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King County DNRP/Parametr ix 1 Normative Flow Studies Small Streams Biology- Hydrology Analyses
King County DNRP/Parametrix 1
Normative Flow Studies
Small Streams Biology-Hydrology Analyses
King County DNRP/Parametrix 2
Project Goals
• Analytical and decision tools for managers– Understand relationships:
flows ecological condition
– Evaluate effects:
management actions flows ecology
King County DNRP/Parametrix 3
Human Actions
Flow Regime
Habitat Structure
Biologye.g., salmon conservation
Water Quality
Arrows indicate relationships that are important to the technical questions at hand. The weight of the arrows indicates the degree of this project’s focus
on the indicated relationship – not their overall importance or the merit of studying them in a
different project.
MagnitudeFrequency
Duration
Seasonality
Rate of Change
Biological Interactions
Energy Flow
Issues/Challenges - Science
Several Possible Approaches….• Indicator-based approach – inform management
Conceptual Model
Define Metrics to Describe System Condition
Test Metrics
Inform ManagementActions
5
Bio
logy
Met
ric
(rec
epto
r)Indicator Response
Hydrology Metric(Stressor)
Metric Relationships
King County DNRP/Parametrix 6
Linking Biology and Hydrology
• Watersheds with both data types– Urbanization gradient
• Pair biology and hydrology– “Subbasins “ – Distinct hydrology – One or more BIBI sites
• Small data set
King County DNRP/Parametrix 7
Available Data: Hydrology
• Few long term gauge records• Modeled flow data (HSPF) available for
some watersheds• Developed flow for 50 years
– Original forested land cover - Baseline– Current land cover (1995/1998) - Scenario
• Computed metrics for both conditions– M, D, F, T, rates of change
King County DNRP/Parametrix 8
Available Data: Biology• Macroinvertebrate data
– Raw data for Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (BIBI)• BIBI - general indicator of ecosystem integrity• Not designed to assess effects of flow• Only “calibrated” for 2nd and 4th order streams• No long term records (1995-2001 longest
period)– Tested BIBI metrics plus other life
history/richness metrics
King County DNRP/Parametrix 9
King County DNRP/Parametrix 10
Working Biological Data Set
• Issaquah (8/35;34)• Bear/Evans (19/63;51)• Little Bear (5/18)
• Swamp (7/12;11)• Madsen (2/6;2)• Miller (1/0)• Thornton (5/15/9)
Sample size = 125
King County DNRP/Parametrix 11
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
10/1/1989 1/9/1990 4/19/1990 7/28/1990 11/5/1990
Flow
(cfs
)
-
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Pre
cip
(inch
es)
Example Hydrograph
King County DNRP/Parametrix 12
y = 1.02x
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0 20 40 60 80 100Forested
Cur
rent
y = 1.89x
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0 20 40 60 80 100Forested
Cur
rent
Non-urbanized Watershed Urbanized Watershed
Forested Rise Count vs. Current Rise Count
King County DNRP/Parametrix 13
Annual Scenario - High Pulse Count (count)
30.020.010.00.0
Plec
opte
ra (
# Ta
xa)
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.0
-2.0
Basin
Swamp
Miller
Madsen
Little Bear
Issaquah
Evans
Big Bear
King County DNRP/Parametrix 14
Annual Scenario - Fall Count (10% Rule) (count)
300.0200.0100.00.0
Clin
ger
(# T
axa)
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
Basin
Swamp
Miller
Madsen
Little Bear
Issaquah
Evans
Big Bear
King County DNRP/Parametrix 15
BIBI Score vs. Q2:Q10 in sites with similar local land cover (within 100m of BIBI site)
King County DNRP/Parametrix 16
Canonical Discriminant Functions
Annual Ratio Hydrology Metrics normalized
Function 1
210-1-2-3-4-5
Func
tion
2
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
-1.0
-2.0
-3.0
BIBI group
Group Centroids
35 - max
20 - 35
min - 20
35 - max
20 - 35
min - 20
King County DNRP/Parametrix 17
Uni+semi voltine taxa groups
Func1: longer LPD, runoff duration, and decreased Q2:Q10, LPC, HPR, Power, FC, & reversals
King County DNRP/Parametrix 18
Func1: increased LPD, later onset fall flows and later date annual min, & lower Q2:Q10, fewer LPC and fewer reversals
King County DNRP/Parametrix 19
Length of High Pulse Period vs. BIBI Groups
King County DNRP/Parametrix 20
Time (in days) Between Low Pulse Events vs. BIBI Groups
King County DNRP/Parametrix 21
Number of Low Pulse Events/Yr vs. BIBI Groups
King County DNRP/Parametrix 22
Ratio of current 2-yr discharge to historic 10-yr discharge vs. BIBI
groups
King County DNRP/Parametrix 23
Potential Hydrology Indicators
• Stream Power• Q2:Q10• LP/HP counts,
duration, range• Onset fall flows• % time above 2-yr
baseflow
• Date minimum flow• Runoff event counts• Runoff event duration• Reversals
King County DNRP/Parametrix 24
Conclusions
King County DNRP/Parametrix 25
Relationships between biology and hydrology metrics
• ‘Worst’ and ‘best’ biological sites can be separated based on hydrology metrics
• Life history and richness metrics significantly correlated with specific hydrology metrics
• Measures of hydrologic ‘disturbance’ and biological resistance/resilience to disturbance may be most productive
King County DNRP/Parametrix 26
Next Steps
• Document analyses/report• Validate relationships with separate data
set(s)• Test relationships with other biological data
(e.g., fish)• Summarize findings for managers – what
general guidance can be derived from preliminary analyses?
