Course # SPE-0304: June 10-11 2003
Stream Ecology and Stability Assessment and Monitoring

Prerequisites: NONE

This course is designed to help establish the relationship between habitat, aquatic life and stream stability. It will cover the effects of land use changes on stability and health of aquatic communities. Habitat assessment procedures are presented with special emphasis on the EPA Rapid Bioassessment procedures. NPDES Monitoring is covered.

DAY ONE

· Watershed Variables

o Flow regime / size – stream order
o Bankfull, dominant / effective flow
o Regional relationships
o Alterations in regional relationships
o Land use cover
o Effect of land use on regional relationships

· Stream gage calibration procedures

o Special considerations in gaging station networks and land use changes.
o Hydrologic models
o Calibration of flow models with regional geomorphology

Field Work

Gage Calibration

DAY TWO

The measurement and interpretation of altered habitat
Physical habitat as an indicator of biological potential
Stream Stability (how biologists see it)

· Diversity and complexity of physical habitat characteristics

Stream Stability (how geomorphologists see it)
Channel roughness, accessibility of flood plains, and the dissipation of erosive flow energy

· What are reference conditions
· Stream Reference conditions for Maryland
· The Maryland Biological Stream Survey
· Rapid Bioassessment protocol physical habitat assessment procedure
· Objectives - fewer sites/more data or more sites fewer data.
· Visual based parameters
· Supplemental Observations
· Additional quantitative measures
· Modified Wolman Pebble Count
· Channel Cross Sectional
· Measurements
· Other habitat Assessment Procedures
· Maryland Biological Stream Survey’s

Physical habitat Index (PHI)

· U.S. Forest Service habitat Evaluation

Procedure (HEP)
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

· Instream flow encremental methodology (IFIM)
· Use of stream biota to indicate successful fluvial geomorphic recovery

Field Work

Field Demonstration of RBP Physical habitat assessment procedure
Field visits and interactive training on RBP habitat procedure