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Home My WebLink About20041235 Ver 1_Monitoring Report_20080122 January 16, 2008 Eric Kulz NC Division of Water Quality Wetlands and Stormwater Branch 2321 Crabtree Blvd., Suite 250 Raleigh, NC 27604 Subject: Privateer Farms benthic macroinvertebrates monitoring Dear Eric, Baker Engineering NY, Inc. 8000 Regency Parkway, Suite 200 Cary, NC 27518 Phone: 919-463-5488 Fax: 919-463-5490 ® R@IROWR. JAN 2 2 2008 ? DM-Vw MUMUry WEnMDSMDMMKMXVAO The letter is to inform you of Baker Engineering's status and intent, regarding the benthic macroinvertebrates monitoring of the Privateer Farms Restoration Site (Site). This letter also includes as an attachment, the 2005 benthic macroinvertebrates monitoring report that represents data from Year 1 following construction. The Privateer Farms Restoration Plan states that: benthic macroinvertebrates data will be collected from the reference reach and within the project reach. Post-restoration sampling will begin one year after construction activities have been completed, and annually thereafter for a total of three years. Collected data will be compared to initial data collected from the reference reach site. Sampling will be conducted during summer months if significant flow is present. Sampling will be conducted between November and March if summer flows are low for project streams. The Site was sampled for benthic macroinvertebrates on January 10, 2006 (to represent one year after construction) by Baker Engineering (see attachment). No samples were collected during pre-construction monitoring within the proposed restoration area (Harrison Creek) due to its high water levels and lentic conditions. The Site was not sampled during January of 2007. According to the North Carolina Division of Water Quality (NCDWQ) benthic macroinvertebrates protocol, biological recovery of restored reaches may take longer than three years following disturbance. Due to this rationale, Baker Engineering intends to sample the Site every other year, which would cause our next sampling event to occur during January of 2008. The last biological sampling event for the Site will take place during January of 2010. Baker Engineering will sample the one location stated in the Site's mitigation plan, as well as the reference site, in accordance with the NCDWQ protocols for benthic macroinvertebrates sampling. Sincerely, Kevin eedy, PE Project Manager Attachment: Privateer Farms Benthic Macroinvertebrates Report Privateer Farms Benthic Macroinvertebrates Report Year 1 Monitoring Benthic macroinvertebrate samples were collected at two sites on January 10, 2006, as part of the first year of post-monitoring requirements. One sampling site (Site 1) is located within the downstream section of the project reach, while the other sampling site (Site 2, reference reach) is located on Panther Branch, approximately 13 miles from the restoration site (Figure 1). The sampling methodology followed the Qual-4 protocol listed in the NCDWQ's Standard Operating Procedures for Benthic Macroinvertebrates. A summary of the benthic macroinvertebrate sampling results at each location is presented in Table 1, with complete results presented in Table 2. The components of the benthic macroinvertebrate community that are commonly used to evaluate water quality are the EPT taxa. The EPT taxa include specimens belonging to the insect orders Ephemeroptera (mayflies), Plecoptera (stoneflies) and Trichoptera (caddisflies). These groups are generally the least tolerant to water pollution and therefore are very useful indicators of water quality. Therefore, the presence of substantial numbers of EPT taxa and individuals is considered indicative of relatively undisturbed "higher quality" streams. EPT metrics commonly used to assess water quality include EPT taxa richness, EPT biotic index, and EPT abundance, which are shown in Table 1. Table 1. Summary of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Data for the Project Reach and the Reference Reach. Site Total Taxa EPT Taxa Total EPT EPT Richness Richness Biotic Index Biotic Index Abundance Site 1 Project Reach 16 1 7.4 7.4 3 Site 2 Panther Branch 21 5 7.11 5.31 11 As expected, the benthic macroinvertebrate community of Site 2 (reference site) reflected that of a healthier community compared to Site 1 (restoration site). A healthier community is characterized by higher total and EPT taxa richness values and lower biotic values. The data recorded in Table 1 and Table 2 for Site 2 represent a benthic macroinvertebrate community typical of a small Coastal Plain stream. No samples were collected during pre-construction monitoring within the proposed restoration area (Harrison Creek) due to its high water levels and lentic conditions. Benthic communities found in conditions similar to the restoration area, during pre- restoration, are typically dominated by very tolerant organisms such as midges and oligochaetes. Since lotic conditions have been established within the restoration area after project construction, introduction of less tolerant organisms should occur. During the early post-restoration years, the benthic community most likely will be composed of fine particulate organic material (FPOM) consumers such as scrapers, collector-gatherers, and falterer-collectors. As the woody vegetation matures, inputs of coarse particulate organic material (CPOM) such as leaves and woody debris into the stream should increase. Inputs of CPOM provide a critical resource base for the benthic macroinvertebrate community, especially in a low-order stream such as the restoration site. In response to the CPOM increase, CPOM consumers such as shredders should invade and help increase the CPOM:FPOM consumer ratio to a level typical of a healthy low-order stream such as the upstream site. This predicted trend, however, will rely heavily upon the successful establishment of the riparian vegetation. Table 2. Benthos Data for Privateer Farms Project (Samples collected on January 10, 2006) _ I S OW r L.pl??ance ? clues . , F?ecl»ig y T(?i OIJ ; f 7?t? P4 12esto?at?or?' = lieach? ` r' Sik 7 ?lihnlher `? 13Yaneh Insecta Ephemeroptera Caenidae Caenis sp. 7.4 CG C Leptophlebiidae Leptophlebia sp. 6.2 CG R Plecoptera Taeniopterygidae Taeniopteryx sp. 5.4 SH R Trichoptera Limnephilidae Ironoquia punctatissima 7.8 SH C Pycnopsyche sp. 2.5 SH C Rhyacophilidae Rhyacophila lobifera ' PR C Odonata Coenagrionidae Ischnura sp. 9.5 PR C Gomphidae Progomphus obscurus 8.2 PR R Libellulidae Libellula sp. 9.6 PR C Megaloptera Corydalidae Nigronia serricornis 5.0 PR R Hemiptera Corixidae Sigara sp. 9.1 PR R Diptera Chironomidae Chironomus sp. 9.6 CG A Clinotanypus pinguis 8.7 PR R Conchapelopia grp. 8.4 PR R Corynoneura sp. 6.0 CG R Dicrotendipes modestus 8.7 CG C Dicrotendipes neomodestus. 8.1 CG R Orthocladius annectens 7 5.4 CG C Parametriocnemus lundbecki 3.7 CG R Polypedilum halterale grp. 7.3 SH R Polypedilum illinoense 9.0 SH R C Psectrocladius sp. 5.3 CG A Rheocricotopus sp. 5.9 CG R Stenochironomus sp. 6.5 CG R Notes: Tolerance Values: ranges from 0 (least tolerant to pollution) to 10 (most tolerant to pollution Functional Feeding Group: CG = Collector-Gatherer, FC = Filterer-Collector, OM = Omnivore, PR = Predator, SC = Scraper, SH = Shredder. Abundance: R = Rare (1-2 individuals); C = Common (3-9 individuals); A = Abundant (10 or more individuals). ,,SPEEIES _ lolerancc '?rulues' r,. FeQding. !?ronp, Site 1 _ Restorkion, Reach Sites 2 Panthe ? BrAn ji - Tanytarsus sp. 6.8 FC A Tventenia bavarica grP. 3.7 CG C Zavrelimyia sp. 9.1 PR Simulidae Prosimulium sp. 6.0 FC Simulium sp. 6.0 FC A A Tipulidae Tipula sp. 7.3 SH R Crustacea Amphipoda Gammaridae Gammarus sp. 9.1 SH R A Isopoda Asellidae Caecidotea sp. 9.1 CG A Decapoda Cambaridae CG C OLLUSCA Bivalvia Sphaeriidae Sphaerium sp. 7.6 FC R NELIDA Oligochaeta Lumbriculidae 7.0 CG A Tubifidae Spirosperma sp. 5.4 CG R Total Taxa Richness 16 21 PT Taxa Richness 1 5 Total Biotic Index 7.4 7.11 PT Biotic Index 7.4 5.31 PT Abundance 3 11 .