Draft+of+Stream+Health+Report

Introduction Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) has a mission to protect important open spaces that consist of stream corridors, forests, wildlife habitats, farmlands, and natural areas in Chatham, Durham, Johnston, Lee, Orange, and Wake counties to help keep our region a healthy and vibrant place to live and work (Triangle Land Conservancy 2009). The Triangle Land Conservancy fulfills their mission by identifying the most important natural and working lands in the region, and then uses a variety of conservation methods to ensure the permanent protection of the land. To date, TLC has protected more than 9,500 acres of the most important natural and working lands in the Triangle. Over the past few months our Natural Resources class has been working with TLC to determine if they are meeting conservation goals for their protected lands. We split the class up into different groups and chose certain areas of open space to focus on. In particular our specific group is looking at ways to protect stream health and come up with a method that is repeatable for others to use. We decided to use a stream assessment checklist tool that was developed by the previous Spring 08 Natural Resources class. The former class members that designed the tool were Kate Golden, Julia Gruber, and Kathryn Reis. Their group designed the stream assessment tool for two purposes: (1) evaluating the quality of riparian buffers along sections of streams crossing or bordering TLC property and (2) for collecting trend information about the same stream’s water conditions and identifying possible water quality problems (Stream Water Quality Assessment Tool). The basis of their work comes from information at the EPA regarding riparian buffers and from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, which are two highly regarded sources of information dealing with water quality and buffer systems problems. Our group agreed to make some revisions to the tool to make it more repeatable and focused more on stream health instead of water quality. Some of these revisions included creating a tutorial for people to review before using the tool and adding in sections about watershed factors and potential habitat areas. We wanted the tool to be easy to use for non-expert people such as TLC staff and volunteers. This way staff and volunteers could go out to the streams with the checklist and accurately evaluate the streams without a lot of background knowledge. We felt that these changes were more relevant to achieving TLC’s goals of (1) determining if a property is a good conservation investment, (2) provide baseline information for comparison in the future, (3) identify possible threats/problems, and (4) develop goals, strategies, and objectives for improving these areas if need be (Stream Water Quality Assessment Tool). Objective Our group’s objective was to determine repeatability of the stream health tool, refine it as needed, and provide an example report to Triangle Land Conservancy. Reference

1. Triangle Land Conservancy. __About TLC.__ 17 Feb. 2009. 16 Apr. 2009 .

Field Guide - a downloadable document can be found here: ** Field Guide: Stream Health Report Card ** · Although your given point will be considered the most upstream point of your segment, start downstream and work your way back: as you will be walking in the stream, this will disturb sediments, fish, and more, which can alter your observations if you record downstream of where you’re walking. · Record relevant information, with as much detail as possible. For //weather conditions//, include any sort of weather events, such as precipitation, extreme wind, etc. It’s important to be accurate, because these aspects can easily affect the stream conditions – for example, a few days of rain could flood the stream. · For //width, depth,// and //temperature//, take three measurements, and then record an average. To determine where to make observations, randomly select a number between 1 and 23, and then add ten to that number. As an example: if you choose the number 9, first measure 19 feet from your designated initial point. Record the three measurements (width, depth, temperature), then move 10 feet from that point. Record, then move 10 more feet away for the final set of observations. o To record //width//, measure right from the water’s edge – don’t include any part of the bank. o For //depth//, record as close to the center of the stream as possible. o For //temperature//, record the surface water, close to the center of the stream as possible. o If crossing/entering the stream is not feasible, record a visual estimate. · Fields with check boxes next to options indicate that you select all that apply to the stream. Those with bubbles next to options indicate that you choose one option that best describes the stream. · For //watershed factors// and items regarding //banks//, measure out 25 feet from the water’s edge as the boundary to record observations. · When observing //surface water appearance//, use a holistic observation to record. The plastic cup should only be used for clarification, if trying to distinguish the color from the sediment of the stream bed. · // Odors // category: use the plastic cup to isolate a sample of water to smell; this prevents the user from potentially being confused with odors in the air. · // Riffle composition: // section off a 3-foot square of any riffle in the observation area. Only record data from within this box. · // Bank Estimates**:** // Look at each bank individually, and record separate estimates for each side; record percentages in 10% increments. Use the designated line to distinguish which bank you are recording – for example, record as north/south or east/west (Remember: relative terms such as left/right won’t be useful to those who look at the data later.) · Use the space below to record any comments that did not fit into the categories of the survey. __**[comments section would be the rest of the page.]**__
 * Equipment needed: 14 pin flags, thermometer, measuring tape (at least 100 feet long), clear plastic cup, GPS (if available) **
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 * __ Observations Section __**