Watershed Guardian Program
Bio-Sentinel Project and Stormdrain
Stenciling Project
St. Louis River Citizens Action Committee
Progress Report for Fall 1998
Introduction
This report summarizes the fall 1998 season of the Watershed Guardian Program, which includes the Stream Bio-Sentinel Project and the Stormdrain Stenciling Project. This work is made possible by a grant from The Conservation Fund, with funds provided by Cargill Incorporated. The St. Louis River Citizens Action Committee (CAC) coordinates the program. The fall 1998 and spring 1999 activities are being performed by the University of Wisconsin-Superior's Lake Superior Research Institute (LSRI), as a contractor for the CAC.
The Stream Bio-Sentinel Project offers a relatively inexpensive way to detect potential water quality problems due to stormwater discharges. The Stormdrain Stenciling Project increases public awareness on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis. Both projects educate people about water quality issues related to nonpoint pollution, and foster a sense of watershed stewardship among the local citizenry.
Both the Bio-Sentinel and Stormdrain Stenciling projects are in their second year. The current program builds on previous efforts. The fall 1998 participants included many of last year's volunteers, as well as new ones. Efforts to recruit new participants focused on teachers interested in integrating this project into ongoing environmental education programs.
Methods
LSRI staff provided several groups of volunteers with
the materials and instructions with which to construct the bio-sentinel
monitors. Students from Northland Alternative School in Superior, Fond
du Lac Tribal and Community College, and the University of Wisconsin-Superior
(UWS) constructed most of the samplers. Instructions for sampler construction
were provided, along with an assembled sampler as a prototype. Samplers
were stored at UWS until needed.
Two public open houses were held to distribute minnows and monitoring equipment, and to train volunteers. LSRI staff delivered minnows, equipment and additional training to volunteers who were unable to attend the open houses. Many of the volunteers had participated in the program the previous year, and therefore only needed the equipment in order to conduct the monitoring. Volunteers viewed a video produced by the City of Ft. Worth, which provided information about stormwater runoff, the new laws regarding stormwater runoff and procedures for correctly placing and monitoring the bio-sentinels. Volunteers received written instructions on minnow handling and data collection, as well as data collection sheets.
Fathead minnows from 60 to 90 days old were obtained from the fish culture unit at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lab in Duluth, Minnesota. Minnows were held at the animal culture unit at UWS until needed. The temperature at which the fish were maintained was lowered from 24 degrees C (U.S. EPA culture unit temperature) to 21 degrees C at the UWS culture unit. This helped minimize temperature shock when minnows were placed into streams. Minnows were transported to volunteers in plastic buckets fitted with aeration pumps.
Volunteers received minnows, a small dipnet, pole with hook for retrieving the sentinel, thermometer, LaMotte chemical test kit for measuring dissolved oxygen, sampler and an anchor brick. Some volunteers monitored several bio-sentinels, at one or several sites. In the field, six fathead minnows were placed in each sampler, placed in the stream for a minimum of 14 days, and checked at approximately day seven during the 14 day period. Data on minnow mortality, as well as stream temperature and dissolved oxygen, were recorded by the volunteers whenever the sentinels were placed, checked or restocked. These data were submitted to LSRI staff for compilation.
Data were tabulated by site, and survival of minnows was calculated for two-week periods. The percent survival of minnows was calculated as follows:
Most of the volunteers ended their observations after the monitors had been in the streams for two weeks. However, several volunteers monitored their site for more than two weeks; their data were reported as a range of values for each two-week period. At the end of each sampling period, surviving minnows were destroyed or adopted into family or classroom fish tanks. Volunteers who wished to continue monitoring were given additional minnows. Two particularly strong storm events during the monitoring season washed away some bio-sentinels, and no further data were collected from those sites. In addition, some bio-sentinels were lost due to vandalism. Monitoring began in late August and, in some cases, continued through mid-November.
total # fish alive at end of two weeks Percent survival = ______________________________ total # fish stocked over two weeks
Results
Twenty-six sites were monitored during fall 1998. These included the communities of Duluth, Superior, Cloquet, Carlton, Wrenshall and Toivola Meadowlands (Table 1).
While last year's volunteers consisted mainly of interested individuals and families, this year's (fall 1998) volunteers were dominated by school groups. LSRI's experience in working with teachers who participate in the Lake Superior Water Watch Program suggests that school groups might provide a more stable volunteer pool from which to draw future participants for monitoring programs. Because teachers tend to find such projects valuable, they are likely to continue them from year to year and incorporate them into classroom curricula.
Volunteers placed 289 minnows in samplers at 26 locations between September 17 and November 17, 1998 (Table 1). Of these 289 minnows, 50 died (17% mortality) at seven sites; 17 of the deaths occurred during or after rain events. The most heavily impacted sites were Chester Creek (at the outlet to Lake Superior), Tisher Creek (near Fourth St.) and Brewery Creek (near Marshall School) in Duluth; Newton Creek at Sixth St. in Superior; and a small tributary near Interstate 35 in Cloquet.
Several samplers were lost because they broke loose from their anchor cord or were vandalized. The twine used to attach the sampler to the brick anchor was not substantial enough to withstand fluctuating water levels and strong currents associated with heavy rain events; alternate types of anchor line will be explored for spring 1999. In addition, because vandalism has occurred during both years of this study, we are seeking ways to modify the sampling protocol to make the bio-sentinels less noticeable to the public.
The Budgeteer News featured an illustrated article about the bio-sentinel monitoring project, focusing on Tisher Creek (Appendix A). The article provided a good summary of the Watershed Guardian Program. It stimulated additional community interest, which resulted in the recruitment of several new volunteers.
The Stormdrain Stenciling Project involves painting a message near storm drains to remind citizens not to dump waste into storm drains, and to increase public awareness of the potential problems with stormwater runoff. Involving school groups in stormdrain stenciling activities creates an excellent way to introduce the concepts of watersheds, nonpoint pollution and other water-related topics into their learning experience.
Stormdrain stenciling was scheduled for fall 1998, but had to be postponed due to unfavorable weather conditions. It will be done in spring 1999, instead. All materials needed for this project have been purchased. The UWS Campus Health and Safety coordinator will cover the cost of the paint for stenciling campus storm drains, because this project will help UWS meet some of its objectives for raising awareness about stormwater issues.
The City of Superior provided a map of the city sewer system, including all stormdrain inlets. Copies of sections of this map will be available to help volunteers plan neighborhood stenciling projects.
Additional volunteers from schools and the community will be recruited to participate in the stormdrain stenciling project during spring 1999.
School groups who will stencil in spring 1999 include: Central Jr. High School, Superior Grade 7 East Jr. High School, Superior Grade 7 Great Lakes Elementary School Grade 5 Northland Alternative School Grades 9-12 Wrenshall School Grades 9-10 Cloquet High School Grades 10-12 Carlton High School Grade 10 UWS - Earth Action Club College students
Table 1. Summary of Bio-Sentinel Data for Fall 1998
Appendix A. Budgeteer News article (not included in copies made for committee members)