Counting critters and what they reveal about Watkins Creek

On March 20, we sampled the macroinvertebrate population at our site off Coal Bank Road, near the downstream end of Watkins Creek. We enjoyed another very warm and pleasant day, the latest in a string of days that have come close to, met, or exceeded record high temperatures that has lasted for more than a week. Already the redbuds in our backyard a couple of miles away are in bloom.

We've been doing these macroinvertebrate samplings - the informal name for them is critter counts, because we collect the macroinvertebrates in a kick net, then pull them off the net to identify them to order and count them - for the past three years at this site. I've also taken part in sampling a tributary of the River des Peres in University City as a member of Stream Team 1437 from 2001 through 2010.

The most interesting thing about the March 20 critter count was the high (for an urban stream) diversity of critters. The usual pattern for the River des Peres has been a low diversity in the spring sampling and a somewhat higher, though still low, diversity in the fall sampling. Our suspicion is that winter road salting adversely affects the macroinvertebrate population, as the conductivity and chloride levels go much higher once road salting begins. We've measured chloride levels well over chronic toxicity during winter chemical monitoring events on the River des Peres sites. During the spring and summer, rain flushes the salt out of the soil and stream, perhaps allowing for a repopulation of some of the macroinvertebrates from nearby locations that are less affected by runoff from salted roads. If this is what's happening, it would explain why we observe a higher diversity during fall samplings compared to spring samplings.

For the Coal Bank site of Watkins Creek, we recorded a higher diversity of critters in fall 2009 compared to spring 2009, but lower diversity of critters in fall 2010 compared to spring 2010. Critter diversity in both spring and fall 2011 continued at about the same low level as noted in fall 2010. This spring, the critter diversity took a marked jump up from fall 2011, returning to about the same level as noted in fall 2009. What might be going on here?

In addition to road salting, the Coal Bank site is also affected by occasional flooding when the nearby Mississippi River floods up into the creek. While the winter of 2009-2010 did not bring excessive snowfall and therefore not much road salting was required, the Mississippi River experienced several weeks of flooding during late spring and summer, flooding that backed up into the Coal Bank site. Some critters cannot survive in the slack water caused by flooding. It may be that any repopulation of some kinds of critters that would normally occur during spring and summer was set back by flood-related habitat destruction, leading to the lower diversity of critters we noted in fall 2010 compared to fall 2009.

Not only did we experience excessive snowfall during the winter of 2010-2011 (we measured a chloride level about 3 times higher than the acute toxicity level on January 28, 2011, during the worst of the snowy pattern), but the Mississippi River flooded for weeks again during late spring and summer of 2011. If salt toxicity and flooding do indeed lead to a lowered diversity of macroinvertebrates as I suggested above, we would expect to see that reflected in our critter counts for spring and fall of 2011, as indeed they are. Compared to the water quality rating of 21 (good according to Missouri Stream Team criteria) we obtained in fall 2009, the water quality rating in spring 2011 was 12, and in fall 2011 it was 13 (fair in both cases).

So why might we have seen a rebound in diversity this spring, to a water quality rating of 22? First, the Mississippi has stayed below flood levels during the past fall and winter, perhaps allowing some critters to repopulate into the creek from less-affected waters nearby. In addition, we had very little snow this past winter, so very little salt was applied to area roads. Our one winter measurement of chloride was just under the chronic toxicity level. Perhaps the low level of added salt allowed for better critter survival over the winter. If the Mississippi River stays out of flood this year, we might see at least as high a diversity of critters this fall, if not higher than what we measured on March 20. Call this a hypothesis; we'll see what next fall brings. It would be good news for Watkins Creek.

Rain barrels and rain gardens do Watkins Creek good

We all know that when rain falls on our yards, parks, and gardens, it soaks into the ground (at least, we hope it does). But what happens to the rain that lands on roofs, driveways, parking lots, and roadways?

When rain falls on hard surfaces like these, it runs downhill along the surface. Rain falling on a roof eventually enters a gutter and then a downspout. After leaving the downspout, if the water hits another hard surface like a driveway or parking lot, it runs downhill along that. Unless these hard surfaces drain onto a planted surface, eventually that water drains into a storm sewer. From there, the water drains into a stream - into Watkins Creek if it falls in Watkins Creek’s watershed.

Allowing rainwater to drain into storm sewers and then into Watkins Creek helps keep streets and parking lots from flooding. But it isn’t so good for the creek. All that water entering the creek in a short period of time causes the creek to rise too much and too fast. The too-fast flow erodes the sides of the creek, eating into your backyard if you live along the creek. Your backyard soil may clog the bottom of the streambed when the flow slows down and the soil settles out. The soil might smother small insects, which would otherwise serve as food for fish. The creek loses quality and causes losses to property owners.

You can help reduce the amount of stormwater that enters Watkins Creek and obtain free water to use on your yard or in your garden by putting a rain barrel under one or more of your downspouts or by creating a rain garden on your property. A rain barrel is a large container that sits under a downspout to collect rain that flows off a roof. The container has a hose bib (water faucet) attached near the bottom so you can drain water out when you want to use it. Most people put the container on cement blocks so the hose bib can be placed as near the bottom as possible. You can build your own rain barrel or buy a rain barrel from the River des Peres Watershed Coalition or from various companies. Search “rain barrel” to find directions and suppliers. You’ll want to use the water before the next rain so the barrel will fill again and keep that water from running off into the storm sewer system. You can drain it into a watering can and water plants with it, or attach a hose and let the water drain onto your lawn or into your garden if these are downhill from your barrel. Special soaker hoses that work on low-pressure water from rain barrels are becoming available; check with hardware or garden suppliers.

You can also create a special garden, called a rain garden, to capture all of your roof’s runoff and use it to grow attractive plants that like extra moisture. To make a rain garden, you dig a shallow basin downhill from one of your downspouts and far enough away from your house so the water doesn’t damage your foundation. After you’ve dug the basin, you plant it and mulch it, then attach an extender to your downspout to direct the water into your rain garden. 

Here’s a photo of my rain garden, taken soon after planting it in April 2009. You can see a rain barrel behind the rain garden; the barrel overflows into the garden.

To learn more, request Native Plant Rain Gardens from the Missouri Department of Conservation. Rain Gardening and Storm-Water Management, available from Missouri Botanical Garden, is a more in-depth guide to creating and managing a rain garden. Search “rain garden manual” on the website to find it. You can install a rain barrel under your downspout to collect water for your container plants, then direct overflow water to a rain garden, as I did. Homeowners, apartment complexes, schools, churches, and businesses can install rain barrels or rain gardens. Check out Hazelwood Southeast Middle School’s rain garden sometime!

Coal Bank Road site: Watkins Creek at its best

One of the first sites our Stream Team began monitoring is about where Coal Bank Road crosses over Watkins Creek. This is near where the creek empties into the Mississippi River. We chose this site to monitor for two reasons. The first is to learn about the state of the creek near its end, to get an overall picture of the levels of any contaminants. As I mentioned in the previous post, we are particularly interested in the levels of E. coli and chloride (salt), two pollutants found in Watkins Creek at levels exceeding Missouri state standards. By monitoring near the mouth of the creek, we can see the cumulative effect of these pollutants.

The second reason we monitor at Watkins Creek is because this is one of the easiest sites to walk to along the main stem of the creek (the longest path the creek takes from source to mouth). The photo below shows the west bank at this site, where we walk to the creek.

Notice the gentle slope (for Watkins Creek, at least) from the stream bank up into the riparian corridor. Creeks in watersheds with only small amounts of impervious (hard) surfaces like roads, rooftops, parking lots, and the like exhibit this sort of gentle slope up from the stream bank into the riparian corridor (the area just above the first rise from the stream bank). In such a watershed, rain falls onto absorbent soil and percolates through the soil down to the water table. The water table keeps the stream flowing during dry periods. The soil holds a lot of water during wet periods and what water it can’t hold flows slowly over the ground and eventually enters the creek. When it rains, the water level in the creek rises slowly and goes back down even more slowly. This keeps the velocity of the water rather low and the water level doesn’t vary greatly, thus the stream tends to not erode the surrounding land to a large extent. As long as the impervious surface in the watershed is less than about 10%, the stream will have this sort of gentle slope up from the bank and it will be easy to walk right up to the stream.

Watkins Creek has a much higher level of impervious surface in its watershed than the ideal of 10% or less. Overall the impervious surface is probably closer to 25% (I cannot find the exact number as I am writing but this is about right). Looking at a map of the watershed, the impervious surface is unequally distributed; a higher proportion of the hard surfaces are upstream of Lilac Road than downstream. Once the stream crosses Lilac Road, it can spread out a bit and the water velocity slow down somewhat. By no means does it do this enough to be called unimpaired by the time the creek crosses under Coal Bank, but it does slow down enough above Coal Bank that we can access it without using a rope.

Next time I’ll discuss some of the biological and chemical testing that we’ve done at this site and the results that we’ve obtained.

Taking a watershed view of Watkins Creek

Did you know you live in a watershed? Everyone does! When rain falls onto the ground, it has to go someplace - the low spot in your yard, a pond, a nearby stream or river. The area draining into that low spot, pond, stream, or river is called its watershed.

Watkins Creek’s watershed includes most of the southern half of Spanish Lake as well as portions of Bellefontaine Neighbors, Glasgow Village, and Black Jack. If you live, work, go to school, worship, or shop south of Parker, north of I-270, and east of the North County Recreation Complex, your home, business, school, or place of worship is likely to be in Watkins Creek’s watershed. The watershed extends a little south of I-270 east of Lewis and Clark, up to the top of the first ridge south of the highway. The watershed comprises about 4,309 acres of land. The main channel of Watkins Creek originates across Parker from the Pennyrich Farms subdivision and travels about 6.1 miles to the Mississippi River, into which it drains.

When rain falls anywhere within Watkins Creek’s watershed, eventually it will flow into Watkins Creek, carrying along with it litter, loose soil, or harmful substances like oil, road salt, animal wastes, or sewage. Too much of any of these can impair the water quality of Watkins Creek and its tributaries, making it difficult or impossible for fish and other wildlife to live in the stream. Children or adults who may be using Watkins Creek or its tributaries for recreation could be harmed if some pollutants are present at high enough levels.

The Clean Water Act of the EPA requires all waters of the U.S., including Watkins Creek, to be fishable and swimmable. Each state sets standards for pollutants that violate the Clean Water Act. For any pollutant exceeding the standard set by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the stream is put on the so-called 303(d) list for that pollutant. Once that happens, DNR is supposed to develop a plan to reduce the level of that pollutant.

In Watkins Creek’s case, it is on the 303(d) list for two pollutants, E. coli bacteria and chloride. E. coli bacteria exist in the digestive tract of animals, including humans. Because E. coli enters a stream from animal and human sewage, they serve as a marker for the presence of sewage, which may contain other kinds of dangerous organisms. Watkins Creek exceeds DNR’s standard for E. coli.

It also exceeds DNR’s standard for levels of the chloride ion. The chloride ion comes from salt. While any stream has a small amount of naturally occurring salt in it, if the salt content gets too high, it kills the small insects, snails, worms, and other small aquatic animals that serve as part of the food web in a stream, which leaves some fish with nothing to eat. The most likely source of excess salt in a stream is salt applied to de-ice roads, sidewalks, driveways, and parking lots during the winter. When the snow or ice melts, the salt dissolves in it. The salty water enters the storm drains that drain into the Watkins Creek system. Other possible sources of excess salt are improperly stored road salt (large amounts of salt are stockpiled by municipal and county street departments for winter use; if these piles are not properly contained, salt can enter the environment), industrial waste drainage, and human sewage or animal waste (both contain some salt).

DNR monitors for these pollutants only near the mouth of the creek. Watkins Creek has several unnamed tributaries, smaller streams feeding into Watkins Creek, as well as many small drainageways entering the creek from different parts of the watershed. In order to reduce E. coli and chloride levels in Watkins Creek, we need to have some idea of how these pollutants are distributed across the watershed. Are there some parts of the watershed that contribute most of the E. coli or most of the salt? Knowing this would help to develop a good plan to reduce these pollutants.

For this reason, our Stream Team has monitored several different sites throughout the watershed as part of the Cooperative Stream Investigation project mentioned in the first post of this blog. The next few posts will look more closely at some of the sites.

The Critters of Watkins Creek

On October 19, our Stream Team sampled for macroinvertebrates at one of the sites that we monitor, at the east end of Coal Bank Road. We kicked up the creek bottom in order to trap the macroinvertebrates (invertebrates such as insect larva, snails, and worms that are large enough to see without magnifying equipment), herein after referred to as critters, in a net. We also rubbed the larger rocks in the sampled area in order to dislodge and collect the critters that make rocks their home. Then we sorted them out and counted how many of different kinds of macroinvertebrates we found in the portion of creek bottom that we stirred up. After counting, and photographing a few of the critters, we returned them back to the creek so they could continue to live their lives.

One of the good things about counting critters is that it’s easy to do. We only need to be able to stir up the bottom and rub on rocks, hold the net in place, see the critters on the net, and move them into the collection container (ice cube trays) with tweezers. Children can do it as well as adults. Another good thing is that many of the critters we study spend several weeks to months living in the creek bed. Some of them, like mayfly and stonefly larva, are very sensitive to harmful changes in water chemistry during the time they are larva. Some others, like aquatic worms, can live even in water so polluted that nothing else survives. By counting the different kinds of critters, then using a scale that Missouri Stream Team developed that rates each kind of critter for how sensitive it is, we can determine if Watkins Creek has excellent, good, fair, or poor water quality. If the sensitive critters are there, it means the water quality has been good for the last several months. You can learn more about water quality monitoring and the Missouri Stream Team programs from their website. Besides all that, it’s fun to play in the creek! How often do we adults get to do something fun that also does good?

How does Watkins Creek rate? Unfortunately, not as well as we’d like. At best it has fair to good water quality at the lower end of the stream. And the water quality may be on a downward trend; 2010 and 2011 data show fewer kinds of critters than does the 2008 and 2009 data, rating only fair both years. If this is so, we don’t know why.

Here’s a photo of three of the mayfly nymphs we found.

You can see the gills on the abdomen (between the legs and the tails) of the nymph on the upper left. Mayfly nymphs breathe with their gills like fish do. Most kinds need good water quality in order to live and thus are considered a marker of good water quality; some kinds can live in lower-quality water. I don’t know what kind of mayfly nymphs these are, however. Mayfly adults are delicate-looking flies that live only a very short time, hours to a few days. The nymph stage can live for several weeks to months.

Here’s a photo of a damselfly nymph.

In this case its gills (more properly, lamellae) are the three tail-appearing structures on its back end. Damselfly nymphs are considered somewhat sensitive to pollution but less so than mayfly nymphs. Adult damselflies look similar to dragonflies, but hold their wings more toward the vertical when at rest than dragonflies do.

And here is a picture of the area that we monitor, looking upstream. This is one of the nicest locations that Watkins Creek has to offer, and it’s easily accessible off of Coal Bank Road.

Even urban streams have their charms

The report from Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District's stream walk that kicked off the first 319 grant I referred to in the last post mentioned that due to the effects of rapid urbanization that began in the watershed during the 1950s, Watkins Creek is severely degraded and in a condition of physical instability. After climbing into and out of the creek's streambed at different locations in its watershed, I can attest to its degradation. In later posts I'll include photos that our Team has obtained showing the effects that excessive volumes of stormwater have had on the creek and its tributaries. For now, though, I'll include a photo I took near the mouth of the creek, after the creek has flowed through the lower third of its watershed. This is the least-urbanized part of the watershed. It shows the ability of even a degraded stream to recover if the land it flows through retains a reasonable permeability to rain.

Introduction to Stream Team 3553

Hello and welcome to the blog I've begun about Watkins Creek and Missouri Stream Team 3553, Living Green in Watkins Creek Watershed.

Our Team began its work in 2008, as one of the initiatives begun out of a 319 grant received by St. Louis University to improve the water quality of Watkins Creek and its tributaries through work in the entire watershed. As a volunteer water quality monitor trained through the Missouri Stream Team program, I and several other people started monitoring two sites, one where Watkins Creek crosses under Coal Bank Road and a second on a tributary which enters the main stem on the grounds of Hazelwood East High School.

In 2009 I and another team member took Cooperative Stream Investigation (CSI) training as part of an effort to understand better the distribution of excessive levels of E. coli and chloride pollution measured near the mouth of Watkins Creek. Our Team, in consultation with our boss in the Stream Team program, chose six sites to monitor several times a year for these pollutants as well as the usual round of Stream Team chemical testing on these sites. Missouri American Water personnel do the E. coli analysis according to CSI protocol and report the results back to us. We are the second Stream Team in the state of Missouri to begin a CSI project. To read the results from our work through early 2010, go to the Spanish Lake Community Assocation's current projects link and click on Watkins Creek Watershed Project.

I'll be posting more at irregular intervals. In the meantime, take care of your local stream!