1. Tools for Tracking Healthy Watersheds
Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board
Tools for Tracking Healthy Watersheds
Karen Worcester, Staff Environmental Scientist Larry Harlan, Environmental Scientist David Paradies, Software Designer

2. Healthy Watersheds
Goal 1: By % of aquatic habitat is healthy; and the remaining 20% exhibits positive trends in key parameters
Goal 2: By % of lands within any watershed will be managed to maintain proper watershed functions, and the remaining 20% will exhibit positive trends in key watershed parameters
Goal 3: By % of groundwater will be clean, and the remaining 20% will exhibit positive trends in key parameters

3. Defining “Healthy” Biological measures Health Index Chemical measures
Physical measures

4. Measures of Aquatic Health in Riparian Systems: An Example
Chemical index
Chemical measurements
Chemical risk
Physical index
Watershed characteristics
Geomorphology
Channel alteration
Biological index
Bioassessment
Toxicity
Biostimulatory risk
Pathogens
Riparian characteristics

5. Biological index Bioassessment Ephemeroptera Taxa Plecoptera Taxa
Tricoptera Taxa
% Predators
Taxa Diversity
% Tolerant Species
Intolerant Individual Count
% Dominant Species
Bioassessment
Toxicity
Biostimulatory risk
Pathogens
Riparian characteristics

6. Index of Biotic Integrity: A multimetric approach
Community balance
Trophic structure
Taxa diversity
Pollution tolerance

7. Gazos Creek, 5/5/01

8. IBI for Region
CCAMP IBI Scores

9. Biological index Toxicity Ceriodaphnia survival
Ceriodaphnia reproduction
Pimephales survival
Pimephales growth
Selenastrum growth
Hyalella survival
Hyalella growth
Bioassessment
Toxicity
Biostimulatory risk
Pathogens
Riparian characteristics

11. Index of Biotic Integrity and Toxicity
Worst sites
Best sites

12. Biological index Biostimulatory risk
Oxygen Saturation (departure from median)
pH (departure from median)
Nutrient concentrations
Algae (percent cover)
Chloropyll a
Benthic algae Maximum Potential Biomass
Bioassessment
Toxicity
Biostimulatory risk
Pathogens
Riparian characteristics

13. Gazos Creek Biostimulatory Risk = 0.47

14. Franklin Creek (Rank = 85.3)
Limekiln Creek (Rank = 0.0)
Franklin Creek (Rank = 85.3)

15. Biostimulatory Risk Scores
(shown as quartiles)

16. Biological index Pathogens Bioassessment Toxicity Biostimulatory risk
Riparian characteristics
Escherichia coli
Enterococcus
Coliform, Fecal
Coliform, Total
Fecal to Total Coliform Ratio

17. Biological index Riparian condition Bioassessment Toxicity
Biostimulatory risk
Pathogens
Riparian condition
Width of corridor
Land activities within buffered area
Number of patches
Species composition
Canopy height, etc.

18. Combining multiple metrics into a single score expressing biological health
Toxicity
Riparian Health
Biological Health
Bioassessment
Pathogen Indicators
Biostimulation

19. Different scales of data
Sites
Reaches
Watershed
This will enable us
New USGS data tools will help us attach sites to reaches to watersheds

20. Riparian Buffering

23. Reach-scaled data: Riparian delineation

24. Santa Maria Watershed: An Example of Watershed-scaled data

25. National Agricultural Inventory Project
(1 m aerial imagery)

28. National Land Cover Database (1992)

29. Forest Canopy

30. Impervious Surfaces

31. Agricultural Areas (and monitoring sites)

32. Mean Nitrate levels in DHS wells

33. Pesticide Diversity

34. Chlorpyrifos applications and Toxicity

35. Number of New Management Practices Planned in Next 3 Years 1 – 25 practices

36. N and P crop requirements are known

37. Nutrient Budget used to determine application rates

38. What we need to do next Develop a work plan
Determine imaging requirements for riparian delineations and impervious surface calculations
Secure funding and contract out imaging analysis if needed
Potentially redirect staff work to external sources as needed to free up staff time
Evaluate staff work to determine what additional tracking activities are needed to support this effort

39. CCAMP IBI vs Biostimulatory Risk Index

40. Spot Satellite (5 m)