1. Clearwater River Habitat/BioassessmentBy
Corey Hanson
Water Quality Coordinator
Red Lake Watershed District

2. Clearwater River Habitat/Bioassessment
The Clearwater Nonpoint Study identified a need for a detailed habitat/bioassessment on the Clearwater River
Sampling completed in August 2003
Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI)
Scores a 100 meter reach of a river based upon a set of standardized metrics
Different Types of IBIs
Fish
Macroinvertebrate
Habitat

3. Methods Used
EPA Rapid Bioassessment Protocols for Use in Streams and Wadeable Rivers: Periphyton, Benthic Macroinvertebrates, and Fish
Barbour, M.T., J.Gerritsen, B.D. Snyder, and J.B. Stribling. 1999

4. Site Selection More targeted than probabilistic.
Sites were associated with water quality monitoring stations and access points along the river.
Sites needed to be wadeable
Reaches were located upstream of bridges in order to minimize (although arguably not eliminate) the influence of the bridge.
100 ft between starting point of reach and the bridge.

6. Site Selection
For this study, tried to pick some sites that were minimally impacted, such as sites 3 and 4 in the NLF ecoregion, 6 in the NCHF ecoregion, as well as 14 and 15 in the RRV ecoregion
Some sites on channelized sections of the river were picked to show the effect of channelization on habitat and aquatic life

7. Fish Sampling Backpack electrofishers
Fish identified, weighed, and counted in the field

8. Fish Sampling Scores based upon Number of natives
Number of native darters
Number of native sunfish
Number of native suckers
Number of intolerants
Percentage of tolerants
Percentage of omnivores
Percentage of insectivores
Percentage of piscivores
Percentage of hybrids
Percentage of abnormalities
catch rate

9. Fish Results

10. Clearwater River Habitat/Bioassessment Macroinvertebrates
D-Frame Nets
Same area sampled at each site (# of jabs)
Habitat types sampled proportionally
Riffles
Woody Debris
Vegetation
Samples preserved in 99% Isopropyl Alcohol
Sorted, Counted, Identified

11. Clearwater River Habitat/Bioassessment
Habitat Assessment
Scores based on 10 metrics
Epifaunal substrate
Embeddedness
Velocity/depth regime
sediment depostion
channel flow status
channel alteration
frequency of riffles or bends
bank stability
vegetative protection
riparian vegetative zone width

12. Habitat Assessment Field Data Sheet

13. Habitat Assessment Results

14. Physical Characterization
Watershed Features
Predominant land use, NPS pollution, local erosion
Riparian Vegetation
In-stream Features
Reach length, width, area, depth, velocity, canopy
Large Woody Debris (cubic meters)
Aquatic Vegetation
Water Quality
Temp, Cond, Do, pH, Turbidity, odors, oils
Sediment/Substrate
Odors, deposits, oils, inorganic and organic components

15. Clearwater River Habitat/Bioassessment – Zooplankton Sampling
Plankton Net
Preserved with 99% Isopropyl Alcohol
Analyzed by MNDNR Aquatic Invertebrate Biology Lab

16. Clearwater River Habitat/Bioassessment – Vegetation Mapping

17. Positive and Negative aspects of Methods Used
Positives
Standard
Available, easy to understand
Results comparable if same methods are used
Repeatable – sites are easy to locate
Negatives
Habitat assessment open to subjectivity, personal judgements on %’s
Subsampling of macroinvertebrates can exclude species that don’t occur in abundance such as Nepidae and Belostomatidae
Metrics used may differ among IBI studies
Differing techniques of samplers could effect results

18. Reference Condition Discussion
The presence of a bridge may technically rule out the use of any of our sites as reference sites, but the data can be used to find areas in which reference sites may be found (upstream of reaches that scored well in this study)
There were some reaches where the bridge downstream of the reach was the only anthropogenic factor “impacting” the stream
Is there an acceptable buffer between a monitored reach and impoundments, bridge areas, and large tributary confluences?
Do bridges affect some IBI types more than others (fish more than macroinvertebrates and habitat)?

19. The End Corey Hanson Water Quality Coordinator
Red Lake Watershed District