field training for non-wadeable streams and rivers part 1. from dave peck april 2003 (emap western...

Field Training for Non-Wadeable Streams and Rivers

Part 1.

From Dave Peck April 2003

(EMAP Western Pilot Study)

With CPCB modifications 17 August 2007

•Safety

•Field sheets

•Site selection

•Reach

•Macroinvertebrates

•Fish

•Chemistry

•Sample processing

Aug. 2007 Non-wadeable Tribuaries Training 2

SITE SELECTION

• YEAR 1 = 5 random sites chosen by EPA• YEAR 2 = 30 random sites chosen by EPA 5 reference sites chosen by CPCB

• Office evaluation• Maps & permission• No sites in Missouri R. floodplain• No more than 3 sites per tributary

• Reconnaissance if possible• Access & hazards

• Go through list of PRIMARY sites first. • If you can’t sample a site, replace it with the next site on the

ALTERNATE list


SAFETY

• Updated tetanus shots

• CPR and 1st aid training

• WEAR LIFEJACKETS in BOATS

• Sunscreen, water, food, etc.

• Water quality may pose a hazard at some sites (Wash often, use sanitizer)

• Comfortable with site conditions and access

• Wide range of sites (urban, canals to wilderness )-- need to be prepared for all kinds of different safety situations

• Electrofishing– using powerful generators, dealing with water in raft at times


Data Recording (Table 2-3)

Data Forms• Will be only record of your visit

• “If you don’t write it down, it never happened.”

• No doodling!!

• Make copies, but send originals

• Stream ID and visit (date) must be correct on all forms for a site

• Check forms before you leave the site


A “Good” Data Form


Not-Too Bad, but…

GENERALLY OK!!FLAG SHOULD BE IN SPECIES LINE,NOT IN FILE DOFR GENERAL SAMPLING


Not-so Hot #1G

enera

lly s

loppy w

riti

ng-

trie

d t

o

overw

rite

era

sure

- does

not

scan a

nd

hard

to r

ead


Not-so-Hot #2M

ake

indiv

idual ci

rcle

s fo

r each

sta

tion


Not-So-Hot #3N

eed t

o e

rase

cle

anly

and c

om

ple

tel y

(no

smudges)

. O

n p

aper

t his

di d

not

l ook

too b

ad,

but

i t s

cans

in a

s a v

ery

dark

blo

b.

Any o

verw

r iti

ng

coul d

not

be r

ead.


Not-So-Hot #4Thalw

eg c

om

ments

should

have fl

ags.

Subst

rate

com

ment

sect

ion s

hould

be u

sed f

or

subst

rate


Not-So-Hot #5

WHAT IS TRANSECT ’06’??

CHOOSE ONE


Not-So-Hot #6

NICER CIRCLES NEEDED

DID NOT SCAN-- COULD NOT BE READ, EITHER


GENERAL SEQUENCE OF ACTIVITIES• Sampling conducted during one pass downstream through

the sampling reach• Fish raft – samples along shoreline, stops to process fish at each

transect. Alternate banks every 2 transects.

• Habitat raft - samples down channel, then stops at each transect for nearshore and riparian measurements. One bank entire reach (Fig. 6-1).

• GPS reading taken at each transect.

• Some duties (e.g., collection of benthos and periphyton samples) can be done by either raft (said EPA)• But probably better for fish raft b/c of switching banks?

• At last transect K• Water chemistry samples & in situ measurements, mid-channel

• Qualitative assessment forms (e.g., Channel Constraint, Visual Assessment, RBP Habitat)

• Samples processed at take-out point


FIND THE X-SITE

• PROBABILITY SAMPLING• Systematic randomized sample of stream network from 1:100,000

scale USGS topo maps (perennial “blue line” streams)

• Design is optimized to estimate condition of the population expressed as stream length

• Very important to go to randomly selected (X-site) site on map; no alternatives

• But can slide reach around X

• FINDING THE X-SITE• Non-wadeable sites: located on map prior to sampling, sampling

reach is estimated based on x-site, location of put-in and take-out points

• Goal is to be within 100 m; 0.25 inches on 7.5” map = 150 m = 0.1 miles

• In the field, use all available means to confirm you are at the correct river


INITIAL SITE ACTIVITIES• Site Verification

• Sampleable• Wadeable• Boatable• Partial: Sampled by wading or by boat• Interrupted flow• Altered: stream different than map depiction

• Make sketches on form

• Non-Sampleable (Permanent)• Dry when visited (100 %)• Dry- not visited (e.g., During recon or when calling for access permission)

• Still need to complete a verification form for these sites• Wetland (no defined channel)• Map error--No Channel or Water Body Present• Impounded• Other (e.g., pipeline or underground flow)

• Non target Canal: Must meet both criteria• No natural channel• Only purpose is to move water


INITIAL SITE ACTIVITIES (cont.)

• Site Verification (Continued)• No Access

• Permission Denied• Permanently Inaccessible• Temporarily Inaccessible (fire, weather, floods, need permission)

• Can be re-scheduled for following year• Still need to complete a verification form for these sites


SAMPLING CONSIDERATIONS

• Sampling Atypical Flow Conditions• Do not sample if flow seems atypical due to recent precipitation (Table 4-2)

• Classify as “Temporarily Inaccessible” on Verification Form

• Partially Boatable sites (Table 4-1)• Do what can be done SAFELY

• Interrupted flow (enduring pools)• Do not sample if excessive dragging of rafts will be required

• Classify as “Temporarily Non-sampleable—Not Boatable” on Verification Form

• If sampled by raft, collect all indicators if possible

• Access Permission/Public Relations• Always ask for permission on site

• land owner may not have told renters

• Act professionally• Good P.R. goes a long way

• Safety• Don’t sample during storm events if water is very turbid/high. Flash floods?• Think safety first; driving is biggest hazard


VERIFICATION FORM


BASE SITE ACTIVITIES (Section 3)• Before sampling

• Site dossiers

• Check equipment (pre-label and package chemistry sample containers)

• If used• Conductivity meter needs to be checked periodically (but not before

every site) if you are doing field measurements• QC check solution

• Low conductivity (Dilute phosphate buffer), approx. 75 microSiemens/cm at 25 degrees C.

• Medium/high conductivity: (Potassium chloride), approx 700 or 1400 microSiemens/cm at 25 degrees C.

• Check temperature probe on oxygen meter periodically using a thermometer

• CHECKLISTS!!!!


REACH

• Determined ahead of time from map measurements• A is upstream, K is downstream

This is different than the manual:• 40 x mean wetted width (at the point of entry)

• Minimum reach length = 150 m; Maximum 1000 m

• Can slide reach as long as X is still within reach• X is the site coordinates

• Main channel between transects• 10 habitat, substrate, backwater measurements• 20 snags, Thalweg measurements

• At transects (switch shores every other transect: odd # sites begin on the left, even # sites begin on the right)

• Habitat• Bugs• Periphyton


REACH (cont.)

A

B

CK

JI

HG F

E

D

Distance between transects=10 times mean wetted width based on widths determined at put-in and take-out points)

X-site

Total reach length=100 times mean wetted width at X-site

FLOW

40 x

4 x

EPA illustration

•Bugs/fish – start with left bank odd sites, right bank even – example even .


X

1 1

2

X

X lake

river 150 m

X

11

1

2

2

SLIDING THE REACH• Barriers in reach

• Ponds, lakes, reservoirs• Stream order (100,000 map) changes (confluences)• Impassable physical barriers (cliffs, dams)• Access denials

• Keep constant reach length, slide reach to avoid barrier, X-site must be in reach• Do Not slide for bridges, rip-rap, pipes

DO NOT SLIDE REACH

SLIDE REACH

EPA illustration


WATER CHEMISTRY (Section 5)• Collect a water sample at last transect (K) in mid-channel or

flowing section of stream (or another transect if necessary)

• EPA will tell us what they want, but here’s the former method:• One 4 L cubitainer: major anions/cations, total nutrients, DOC, TSS, acid-

base chemistry• Two, 60 mL sealed syringes (protect from CO2 exposure):

• Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC)• pH

• Avoid contamination• Rinse container and lid 3x• Do not inflate cubitainers by mouth• Avoid food, insect repellent, sunscreen before collecting sample• Fill syringes to 60cc, no bubbles in syringe, don't label over graduations• Exclude all air from cubitainers, tape lids

• Keep cold and dark on ice, ship next day if possible• If not, ship as soon as you can• Use ice substitute packs instead of ice to ship if possible• LOTS OF ICE (Total wt. of cooler should be 40-50 lbs.)


• In situ meter reading of air and water temperature,dissolved oxygen (DO),conductivity, turbidity, salinity at same place• Record on both EPA and CPCB forms

• Phytoplankton• 50 ml

• Filter!

• Return to Lim.

WATER CHEMISTRY (Section 5), cont’d


SAMPLE COLLECTION FORM


PERIPHYTON (Section 7)• NOT the EPA method in the Peck et al. manual• CPCB 5 vial method• Every other transect (A, C, E, G, I), proper bank• CPCB form

• Label vials• Site number• Vial number (1 through 5)• Date

• Use deliminator• Hard substrate - Upper surface scrubbed & aspirated• Soft substrate - Top 0.5 cm aspirated

• Filter!

• Keep on ice, in dark

• Return to Lim


CPCB SAMPLE COLLECTION FORM


MACROINVERTEBRATES (Section 9)

• Each transect, proper bank• 1 D-frame kick net sample - 500 micrometer mesh• At appropriate bank

• Away from river margin, but • Depth <1 m

• Sample area = 1 net width wide, 1 net width long• Place heavy mussels and snails in net• Scrub large rocks into net, then remove from quadrant• 30 second kick

• Note habitat and substrate• Composite all 11 samples from a site• Label• Preserve in formalin


MACROINVERTEBRATES (Cont.)

• Kick net sampling (Table 9-1)• Riffle/run sampling (enough flow to extend net)

• Examine and scrub rocks and larger substrates within 1 ft2 quadrant first, then place them outside of quadrat.

• Kick remaining finer substrate (top layer only) in quadrat for 30 seconds• Stand at side of net, not upstream

• Only check one substrate type per sample• Also indicate microhabitat type at sampling point

• Pool sampling (not enough flow to extend net)• Examine and scrub rocks and larger substrates within 1 ft2 quadrant

first, then place them outside of quadrant.• Stir up top sediments within quadrant, sweep net through cloud for 30

seconds


MACROINVERTEBRATES (Cont’d)

• Processing (Table 9-2)• Don’t label jars until you’ve collected the sample!

• Remove as much material as possible before preserving (coarse and fine)

• Do not fill jar more than 1/4 full of residue

• Fill to top with preservative (no headspace) to cushion specimens

• After adding preservative, gently rotate the jar to horizontal position to mix to minimize damage to specimens

• Don’t invert, agitate, or swirl

• Complete label for inside of jar (water-resistant paper)

• Make sure info on label and form match (e.g., no. jars)


SAMPLE COLLECTION FORM


AQUATIC VERTEBRATES (Section 10)

• NOT amphibians and crayfish

• Electrofishing - primary sampling technique• If conductivity > 1700 us/cm, use GPP 5 unit• 1 pass through reach along banks, with effort allocated among entire reach

length (45 min for small streams, 3 hr for large, wide streams)• Areas between transects (“sub-reaches”) used to spread effort throughout reach,

and to keep track of where species were collected

• Alternate banks every 2 sub-reaches

• On larger streams, may take > 1 day to completely sample reach

• Electrofishing swath• 3 – 4 m wide• At oar’s length from shore• Near cover• Depths < 3 meters wherever possible.


• Sein each transect as last resort• Kick seining or sweep hauls

• Multiple short hauls preferred over long ones to minimize mortality

• Need to keep track of sites not fished and why, and how much of reach was sampled effectively• Header section of collection form

AQUATIC VERTEBRATES (cont.)


AQUATIC VERTEBRATES (cont.)• ID and tally

• Keep “species” bagged separately• OK to use more than one tag for species to avoid opening and closing bags as you

progress through reach

• Voucher specimens:• Listed species; photograph, then release• Large or easy to ID: Keep 1-2 specimens, or photograph if too large or game

species• Smaller or hard to ID will have been brought back to lab: Preserve up to 20

adults• Need to be able to correct counts for misidentifications

• GOOD CLEAR PHOTOS ARE CRITICAL• Must be able to confirm ID from photo

• Make sure vouchers are properly preserved!• Don’t pack fish in bags; use > 1 bag/tag if necessary

• Fill in every sub-reach where species is collected• We won’t compute Jaccard coefficient

• Record any specimens with anomalies (not type), and mortality from collecting or handling


VOUCHER PHOTOGRAPHS

Flathead chub (SD)

Largescale sucker (OR)

Chiselmouth (OR)

Paiute sculpin (OR)

Yellow Bullhead (MT)

GO

OD

EX

AM

PLES

NO

T S

O G

OO

D E

XA

MP

LES


VERTEBRATE COLLECTION FORM


FISH TISSUE CONTAMINANTS (Section 11)

• Used as “Sampling device” to get some idea of long-term exposure of stream to toxics

• Vouchers come before tissue. • Two types of samples

• Big > 120 mm total length • Up to 3 individuals of 3 different species

• Piscivores >> Invertivores >> Omnivores

• Up to 9 different samples• Each species gets own ID number

• Small < 100 mm total length• Similar sized individuals; 400 g wet wt. (approx 14-16 oz.) “Pop can”• One ID number for all

• If tissue samples are too large for a clear zip-lock bag, place in a garbage bag and put a second label on the outside of the garbage bag


VERTEBRATE COLLECTION FORM (p. 2)


Visual Assessments• Done at end of day (or on the way to hotel)• Visual Assessment

• Place to note things you can’t on other forms

• Watershed disturbance:• Consider “catchment” (watershed upstream of Transect K)• Include any observations driving to and from site

• Site Characteristics:• 200m circle about X-site for site characteristics


TRACKING FORMS


BACK AT KBS

• Take care of samples the day you return!

• Chemistry samples for USEPA• Chain-of-custody• Seal coolers• Store in walk-in cooler• Take to EPA the next day

• Periphyton & phytoplankton samples for Lim• Chain-of custody• Small cool in walk-in-cooler• Leave a note for her

• Fish and bugs• Track on sign-in sheet in tile room• Let lab person know samples have arrived

• Fish tissue to ???


BACK AT KBS (cont.)

• The next day review field sheets• Missing info

• Clean up handwriting

• Photocopy & put in order

• Clean equipment• Hose outside

• Clean up vehicles and boats

• FIX anything needing fixing

• Gas receipts to Josh• Travel forms


Habitat Methods

• These are in the other presentations.

field training for non-wadeable streams and rivers part 1. from dave peck april 2003 (emap western...

Documents

site slide

nonwadeable streams

substrate slide

alternate list slide

random sites

reference sites

good data form slide

site conditions