As is
discussed in Section IV of the NSPP, the City of Lynden and the customers of the
PUD monitor water quality in compliance with Washington State Department of
Health drinking water requirements for potable systems.
Since the PUD is not a purveyor of potable water, the PUD performs
minimal testing under their monitoring program: parameters are limited to
turbidity, pH, and temperature.
Although all of the water purveyors test source water in compliance with
state drinking water requirements, none of them conducts additional monitoring
programs designed to detect trends in the river resulting from upriver land
uses.
III.1 Data Review Objective for Nooksack Source Protection Program
The
data review objective for the NSPP (WAC 246-290-135(4)(c)(iii); (WAC
246-290-668(5)(c)) is to determine if existing data collection efforts and
monitoring programs on the main stem of the Nooksack River can be used to
document water quality trends in the river as it relates to source water quality
for treatment to potable water standards.
The objective of the data review incorporates priorities established by
the City of Lynden and the PUD for source water quality, which include assessing
the potential impairment of source water (Nooksack River mainstem) from chemical
and microbial contamination.
The basis for Lynden’s and the PUD’s prioritization include:
To accomplish the data review objective for the NSPP, a review of past and present monitoring efforts was undertaken to identify programs that included:
III.2 Description of Available Data
There
are a variety of organizations involved in water quality projects in the
Nooksack Basin including federal and state agencies, Tribes, school groups and
local organizations. Data collection in the basin dates back to the 1950s
(Simmons, 1992). Locations of the
sampling efforts include tributaries, the North, Middle and South Forks and the
mainstem of the Nooksack. Although
there have been numerous efforts over the years to monitor water quality in the
basin, the collection efforts have typically been short-term and have ranged
from one grab sample to year-long sampling.
In addition to being short-term, there is generally not an overlap among
the efforts in terms of waterbodies sampled, sample site locations, and/or
parameters measured. The lack of
overlap and the relatively short-term nature of the monitoring programs have
resulted in data gaps on the river and its tributaries along with a scattering
of randomly collected data for various water quality parameters.
For
purposes of a trend analysis, it is important that there not be gaps in the data
set, that the methods of water quality analysis not change during the study, and
that a causal link can be made between water quality and watershed practices.
(USDA, 1996). Gaps and inconsistent sampling regimes associated with the
historic data make the data difficult to use as a basis for trend analysis of
river water quality and the effects of land use on source water.
The data set that most closely represents the desired criteria for use in
trend analysis is the Department of Ecology’s Brennan and North Cedarville
ambient stations, which will be discussed below.
As
previously mentioned, water quality in the basin has been investigated in the
tributaries and the main stem of the river.
A significant portion of the monitoring that has occurred has been in the
tributaries and appears to be for regulatory and educational purposes as well as
habitat restoration assessment. There are limited monitoring efforts in the main
stem of the Nooksack. One reason for this may be that the tributaries are more
readily accessible, provide greater opportunities for restoration projects, and
can be more directly connected with land use practices.
Table
43 outlines groups involved in recent or current monitoring efforts, the
parameters measured, and the purpose of the monitoring program.
Despite efforts to contact the groups or agencies that may be involved in
water quality monitoring in the Nooksack Basin, it is possible that programs
have been completed or are underway that are not included in Table 43.
Exclusion of any water quality monitoring programs on the Nooksack River,
its forks, or tributaries from the table is unintentional.
TABLE 43. NOOKSACK SUBBASIN MONITORING EFFORTS (*.pdf format requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. Download Acrobat)
Monitoring
programs are designed to address specific objectives. In identifying the program objectives, consideration is given
to the beneficial uses that form the basis of the effort for which the
monitoring is being undertaken. For
the Nooksack River, there are a variety of beneficial uses that may be
influenced by water quality. The
beneficial use for which this section of the NSPP focuses on is source water for
purposes of treating to potable water standards. The water intakes for the City
of Lynden and the PUD are located along the main stem of the Nooksack River in
the Lower Nooksack Subbasin. Therefore,
while the studies along the tributaries are valuable, an emphasis is being
placed on the monitoring efforts of the main stem of the Nooksack. In addition, the focus of the review efforts is above RM 5.5
(the location of the PUD intake).
III.2.1 Nooksack River Studies
A
brief description of monitoring programs on the North, Middle, South Fork and
mainstem Nooksack, that are most relevant to the NSPP objectives stated earlier,
is provided below. An overview of
the findings from those studies is provided in the water quality assessment
section.
Washington State Department of Ecology
As
previously reported, the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology)
conducts an ambient monitoring program in the Nooksack Basin.
There are two long-term ambient stations on the mainstem of the Nooksack
along with four additional sites that have been monitored for shorter periods.
The two long-term ambient monitoring stations are located at North Cedarville (RM
37) and Brennan (RM 3.5). Monitoring at both sites occurred twice a month from
1970 to 1974. Samples were not collected between 1974 and 1977.
Monthly sampling at these sites was resumed in 1977.
In 1970, there were two additional ambient monitoring stations located on
the Nooksack River near Ferndale and Lynden.
Samples were collected at the Ferndale site from 1970 to 1974 and from
1976 to 1977. Monitoring at the Lynden site occurred between 1970 and 1971, 1973
and 1974, and 1975 and 1976. Samples
were collected twice a month at both of these sites. There were also ambient monitoring sites on the Middle and
South Fork of the Nooksack from October 1996 to September 1997.
Parameters measured at the ambient sites include temperature, flow,
color, conductivity, oxygen, pH, nutrients, fecal coliform, turbidity, and
alkalinity. Not all of the
parameters have been consistently measured throughout the sampling periods.
In
addition to the ambient monitoring, the Department of Ecology (Ecology)
conducted a year-long TMDL assessment from March 1997 to February 1998.
The focus of the study was fecal coliform concentrations and nutrient
levels in the Nooksack River and selected tributaries.
Ecology developed a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) outlining the
objectives of the TMDL study. The
stated goal of the TMDL project was to recommend bacteria discharge limits for
point and nonpoint sources in the lower Nooksack River basin (Joy, 1997).
The monitoring design outlined in the QAPP proposed six mainstem sampling
sites, nine tributary sites, and four point sources.
The six main stem sites were located approximately every sixth river mile
between the North Cedarville ambient site (RM 37) and the mouth of the Nooksack
River. To account for inconsistencies in mixing due to the width of
the river, two bacteria samples were proposed for each transect of the mainstem
sites. Samples would be collected
on day 1 and day 3 of the sampling run. The
tributary sites were to be located at the mouths of the tributaries.
A discussion of the tributary sites is covered in greater detail in the
NSPP section addressing tributary studies.
In the QAPP it was proposed that the tributary and point source sites be
used to characterize the relative bacterial loading within each section of the
river. Single samples were
considered adequate for the tributaries unless there was incomplete mixing.
A
January 7, 1999 addendum to the QAPP outlined a change in the proposed
monitoring design that placed a greater focus on storm-event sampling after
August 1997 (Joy, 1999a). Storm
events were measured over two- day periods.
Samples were generally taken at four 6-hour intervals over 48 hours (6
samples per site). Four of the six
mainstem sites were sampled for each storm-event sampling.
In addition to storm event monitoring, sampling was conducted over 4-day
periods with each of the mainstem sites sampled on each day.
Water Purveyors
The
City of Lynden has a regular monitoring program for their source water.
Parameters monitored include bacteria, primary and secondary physical and
chemical standards, turbidity, corrosivity, pesticides, and radionuclides.
Their monitoring efforts are further described in Section IV.
Public
Utility District #1 of Whatcom County regularly monitors their raw and finished
water for pH, and turbidity. In
addition, customers of the PUD that treat a portion of their purchased water for
potable water, monitor raw and finished water in compliance with Washington
State Department of Health requirements. The
monitoring efforts of the PUD and PUD customers are further described in Section
IV.
The
City of Bellingham began monitoring a variety of parameters at the Middle Fork
diversion in July 1998 (City of Bellingham, unpublished data, 1999).
Samples are generally collected once a month.
The sampled parameters include bacteria, temperature, pH, total suspended
solids, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, alkalinity, turbidity, nutrients,
metals, and total organics.
United States Geological Survey
The
United States Geological Survey (USGS) monitored a number of sites throughout
the Puget Sound Basin between 1996 and 1998 as a part of the National Water
Quality Assessment program to assess nutrient transport; the lower Nooksack
Basin was part of that effort. Fixed-station
water quality sampling was conducted to evaluate the integrated and specific
effects of various land uses on water quality.
Three sites were located along the Nooksack River at North Cedarville,
Fishtrap Creek, and Brennan. Two of the sites, North Cedarville and Brennan, are
consistent with the site locations identified under the Department of
Ecology’s ambient monitoring program. The
sites were monitored for nutrients, major ions, pesticides, volatile organic
compounds, SOC/DOC, sediment, dissolved oxygen, pH, specific conductance, water
temperature, bed sediment, fish tissue, and ecological surveys.
Samples were collected monthly, during storm events, and biweekly between
April and July and in November. Data
was not available from this study at the time the NSPP was being prepared.
The draft report will not be completed until mid to late summer 1999 with
an expected release date for the final report of early- to mid-2000 (Embrey,
1999).
Northwest Indian College
The
Northwest Indian College (NWIC) is currently monitoring fecal coliform
concentrations at a total of 25 sites along the main stem of the Nooksack River
and its tributaries through a Washington State Centennial Clean Water Act grant
(8 sites along the main stem of the Nooksack River and 17 along its
tributaries). Since April 1998,
samples have been taken two or three times per month.
The overall objective of the study is to monitor the loading of fecal
coliform from the Nooksack River and tributaries to document water quality
conditions for purposes of reopening downgraded shellfish beds in Portage Bay.
The study is designed to complement the Department of Ecology TMDL
assessment in that it overlaps with some of Ecology’s sampling site locations.
Overlapping site locations provides greater consistency in data
collection efforts for purposes of long-term assessment of water quality trends.
The NWIC study is funded until November 2000 with monitoring to continue
until September 2000 (Cochrane, 1999).
Nooksack Tribe
The
Nooksack Tribe has been involved in water quality monitoring since 1995 in the
North Fork, Middle Fork, South Fork, and Lower Nooksack River and tributaries
(Table 43). The parameters measured
include temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and conductivity.
The sampling periods (frequency and length) are dependent on available
resources. (CdeBaca, 1999)
Other
During
the spring and summer of 1998, several agencies including the Department of
Ecology, Environmental Protection Agency, USGS, Washington State Department of
Health, and Whatcom County Health Department were involved in groundwater
studies in the Nooksack Basin. The
agencies agreed to sampling for a core group of chemical contaminants including
several key pesticides (O’Herron, 1999).
The studies primarily focused around the Bertrand Creek area.
Although this monitoring effort focused on groundwater resources, it is
included in the NSPP because it is one of the few studies that have focused on
chemical contaminants. The relevance to the Nooksack River will be dependent on
sampling site locations, associated soil characteristics and hydraulic
continuity with surface water bodies. Internal
review of the raw data was underway at the time the NSPP was being prepared and
was not available for inclusion in the NSPP.
III.2.2 Tributary Studies
As
illustrated in Table 43 there have been a number of studies performed on
tributaries in the Nooksack Basin by a variety of groups for different purposes.
A brief discussion of selected studies is provided below.
The criteria used for selecting the tributary studies to review are based
on the data review objectives for the NSPP previously identified.
In the
late 1980s and early 1990s studies were conducted by the Whatcom Conservation
District and Department of Ecology on tributaries in the Lower Nooksack
including Tenmile, Kamm, Bertrand, and Fishtrap Creeks.
The Department of Ecology subsequently initiated a TMDL study on Fishtrap
Creek between September 1993 and January 1994 (Erickson, 1995).
Samples were taken during three seasons to characterize the water
quality, determine seasonal patterns, and identify critical periods. Two sampling events were conducted during summer low-flow,
fall, and winter for a total of six sampling events at fifteen sites.
Parameters that were measured included streamflow, fecal coliform,
temperature, pH, conductivity, nutrients, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen
demand, total suspended solids, and chloride.
The
Institute of Watershed Studies at Western Washington University conducted a
five-year study of Kamm Creek between February 1993 and February 1998 (Matthews
and Vandersypen, 1998). Sites were
monitored biweekly for stream flow, conductivity, turbidity, total suspended
solids, nutrients, temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and fecal coliform.
During the first two years, an intensive five-week study was conducted
once each wet and dry season with samples collected twice per week.
In the final three years, the intensive sampling was replaced with
storm-event sampling.