field measurements) Biological Monitoring – benthos and/or fish Habitat Assessments Wetland Functional Assessments (new in 2008)

Quantitative Can pinpoint locations of problems Identify the specific nature of problems Expensive Requires many samples to characterize pollutant effects in a watershed A sample represents only a single point in time Why Use Chemical Monitoring? Benefits Limitations

Types of Measurements Field – Dissolved Oxygen, pH, specific conductance, water temperature Nutrients – Nitrogen and phosphorous Solids (e.g. total suspended solids) Turbidity Metals

Example of Results - Chemistry

Aquatic organisms found in all habitats Easily and inexpensively collected Integrates the effect of mixtures of pollutants over the life cycle of the organism Semi-quantitative Does not identify the source of pollution or the specific pollutants Seasonality & taxonomic inconsistencies Why Conduct Biological Monitoring? BenefitsLimitations

Benthic Macroinvertebrates Benthic - The community of organisms living in or on the bottom or other substrate in an aquatic environment Macro - Large enough to be seen by the unaided eye and which can be retained by a U.S. standard no. 30 seive (0.6 mm openings) Invertebrate - animals without backbones

Benthic Macroinvertebrates Include Ephemeroptera - Mayflies Plecoptera - Stoneflies Trichoptera - Caddisflies Odonata - Damsel and Dragonflies Coleoptera - Beetles Megaloptera - Dobson and Alderflies Diptera - True Flies Oligochaeta - Aquatic Worms Crustacea - Crayfish, Amphipods, Isopods Mollusca - Snails and Clams Mayfly Stonefly Caddisfly P E T

P E T

Unimpacted Site- greater diversity and number of individuals

Assigning Bioclassifications Using Macroinvertebrates Taxa Richness (number of species) –Total number of species –Total number of EPT species Biotic Index (uses a species’ tolerance to pollution and measures of species abundances) –Species are assigned a “tolerance value” (range 0 to 10) –A Biotic Index (BI; range 0 to 10) is a weighted average of the “abundance” and “tolerance value” –Higher BI values indicate poorer conditions (i.e., more tolerant species present)

Benthos Data for Goose/Crooked Creeks

Contact Information: NC Division of Water Quality Tom Yocum (336) Steven Kroeger (919)