Slide 1 - During this module, we will discuss biological criteria and their role in water quality
management. The module will be divided into three separate sections.
 The first section will describe the background and value of biological criteria
 the second section will address the concept and development of biological criteria; and
 the third section will describe components needed for implementation of biological
criteria. The information presented during this module relies to a large extent on the
EPA program guidance document.
Slide 2 - [add notes to slide] “This we know: All things are connected. Man did not weave the
web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to
himself.” Chief Sealth (Dwamish), of the Seattle area (1854).
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 3/4 notes: The objective of Section 101 of the CWA, is "to restore and maintain the
chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation's waters." To achieve this
objective, EPA, States, regulated industries and municipalities, and the public need
comprehensive information about the biological integrity of aquatic environments to
complement the established perceptions of physical and chemical integrity and provide
a complete picture of the ecological integrity of the nation's waters.
Slide 4 notes: Section 303(c)(2)(A) requires the adoption of water quality standards that
"serve the purposes of the Act," as given in section 101.
Statutory Authority Section 303 (c) 2 (B): …where numeric criteria are not available,
States shall adopt criteria based on biological assessment methods…
Section 304(a)8: EPA shall…develop and publish information on methods for
establishing and measuring water quality criteria for toxic pollutants on other bases
than pollutant-by-pollutant, including biological monitoring and assessment methods.
Slide 5
Slide 5 notes: Ecological integrity represents the best measure of water quality.
Ecological integrity is ideally attained when chemical, physical, and biological integrity
occur simultaneously. When chemical or physical integrity are out of balance, this will
be revealed by the biological condition of a water body.
Biological Integrity is the ability of an aquatic ecosystem to support and maintain a
balanced adaptive community of organisms having a species composition, diversity, and
functional organization comparable to that of natural habitats within a region.
For the purposes of biological criteria, biological integrity is defined as the condition of
the aquatic community inhabiting [the] unimpaired waterbodies of a specified type.
In general, biological condition is measured by both the structure and function of the
community.
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
To achieve the objective of section 101 of the CWA, >>>"to restore and maintain the
chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation's waters." …, EPA, States, Tribes
(including regulated industries and municipalities, and the public) need comprehensive
information about the biological integrity of aquatic environments to complement the
established perceptions of physical and chemical integrity and provide a complete picture of
the ecological integrity of the nation's waters.
Section 303(c)(2)(A) requires the adoption of water quality standards that "serve the purposes
of the Act," as given in section 101.
Statutory Authority
Section 303 (c) 2 (B):
…where numeric criteria are not available, States shall adopt criteria based on biological
assessment methods…
Section 304(a)8:
EPA shall…develop and publish information on methods for establishing and measuring
water quality criteria for toxic pollutants on other bases than pollutant-by-pollutant,
including biological monitoring and assessment methods.
Slide 10
Slide 9 notes: Trophic Feeding Groups, Number of Individuals, Reproductive Preferences,
Total Number of Species, Mean Individual Size Measurement, Biomass
Direct measures of existing community structure are useful for establishing the normal
range of community components to be expected in unimpaired systems and include
•
number of species,
•
presence or absence of taxa that are indicators of particular water quality conditions,
•
distribution of feeding groups from different levels of the food chain,
•
diseases and anomalies,
•
number of individuals,
•
non-native species,
•
reproduction preferences, and
•
total number of species.
Slide 11 notes:
Also >>> Habitat Assessments
- Training required
- Visual-based
- Reference condition serves as benchmark
- “Semi-quantitative” assessment
- ½ to1 work hour
- Extent and abundance of instream cover for fish and benthos
- Extent of embeddedness of the epifaunal substrate
- Representation of various velocity and depth regimes
- Presence or absence of channel alteration
- Extent of sediment deposition
- Sinuosity of frequency of riffles in a reach
- Status of channel fullness or wetted width
- Condition of banks
- Extent of vegetative protection on banks/ Riparian vegetative zone width
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Fish community bioassessment
12
Slide 12 - Standardized length (100 m), no transects
Slide 13
11-28-07
Invertebrate community bioassessment
using a Surber sampler
14
Slide 14 (new slide) using a500 micron mesh
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17 notes:
Metric: Total number of taxa; number EPT taxa; number Intolerant taxa; Percent EPT,
tolerant, sensitive taxa; Percent Dominant taxa, or % filterers, collectors, grazers, clingers,…
An Index of Biotic Integrity (or IBI) is an example of a measurement of the relative structural
and functional well-being of fish populations in freshwater streams.
(2 new slides)
RBP Recommended Metrics
Category
Metric
Total No. taxa
No. EPT taxa
Richness
No. Ephemeroptera Taxa
measures
No. Plecoptera Taxa
No. Trichoptera Taxa
Composition % EPT
measures
% Ephemeroptera
Tolerance & No. of Intolerant Taxa
Intolerance % Tolerant Organisms
measures
% Dominant Taxon
Feeding
% Filterers
measures
% Grazers and Scrapers
Habit
Number of Clinger Taxa
measures
% Clingers
Predicted response to
increasing perturbation
Decrease
Decrease
Decrease
Decrease
Decrease
Decrease
Decrease
Decrease
Increase
Increase
Variable
Decrease
Decrease
Decrease
http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/rbp/ch07b.html
Slide 18 (new)
Approx.
Upstream
Distance
(miles)
from MBD
Station
ID
Year
22.5
I80
20
WB
19
AH
17.5
FJR
14.5
SS
11.5
NW
10.5
DO
60.5
8
CN
34.2
6.5
ND
5
LNX
3.5
NB
2
NIX
71.0
0
MBD
58.2
16.3
44.7
45.5
25.6
59.2
27.7
45.2
51.3
47.3
1981
Average
1989
1990
63.6
18.7
35.8
1996
1999
2000
2001*
39.3
43.6
47.0
51.2
46.5
47.0
52.8
33.7
51.2
25.1
49.1
59.4
51.2
47.3
38.9
39.0
50.5
51.7
59.9
52.7
45.9
*
51.5
45.5
47.9
*
45.9
55.1
54.1
*
57.6
50.1
*
50.7
51.2
40.1
73.8
35.3
28.3
Average
PLPT Biological Index
Score and Narrative Rating
40.1
54.6
63.3
45.4
47.1
47.3
80.8
59.3
48.9
45.8
56.1
38.1
47.5
100-80
Excellent
69-60
Good
49-40
Poor
79-70
Very Good
59-50
Fair
39-0
Very Poor
Slide 19
(new)
Slide 19 notes: PLPT IBI developed using 4 Key Metrics (Barbour, Leppo 2002) as suggested
by as being the best candidates to show a predicted response to disturbance on the lower
Truckee River, Nevada within the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation.
Slide 20 notes
In Ohio, evaluation of instream biota indicated that 36 percent of impaired stream segments
could not be detected using aquatic life criteria alone.
These and similar analyses reflect the difficulty of protecting waterbodies against the effect
of individual chemicals when criteria cannot be developed for all possible chemicals.
Slide 21 notes
Biological information can also be used:
 As indicators for stream/ river restoration projects (banks, riparian,…)
 In T & E fish recovery efforts
 Water management efforts
Slide 22 notes:
1. The Biological Condition Gradient (BCG) is a descriptive model that predicts biological
response to increasing levels of stress.
2. The BCG is based on longstanding, accepted science – in the field of aquatic ecology
and bioassessment methods.
3. Technical Underpinnings -predictable and measurable patterns of biological response
to increasing levels of stress – common empirical observations in different parts of the
country, regardless of method.
Slide 23 notes:
This figure is a generalized representation of the BCG. In your handout you have the detailed
BCG model. (Handout: BCG slide above, next, and matrix – Table 2.2 p 21 in the document)
The gradient of biological responses spans a range of condition - from natural, undisturbed
conditions to severely y disturbed. There are 6 tiers, or increments of biological change,
along the gradient.
Key Points:
1. It is intended to be uses as the starting point for States and Tribes to think about how to
more accurately describe the condition of a waterbody and to establish appropriate goals;
the 6 tiers represent incremental, measurable changes along this gradient; it is up to the
States and Tribes to determine number of tiers and where thresholds established.
2. The model is applicable to different places (geography); different methods; across
political boundaries (incorporate into existing State and Tribal programs).
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 25 notes: Example of a stream in Maine with upstream nutrient source
Note shift in community and in abundance – but still retain representative
species of a natural or near natural community.
Slide 26
Notes:
Downstream of a shopping mall, urban storm sewer outlet in Maine.
Note fundamental shift in community composition to tolerant taxa
(Susan to present beginning with this slide)
Slide 27 notes: Reference conditions can also be developed on a larger scale. For these
references, waterbodies of similar type are identified in regions of ecological similarity. To
establish a regional reference condition, a set of surface waters of similar habitat type is
identified in each ecological region. As with other reference conditions, the biological
characteristics of selected pristine or minimally impaired reference waters are determined
to establish the reference. Biological criteria can then be developed and used to assess
presumably impacted surface waters in the same region.
Ideally, ecoregional reference sites should be as unimpacted as possible, yet be
representative of the waterbodies for which they are to serve as reference waters. These
sites may serve as references for a large number of similar waterbodies. For example,
several reference streams may be used to define the reference condition for numerous
physically separate streams, if the reference streams contain the same range of stream
morphology (or shape), substrate, and flow as the other streams within the same ecological
region.
This approach must be used with caution for two reasons. First, in many urban, industrial,
or heavily developed agricultural regions, even the least impacted sites are seriously
degraded. Basing criteria on such sites will set standards too low. In such degraded regions,
references may be obtained from a less developed neighboring State or from historical
records for the waterbody before serious impact occurred. Second, in some regions, the
minimally impacted sites are not typical of most sites in the region and may have remained
unimpaired precisely because they are unique. This is often the case in National Parks that
were designated because of their unique aquatic resources.
Slide 28 notes: The use of ecoregions has been instrumental to the development of
biological criteria in Ohio and Arkansas. Several other States are in the process of refining
their ecoregion classifications, including Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Iowa.
Reference conditions are needed for environmental assessments because standard
experimental controls are rarely available. Reference conditions describe the characteristics
of waterbody segments least impaired by human activities and are used to define attainable
biological conditions. Proper selection of reference sites is critical to developing biological
criteria. You may recall, we discussed reference conditions during Module 4 on Use
Attainability Analyses.
Currently, two principal approaches are used for establishing the reference condition.
A State or Tribe may opt to
 (1) identify site-specific reference sites within the same waterbody to compare with
impacted sites (such as the upstream-downstream approach), or
 (2) select ecologically similar regional reference sites for comparison with impacted
sites within the same region (such as the ecoregion approach).
To develop the most comprehensive reference condition, ideally as much attention as is
realistically possible should be paid to the reference site data. However, this data must be
evaluated in the context of historical information and the collective judgment of regional
experts. In some cases, such as significantly impaired areas, appropriate reference
conditions must be derived primarily from that historical data, models based on site-specific
knowledge, or the judgment of these experts in order to prevent lowering the criteria by
undue reliance on inappropriate reference sites.
These are important options when appropriate reference sites are not available locally or
regionally. This allows best professional judgment to set attainable conditions that might
have existed before current land use patterns. In fact, even when reference sites are
available, this additional information should be developed to qualify the current data
collected on the reference sites.
Slide 29 Talking points:
Designated Uses – management goals for aquatic life protection in WQS.
TALU approach: Detailed biological information about the characteristics of aquatic
organisms expected to be found in a specific waterbody - referenced to natural, or
undisturbed, conditions.
Technical framework underpinning TALU – organizing scientific information to help
determine the highest attainable use for a waterbody,
Background notes:
The TALU document provides examples of practical and scientifically sound approaches
based on the technical expertise and practical experience of aquatic ecologists from around
the country, including scientists from State and Tribal water programs.
Many States and Tribes are using biological assessments in their programs now – USEPA
Summary of Biological Assessment Programs ad Biocriteria Development for States, Tribes,
Territories and Interstate Commissions: Streams and Wadeable Rivers EPA-822-R-02-048.
Slide 30 Talking points: The purpose of this descriptive framework is to provide an
ecologically based model for communication of biological condition. The descriptive,
incremental gradient should enable more precise information about current conditions.
“Fly in:” By more accurately characterizing the condition of waterbody – with quantitative
measures – able to set thresholds that are more protective and prevent the waterbody from
slipping from excellent to fair before management action initiated.
Slide 31 Talking points: “Fly in:” Additionally, when waters are degraded, this approach
can be used to set incremental, measurable goals for restoration and then monitor progress
towards achieving those goals. These incremental goals can be revisited as progress made –
and new goals set for further improvement if deemed possible and desirable.
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34: Biocriteria – Definition:
Numeric Values or Narrative Descriptions that are Established to Protect the Biological
Conditions of the Aquatic Life Inhabiting Waters of a Given Designated Use.
 While narrative biocriteria are general statements, numeric biocriteria are specific
quantitative indicators of desired biological condition.
To derive a numeric criterion, an aquatic community's structure and function are measured
numerically at designated reference sites. These values are set as a reference condition,
which is formally incorporated into the criteria statement.
Examples of numeric criteria that measure the relative differences between
communities include similarity indices, coefficients of community loss, and comparisons of
lists of dominant taxa.
Developing Biocriteria
Select standardized, consistent Bioassay Protocols
Classify water bodies into similar groups or classes
Identify reference sites in each class
Conduct bioassessments at reference sites in each class
Derive Biocriteria (Technical)
MMI: Select responsive metrics
Develop scoring for each metric
Aggregate metrics
Develop Biocriteria for each Aquatic Life Use
Apply Biocriteria to all Water Bodies
Slide 35:
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35
Following the establishment of narrative biological criteria in standards, the first step is for
States to develop standard protocols for use in producing quantitative biological criteria.
The reference site establishes the unimpaired baseline for comparison with the site under
consideration.
Evaluations of the results of the surveys of reference site are used to set quantifiable
measures applicable to the individual waterbody.
Slide 36:
 By conducting the assessment or survey of the subject waterbody and comparing it to
the reference condition you could determine possible impact and impairment of the
designated use.
 If there is impairment of the subject waterbody and non-attainment of the designated
use.
Slide 37
Slide 38: Talking points:
Designated Uses – management goals for aquatic life protection in WQS.
TALU approach: Detailed biological information about the characteristics of aquatic
organisms expected to be found in a specific waterbody - referenced to natural, or
undisturbed, conditions.
Technical framework underpinning TALU – organizing scientific information to help
determine the highest attainable use for a waterbody,
Background notes:
The TALU document provides examples of practical and scientifically sound approaches
based on the technical expertise and practical experience of aquatic ecologists from around
the country, including scientists from State and Tribal water programs.
Many States and Tribes are using biological assessments in their programs now – USEPA
Summary of Biological Assessment Programs ad Biocriteria Development for States, Tribes,
Territories and Interstate Commissions: Streams and Wadeable Rivers EPA-822-R-02-048.
Slide 39: Talking points:
1. Because bioassessments are basis for TALUS – we are better able to demonstrate
environmental outcomes. Bioassessments directly measure the resource we are
trying to protect and its response to any and all of these stressors.
2. TALU is a tool that can be used to strengthen W M programs in the follow ways …..
3. TALU is based on the successes of existing state programs that have demonstrated the
benefits – such as Maine (next slide).
Background Notes:
State capacity exists (see State/Tribal summary document). Better approaches being
sought – a fundamental component is the ability to better define and measure appropriate
goals for a water. Important implications for 303d listing.
Bottom Line: TALU – an improved approach for determining appropriate goals for a
waterbody and for communicating that information to multiple audiences. Can build on
existing programs. Cite: NRC report.
Important message from draft document foreword: In the more than 30 years since the
Clean Water Act (CWA) was passed, there has been considerable progress in the science of
aquatic ecology and in the development of biological monitoring and assessment
techniques. During the 1970s, the biological goals adopted into State or Tribal water quality
standards as designated aquatic life uses may have been appropriately general (e.g.,
“aquatic life as naturally occurs”) given the limited data available and the state of the
science. However, while such general use classifications meet the requirements of the Clean
Water Act and the implementing federal regulations, they may constitute the beginning,
rather than the end, of appropriate use designations. Improved precision may result in more
efficient and effective evaluation of attainment of condition and utilization of restoration
resources. Finally, improved precision in uses can enhance demonstrating progress towards
management goals. Tiered aquatic life uses, based on the biological condition gradient
model presented in this document, can help States and Tribes to better define and develop
more precise, scientifically defensible aquatic life uses that account for the natural
differences between waterbodies and should result in more appropriate levels of protection
for specific waterbodies.
Slide 40
Slide 41