Habitat Monitoring continued
Recommended Metrics and Sample Frequency:
Limiting Factor – Channel Structure and Form
Reach Length/Once
Channel Type/Once
Density of Habitat Type/ every 5 years
Sinuosity/every 5 years
Bankfull Width:Depth ratio/every 5 years
Bank Stability (Categorical)/Annually
Pools per unit length/Annually
Residual Pool Depth/Annually
Thalweg Depth/Annually
Density/Distribution Instream Wood/Annually
Limiting Factor – Sediment Conditions
Substrate Particle Size (% Composition)/Annually
Embeddedness/Annually
Relative Bed Stability/Annually
Limiting Factor – Riparian Condition
Shade at Mid Channel/Annually
Riparian Canopy (% Cover)/Annually
Riparian Understory (% Cover)/Annually
Limiting Factor – Water Quantity
Flow Category/Annually
Floodplain Area/every 5 years
Length of Side Channel Habitat/every 5 years
Limiting Factor – Water Quality
Temperature/TBD
For more information and to see the full report, please
visit the project web page:
http://www.pnamp.org/project/4585
Or contact:
Karen Adams, Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board
Kadams@lcfrb.gen.wa.us
(360)425-3274
Amy Puls, Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring
Partnership
apuls@usgs.gov
(509)538-2299 x258
Project Partners include:
City of Longview
Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board
USGS, Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Partnership
WA Department of Ecology, Water Quality Program
Phase I Stormwater Permittees, including:
Clark County
Phase II Stormwater Permittees, including:
Cowlitz County
City of Battleground
City of Camas
City of Kelso
City of Vancouver
City of Washougal
Integrated Status and Trends Monitoring Partners,
including:
Bureau of Land Management
Columbia Habitat Monitoring Program
OR Department of Environmental Quality
OR Department of Fish and Wildlife
Tetra Tech
US Forest Service
WA Ecology, Watershed Health Monitoring
Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board
This project was funded by a Washington Department of
Ecology Grant of Regional and Statewide Significance in 2013.
Lower Columbia
Status and Trends Monitoring
The Lower Columbia Habitat and Water Quality Status and Trends
Monitoring Project (HQSTM) is a collaborative effort to integrate
monitoring for water quality, watershed health, and salmon recovery. This
project has two primary components: water quality monitoring to inform
Municipal Stormwater Permits in southwest Washington, and habitat
monitoring to guide regional monitoring of conditions critical to the
recovery of ESA listed salmonids. The intent is to gain fiscal efficiencies and
more robust and meaningful regional assessments than could be achieved
by either program alone. This document summarizes the key components
of the monitoring design.
Water Quality Monitoring
Strata:
Stratification of sites allows us to compare data among like sites to
strengthen our ability to characterize conditions and detect trends over
time. Recommended strata for water quality monitoring include:




Inside/outside NPDES Urban Areas
Drainage area
Predominant Land Cover of the watershed
Number of Primary Populations in subbasin
Water Quality Monitoring continued

Outside the NPDES Urban Areas (referred to as “regional water
quality monitoring”) there are 3 relevant strata, each with 3
combinations x 15 sites each = 135 sites
o Drainage Area: 3 categories (0.6-2.5, 2.6-50, 50-200 km2)
o Predominant Land Cover: 3 categories (forested,
agricultural, and urban)
o Number of Primary Salmonid Populations in subbasin: 3
categories (0-2, 3, 4+)
Habitat Monitoring
Strata:
Recommended strata for habitat monitoring include:





Inside/outside NPDES Urban Areas
Drainage Area
Stream Gradient
Predominant Land Cover
Number of Primary Salmonid Populations in subbasin
Number of Sites Sampled:
The recommended number of sites sampled for each strata combination is
variable in habitat monitoring practice and literature. There is no
precedent set at this time; therefore, a target of 15 sites/ strata
combination was adopted for consistency with the water quality monitoring
design. There are 360 total strata combinations but only 84 meet the 15sample criteria x 15 sites each = 1,260 sites.


Number of Sites Sampled:


The recommended number of sites sampled for each strata combination is
a minimum of 15, based on precedence set in practice and documented in
the stormwater literature. Locations should be identified by reach.


Inside NPDES Urban Areas there is only one relevant combination of
strata – 15 reaches needed
o Drainage area: 1 category (2.6-50 km2)
o “Urban” land cover: 1 category
Recommended Metrics and Sample Frequency:
Water Temperature/Continuous (e.g., hourly)
Sediment Metals/Annually
Conductivity/Continuously
Stream Stage/Continuously
Macroinvertebrate Index/Annually
Bankfull Width & Depth/ One time per permit period (5 years)
Wetted Width/Each site visit
Substrate Size/ One time
Recommended for future consideration, based on upcoming experience by
others:
Chloride/Monthly
Total Nitrogen/Monthly
Sediment Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)/Annually
Periphyton/Annually
Inside/outside NPDES Urban Areas = 2 categories
Drainage Area: 5 categories (0.6-2.5, 2.5-50, 50-200, 200-1000,
>1000 km2)
Stream Gradient: 4 categories (<1.5%, 1.5-3%, 3-7.5%, >7.5%)
Predominant Land Cover: 3 categories (Forested, Agricultural,
Urban)
Number of Primary Salmonid Populations in subbasin: 3 categories
(0-2, 3, 4+)