Buffalo River Watershed Biotic Stressor Identification

Buffalo River Watershed Biotic Stressor Identification

2014

A Stressor Identification (SID) analysis is a step-by-step approach for identifying the probable cause(s) of biological impairment in a stream system. There are four stream reaches within the Buffalo River Watershed that were identified as impaired for aquatic life based upon poor Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) scores that indicate an unhealthy biological community. Further evaluation was completed to connect the biological community to the stressor(s) causing the impairment. This report describes the evaluation of the environmental data and the diagnoses of the probable causes for the biological impairments. Numerous candidate causes for impairment were evaluated using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Causal Analysis/Diagnosis Decision Information System (CADDIS), the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MPCA's) biological Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) protocols, and a weight of evidence analysis. The Buffalo River Watershed is a complex system with great diversity in topography, stream channel type and condition, soils, and drainage intensity. This diversity results in a variety of conditions that support a broad spectrum of fish and aquatic macroinvertebrate life. The SID analysis determined the probable stressors in each of the four impaired reaches. The stressors found to be acting upon the Buffalo River system include high sediment/turbidity, lack of connectivity, lack of habitat availability, altered hydrology, and low dissolved oxygen (DO). In addition to these stressors, high phosphorus, high nitrate, and pesticides were reviewed for their potential influence on the biology of the impaired reaches.

Paakh, Bruce

MPCA

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

179

Surface Water
Water Quality & Pollutants
Water Use & Availability
Water Conveyance & Hydraulics
Water Education, Outreach & Community Capacity

base flow
base flows
tile drainage
tile drainages
runoff
runoffs
run-off
run-offs
run off
run offs
running off
runs off
sediment
sediments
sedimentation
urban runoff
urban runoffs
urban run-off
urban run-offs
urban run off
urban run offs
agricultural runoff
agricultural runoffs
agricultural run-off
agricultural run off
ag runoff
ag run-off
ag run off
aquatic habitat
aquatic habitats
baseflow
baseflows
biotic impairment
biotic impairments
index of biological integrity
biotic integrity
peak flow
peak flows
tile drain
tile drains
water biology & aquatic habitat
water biology and aquatic habitat
water biology & aquatic habitats
water biology and aquatic habitats
agriculture drainage
agriculture drainages
agricultural drainage
ag drainage
water temperature
water temperatures
channel erosion
channel erosing
Buffalo River
temperature pollution
Buffalo River Watershed
biotic stressor

2010-2019

No

Public Domain

Minnesota Water Research Digital Library