Regional Results of Volunteer River and Stream Monitoringrcc.oki.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Regional...Hach 8160 & USEPA 2510-B 0.01 µS/cm with 2 digits +/-0.01 µS/cm 0.01 -200,000

"Regional Results of Volunteer River

and Stream Monitoring”

Butler County Stream Team4

Lower Great Miami Citizens’ Water Quality Monitoring1

Saturday Stream Snapshot by Greenacres2

Mill Creek Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring3

Annual Meeting of the OKI Regional Conservation CouncilApril 5, 2017, at Sharon Centre in Sharon Woods

We monitor 300+ sites monthly for nine months each year using similar methods on the

same day, the 2nd and 3rd Saturday of each month.

Michael C. Miller1, Anne Lyon2, Emma Clohessy3, Bob Lentz4, and John Mangan5

Greater Cincinnati inside I-275 Interstate Loop is Drained by 4

Rivers and their flood plains.

Great Miami R.

Whitewater R.

Mill Creek

Little

Miami R.

Licking River

Here are the rivers we monitor in 5 counties and two states of Greater Cincinnati

Best Studied Metro Area in CountryI. Municipal Sewer District as part of their Consent Decree

has had Midwest Biodiversity Institute do ‘stage of the art’

physical, chemical and biological assessment sampling of

the MC in 2011(76 sites), LMR in 2012 (111 sites), GMR in

2013(62 sites), Ohio R and its tributaries including Taylor

Creek in 2014 (45 sites). These will be repeated in 5 years

to document impacts of Consent Decree upgrades of CSOs

& SSOs.

II. Green Umbrella inaugurates ‘StreamBank Regional Water

Quality Database’ containing the chemical water quality of

300 sites monthly in Hamilton, Butler, Warren and

Clermont Counties for 2015. The base will soon have 2016

and data from previous years.

Only NSF Long

Term Ecological R

sites in Baltimore

and Phoenix

many have

better.

Combined and Sanitary Sewer Overflows

must be mitigated by MSD & SD1Most are along the Mill Creek and Duck Ck in Ohio and along the Licking in KY

Metropolitan Sewer District funded biosurveys

by Midwest Biodiversity Institute at 294 sites

2011-2014 using OEPA methods gives a definitive

survey every 5 years

http://msdgc.org/initiatives/water_quality/aboutwebmap.html

Four Volunteer Monitoring

Programs in StreamBank

collect monthly data from >

300 sites in greater Metro

Cincinnati.

http://www.greenumbrella.org/StreamB

ank-Database

Little Miami

River

Upper Great

Miami River

Lower

Great

Miami R

Mill

Creek

Stream Team Member Manual Muskingum R.pdf

AlgaeNitrate

PO4-P

Turbidity

pH

Photosynthesis increases

HCO3��CO2 + OH- O2

Our home for the Great Miami River Volunteer

Water Quality Monitoring Program, the U.C.

Center for Field Studies 11053 Oxford Rd,

MWWL Great Park We monitor 8 parameters from 80+ sites monthly for 9 months on 2 nd

Saturday.1. E. Coli bacteria/coliforms2. Total Phosphorus3. Nitrate-Nitrogen4. Conductivity5. Turbidity6. pH7. Optical Whiteners8. In vivo Chlorophyll a

Total Phosphorus

Digestion

Total P with DR4000

Nitrate-N with DR3000

Conductivity &

Turbidity

Sample labelling & chain of Custody

Lower Great Miami River Crew at U.C. Center for Field Studies

Each laboratory uses

skilled volunteers

and EPA approved

methods.

Nitrate with HACH TNT

Bacterial Petri

Dishes with Coli24

pH foregroiund & Chlorophyll + Optical

Whitners bacground

Conductivity

Lower Great Miami River Crew at U.C. Center for Fie ld Studies

Little Miami River Saturday Stream Snapshot at Greenacres

Our director and originatorAnne Lyon

Samples ready for analysis

Nitrate analysisE. Coli & coliformanalysis

Little Miami River Saturday Stream Snapshot

Conductivity and pHSample Check-in

Chain of Custordy

Total Phosphorus volume adjustmentTotal Phosphorus Digestion

Butler County Stream Team works out of a Miami Uni versity Lab

Total Phosphorus Digestion

Conductivity testingWater collection team

Nitrate Determination

Annual Data Report to Volunteers

and interested parties with brunch

Where can you find our data?StreamBank https://www.greenumbrella.org/StreamBank-Database

Great Miami River Watershed

1 Upper GMR http://www.butlercountystreamteam.org/ Bob Lentz

2 Lower GMR http://riversunlimited.org/wqm/data.htm Lisa Link

3 Little Miami River Watershed Anne Lyonhttp://www.green-acres.org/index.php/education/water-quality/program-overview/saturday-stream-

snapshot

4.Mill Creek Watershec Emma Chlohessyhttp://millcreekwatershed.org/what-we-do/our-programs/water-quality-monitoring/

10 years

15 years

7 years

4 years

We collect 17,325 data points/year from 275 sitesx 6 -8 parameters x 9 months/yr

Methods/ Equipment listParameter Equipment/ Reagents Standard

Method

Precision Accuracy Range

Total

Phosphates

Grab Sample in 250 mL container/ Digestion

with Sulfuric Acid and Potassium

Permanganate; then Sodium Hydroxide and

Hach PhosVer 3 PO4 Reagents/ Hach

DR2400 Spectrophotometer

8190 ±0.06 mg/L PO43- 0.07 mg/L PO43- 0.00 to 3.50 mg/L

PO43-

Nitrate-Nitrogen Grab Sample 250 mL container/ Hach

NitraVer 5 Reagent and Hach DR2000

Spectrophotometer

8171 0.04 mg/L NO3––N

0.04 mg/L NO3––N

0.1 to 10.0 mg/L

NO3––N

Conductivity Grab Sample 250 mL container with Hach

HQ440d Bench top Meter Package with

PHC201 pH probe and CDC401 Conductivity

Cell

Hach 8160 &

USEPA 2510-B

0.01 µS/cm with 2

digits

+/- 0.01 µS/cm 0.01 - 200,000

µS/cm

pH Grab Sample 250 mL container with Hach

HQ440d Bench top Meter Package with

PHC201 pH probe and CDC401 Conductivity

Cell

8156 & USEPA

Method 150.1

0.00 to 14.00 pH

units

+/-0.01 +/- 0.02 pH units

Turbidity Grab Sample 250 mL container with Hanna

Turbidimeter HI93703

2130B 0.0-50.00 FTU

50.00-1000.00

FTU

+/-0.01 FTU +/- 5% FS 0-10 FT

+/- 10% FS 10-50

E. Coli/ Total

Coliform

Grab Sample in sterile 125 mL container, m-

ColiBlue24®/ membrane filtration and dry

incubation in Salvis Programmable Incucenter

Natural Convection Incubator, 1.8 cu ft, 115

VAC; 24 hours at 35o C

10029 one colony

forming unit (CFU)

of coliform

bacteria per 100

mL of sample

Sensitivity 96.8%

Specificity 80.1%

Overall

Agreement

85.7%

0-200 colony

forming units on

readable plate

Optical

Brightener/

In Vivo

Chlorophyll a

Grab Sample 250 mL container with

AquaFluor® Handheld

Fluorimeter/Turbidimeter

N/A Not Available Not Available Optical

Brighteners

0.5 ppm – 30,000

ppm

Chl in vivo 0.3

μg/L - 300 μg/L

Data Source: Citizens Volunteer

Cooperative Water Quality Monitoring

Programs in Cincinnati Metro area.1. Water collected on same date (on 2nd Saturday of month between 7-

10 am from March-Nov.).

2. Water Analyses use same or similar methods on the same day in each of 4 laboratories.

3. Advantage: No agency could sustain this level of output with person power required to sample on same day, 120 volunteer samplers & 35 laboratory workers.

4. Cost of all analytical methods is about $40,000/year for the four programs ($10,000/yr per program)

5. Major cost is a laboratory location contributed by a university, a well-funded non profit, a water treatment plant laboratory.

6. Each program has one person who is paid by some source to take responsibility for the Lab. Operation and data.

What our 6 Parameters Tell UsEutrophication Sewage

Total Phosphorus

+

Nitrate-Nitrogen

Chlorophyll a in algal cells

Turbidity at low flow = algal biomass scattering light.

pH elevation by algal growth, especially above pH 8.3

Conductivity is salts from effluent treated or raw sewage, elevated by deicers in winter.

E. Coli are human fecal bacteria primarily from bad septic systems, SSOs and CSOs.

HIGH Nitrogen & PO4 from WWTPs, CSOs, SSOs, poor Septic Systems and raw sewage.

O2

CO2 HCO3- �� CO2 + OH-

OEPA regulates TP to achieve WWH

Target < 0.15mg/liter

OE

PA A

ttain

men

t Cat

egor

ies

Nutrient targets for protection for

Ohio midsize Rivers

Miltner 2010 Environmental Management

Target to meet WWH is 1.0 mg NO3-N and 0.10 mg TP/l iter

Median Total P in Metro Rivers is highest in the Mill >GMR>LMR>WWR. Median TP met the WWH safety

concentration only in the Whitewater R at 0.10 mg TP/l.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Cum

ulat

ive

% o

f Sam

ples

0.01 0.1 1 10 Total P Conc. (mg P/liter)

GMR LMR MIll C Ohio WW

Total P in mainstem Urban Rivers

Median TPMill CkWWR

LMRGMR

Median TP

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0.1 1 10 Conc. of Nitrate+Nitrite (mg N/liter)

GMR LMR Mill Ck Ohio R WW

Mainstem NO3 -N in Urban Cincinnati Metro Rivers

median N conc.

Median Nitrate in Metro Rivers varies widely,

highest in GMR > LMR >WWR> Mill CreekC

um

ula

tive

% o

f sa

mp

les

Mill C< WWR

Landuse of GREAT MIAMI R near Mouth

is agricultural and gravel mining.

Pasture/Hay (%) (11.70%)Grassland/Herbaceous (%) (2.13%)

Tree Canopy (%) (25.53%)

Cultivated Crops (%) (51.06%)

Impervious Surface (%) (1.06%)

Developed (%) (8.51%)

Landuse of Great Miami R. Watershed

Open

Water

Developed

, Open

SpaceDeveloped

, Low

Intensity

Developed

, Medium

IntensityDeveloped

, High

Intensity

Barren

Land

Deciduous

Forest

Evergreen

ForestMixed

Forest

Shrub/Scr

ubGrassland/

Herbaceou

s

Pasture/H

ay

Cultivated

Crops

Woody

Wetlands

Emergent

Herbaceou

s Wetlands

WW07 NCLD Classification

WHITEWATER RIVER is

surrounded by greenspace

and farming.






Landuse of Whitewater R. Watershed

LITTLE MIAMI R is our first National and State

Scenic Rivers, 54% of riparian zone protected.

EFLMR

LMR

This image cannot currently be displayed.






Landuse of Little Miami R. Watershed

MILL CREEK is surrounded by impervious surfaces

of commercial businesses and residential, but

WWTP uses Tertiary Treatment for N & P.

Developed, Low Intensity (%) (28.16%)Tree Canopy (%) (26.21%)

Developed, Medium Intensity (%) (15.53%)

Developed, High Intensity (%) (7.77%)

Undeveloped (%) (15.53%)

Agriculture (%) (3.88%)Cultivated Crops (%) (1.94%)

Pasture/Hay (%) (0.97%)

Landuse of Mill Creek Watershed

Cultivated Crops (%) (1.79%)Pasture/Hay (%) (0.89%)Grassland/Herbaceous (%) (0.00%)




Landuse of Mill Creek Watershed

Water Year 2016

Mill Creek Whitewater River

Great Miami R. Little Miami R.

Rainfall runoff and effluent add water

flows to our rivers throughout the year.

Our rainfall is becoming very intense and

very local giving each river unique flow

patterns. Biggest rain flooded Norwood.

Log

(D

isch

arg

e [

cfs]

)

(Runoff/yr)/(drainage area*1/365) = Runoff

from each acre= ft of Runoff/yrWhitewater River 1.391 feet runoff/yr

Great Miami River 1.032 feet runoff/yr

Mill Creek 1.402 feet runoff/yr

Little Miami River 1.219 feet runoff/yr

Rainfall = 3.25 feet/year

Clearly less water runs off per year from the Great Miami River and Little Miami River compared to the Mill Creek dominated by impervious surfaces. Vegetation removal and impervious surface exacerbate the severity of rainfall runoff.

Rainfall Runoff is increased as a function of

impervious cover 2016

Phosphorus &

inorganic Nitrogen

input from sewers,

farmland or seepage

enriches streams

causing dense algal

blooms.

Attached algae on riffle rocks and suspended ‘planktonic’ algae in MC and WWR above.

CSO 5 Lick Run Pristine Superfund Site Reading

Total P was lowest in mainstem of WWR<

Mill Ck< LMR < GMR

Average mg P/l 0.12 0.19 0.24 0.38

River 2016 WWR Mill C LMR GMR

OEPA goal is 0.10 mg TP/l that achieves WWH for fish and insects

MBI found only 0.088 mg TP/l at 17 sites in the LMR during summer of 2012.

Total P was highest in GMR &

LMR; WW was nearest WWH

Nitrate is highest in GMR & LMR mainstem. All mainstem sites had higher Nitrate than their tributaries, suggesting direct injections of effluent or

agricultural row crop runoff. OEPA goal is 1.0 mg NO3-N/liter for WWH.

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

NO

3-N

(m

g N

/lite

r)

GMR

GMR tribsLMR

LMR tribs

Mill CkMill Ck tribs

WW R

WW TribsOhio R

River or River Tributaries

Average NO3+NO2-N of rivers inUrban Cincinnati Metro Area 2015

MBI found a median of 2.176 mg NO3-N/l in the LMR at 17 sites during summer of 2012.

Effluent IndicatorsConductivity was higher in the

tributaries of each river than in the mainstem. Order shows MC>GMR>LMR>WWR>Ohio R, Values over 700uS are likely enriched with effluent. WWR was the cleanest.

E.Coli are a direct measure of untreated sewage. E. coli were highest in MC>LMR>GMR> WWR. Tribs were a potentailsource of E. coli in all watersheds. MC received E.colidirectly to mainstem where CSOs discharge.

0

200

400

600

800

1000

Ave

rage

Con

duct

ivity

(uS

)

GMR

GMR tribsLMR

LMR tribs


WW R

WW TribsOhio R

River or River Tributaries

Average Conductivity of rivers inurban Cincinnati Metro Area 2015

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

M

edia

n #/

100m

l (cf

u or

mpn

/100

ml)

GMR

GMR tribsLMR

LMR tribs


WW R

WW TribsOhio R

River & Tributary

Median E. coli of rivers inUrban Cincinnati Metro Area 2015

Algal Eutrophication Indicators• Turbidity is light scattering

matter, normally clays & silts

with high discharge, but

suspended algae in summer.

LMR was highest as were all

mainstems where algae can

develop.

• pH is elevated by algal photosynthesis, highest in LMR

> GMR> WW>Mill Ck, related

to flow rate and deep pools to

allow algae to grow from

nutrient enrichment

E. Coli are safe for

canoeing all year in

GMR,WWR, LMR with

caution in Mill Ck.

Whitewater River 2016 Avg annual E. coli = 355 cfu/100ml

Water Quality Ranking System

Parameter 5.0 - 4.0

excellent

3. 9 – 3.5

good

3.9 – 3.0 =

enriched

2.9 – 2.0

fair

< 2.0

poor

Nitrates (mg/L) 5.0

Total Phosphates

(mg/L)

0.50

pH (pH units) 6.5 – 8.1 8.1 – 8.3 8.4 – 8.7 8.7 - 9.0 >9.0

Turbidity (NTU) 100

Conductivity uS 1000

E. coli (cfu)

(Total Coliforms

not used.)

1030

5-4 4-3.5 3.49-3.0 3-2.0

Water Quality

Scores for River

mainstems 2016• We can compare our rivers

by deviation from OEPA goals scored 1(fails) to 5(comply). Variance on y-axis is monthly variation.

Avg WQR = 3.38

Little Miami

River is our first

State and

National Scenic

River

But today it is

challenged with

success, development,

nonpoint source

pollution and 10

WWTPs

Whitewater River

Whitewater

River is the

cleanest

water in our

area by far.

Most of the

watershed is

forested and

row crop,

with few

towns.

Most sites reach EWWH, the highest in Ohio ~ Reference reaches of clean water.

Mill Creek has one 10 mgd WWTP using

nutrient reduction for N and P make it

our cleanest river in 2015, but it still has

many CSOs after rainfall events which

show in high E. coli density.

CSO 5

TP point source load GMR OEPA 2012

TP load 2580 lbs P/day in 2015 from 11 effluents below Dayton above Hamilton Co.

2006-2010

Eastern Regional Mongomery Co (13 )

Beaver Ck Green Co (8.5 )Xenia Ford Rd (3.6 )

Sycamore Ck Hamilton Co (9 )

Wards Corner Clermont Co (2 )

Middle East Fork Clermont Co (7.2 )

Lower East Fork Clermont Co (9 )Milford (1.2 )

Sugar Ck, Green Co (9.9 )

Xenia-Glady Run (4 )

Waynesville (0.71 )

Lebanon (6 )

Mason @2 (13 )

Polk Run Hamilton Co (8 )

O'Bannon Ck Clermont Co (4.4 )

Lower Little Miami Warren Co (12 )

WWTP Effluent Volume LMR

GMR TP daily load from point sources = 122 cfs south of Hamilton

= 21 % of lowest flow last 10 yrs.

Many more small WWTPs

exist on the LMR putting out

111 mgd or 171 cfs of treated

effluent, doubling lowest flow

of LMR measured.

Little Miami River is

enriched with TP with no

year equal to target 0.1

mg TP/liter. Effluent

discharges occur along

its length in our reach.

Tribs are not the source

of TP.

Dissolved Nitrate-N shows no pattern in our data since 2008 and average exceeds target of 1.0 mg NO3-N/liter . All Trib. Averages are less than mainstem.

Summary 2016• The Whitewater River, is the cleanest river for nutrients meeting the

standard for WWH? But in 2013 it met OEPA EWWH for fish and macroinvertebrates.

• Great Miami River is challenged by nutrient loading upriver from row crop agriculture and WWTPs effluent. Lower River is recovery zone for that nutrient loading. Little Miami River is challenged by numerous WWTPs along its length. The Mill Creek is challenged with impervious surface and conductivity.

• Our citizen volunteers concerned about their environment can monitor our Green Umbrella watersheds at many, many sites and show trends over years. Clean water pays for itself in home values, increased property tax and visitation for canoeing, kayaking, and cycling and river events.

• Value of our data is that it directly comparable, collected on the same day within a two hour window, will be available within a month of collection. The data set extends 3 to 14 years back from as well so we can look at trend and controls of water quality.

Canonical Correspondence Analysis of Water Quality & Land Use

Upriver 2016

LMR

GMR

Mill Ck

Whitewater RWest side Tributaries

Nitrate

E.coli

pH

NTU

CondTP

CCA does a Principal Componet analysis of sites vs

landuse and calculates the partial regressions with

water chemistryRegression coefficients:6

F1 F2 F3

NO3-N -0.504 -0.769 -0.066

pH -0.085 0.558 0.322

TP -0.025 0.461 0.071

NTU 0.137 -0.250 -0.445

E. coli 0.492 -0.270 0.983

Cond 0.537 -0.199 -0.917

Principal coordinates (Objects):

F1 F2 F3

Open Water (%) -0.487 0.006 0.741

Developed (%) -0.387 0.112 -0.012

Agriculture (%) 0.881 0.191 0.006

Undeveloped (%) 0.153 -0.284 0.005

Impervious Surface (%) -0.528 0.155 -0.006

Tree Canopy (%) -0.019 -0.144 -0.018

Axes 1, 2, & 3

How is our Volunteer Data Used?Much of it would not be used if it were not for

our analysis of the datasets and its public availability in STREAMBANK database with Green Umbrella. But now middle managers from cities,counties,OKI, HCSWD, OEPA, MSD, GCWW can see how their waters are doing annually in comparison to the other watersheds in Greater Cincinnati .

Issues of septic systems, upgrades and failings of WWTP, watershed land use can be interpreted from water quality data.

Recreational water users can evaluate their risk from E. coli data.

What Can You Do at Home to improve

water quality & reduce flood pulses

1. Mulch your grass on cutting, cut >=4 inches

tall to increase interception & evaporation.

2. Install rain barrels on your downspouts.

3. Do not put rainwater down the combined

sewer, retain on you property 24-48 hours.

4. Plant evaporative bushes in low areas that

stay wet after rain.

5. Dig and plant a rain garden to treat gutter

and driveway runoff water.

Green approaches continued6. Plant a tree to evaporate water in wet

summers, cooling and purifying your air.

7. Minimize fertilizer application, no phosphorus

and use local application of herbicides.

8. Wash your car on your lawn, not your

driveway.

9. Aerate you yard once a year

10.Put gravel-filled trenches on low side of

driveway to infiltrate rainwater.

11. Stop using lawn fertilizing company. Check

your soil chemistry.

Documents

Regional Results of Volunteer River and Stream Monitoringrcc.oki.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Regional...Hach 8160 & USEPA 2510-B 0.01 µS/cm with 2 digits +/-0.01 µS/cm 0.01 -200,000