WaterLink - Stream Monitoring Worksheet

Stream Health Assessment

This worksheet can be printed out. To do this (on a PC):

right click (click on the right mouse button)
from the menu options:
- Netscape: select "Open frame in new window" and print this page in the normal way (either click the printer icon or go to File and select Print)
- Internet Explorer: select "Print" - by default the frame in which the cursor has been clicked will be printed.

1. Name of Waterway

2. Date

3. Location
Draw a map showing how to get to the site from the closest main road.

4. Diagram of the Site
(a) Sketch in the box below a plan view (birds eye) of the site that you have chosen to investigate. It should contain a stretch of waterway at least 10 metres long.

Mark on the plan features of the site (eg trees, buildings, paths, bridges)

(b) Sketch in the box below a cross section of the waterway. To do this:

Stretch a line or tape across the stream
Measure and record the width of the stream
Measure and record the depth of the stream at six equal intervals across it
Draw up the cross-section using these measurements and the grid below

Refer back to No. 4(a) and mark on the Diagram of the Site the location of the cross section

5. Water Speed
Measure the speed of the flow by timing an object (e.g. an orange) floating down a 10 m section of the stream to be sampled for biota. To do this:

Measure the 10 m distance accurately
Repeat the measurement three times and then take the average

Time taken to travel 10 m:
Time (seconds) =

Average time (seconds) =

Distance traveled/average time (metres/sec) =

A velocity of 0.3 – 0.7 m/s is best for most stream life.

6. Water Clarity
Measure the clarity of the water. To do this:

Take the average of three readings using a water clarity tube.

Time taken to travel 10 m:
Measured clarity (cm from front of tube to disk)

Average (cm)=

A clarity of more than 70 cm is okay. A clarity of more than a 100 cm is good.

7. Stream Bank Vegetation and Shade
Assess stream bank vegetation. To do this:

Record the type of vegetation on each stream bank
Estimate how much of the stream channel the vegetation overhangs

Left Bank (looking downstream)

Vegetation: %Cover:

Right Bank (looking downstream)

Vegetation: %Cover:

More than 50 % cover by willows and other introduced trees is good. More than 50 % cover of the stream channel by native trees and shrubs is great.

8. Stream Bed Vegetation or Substrate
Record the type of underwater vegetation growing on the stream bed and the type of stream bed substrate where you can see it. Fill in the table below.

Type of Cover Estimated % Cover

Plants

Macrophytes (e.g., "Oxygen weed") – short (< 30 cm high)

Macrophytes– tall (> 30 cm high)

Periphyton as brown slimes

Periphyton as green algal filaments – short (< 2 cm long)

Periphyton as green algal filaments– long (> 2 cm long)

Solid substrates

Bedrock

Boulders (particles > 25 cm across, not the length)

Large cobbles (12 – 25 cm across)

Small cobbles (6 – 12 cm across)

Gravels (0.2 – 6 cm across)

Sand (0.01 – 0.2 cm across)

Mud/silt (fine and smooth, not gritty)

Type of Cover	Estimated % Cover
Plants
Macrophytes (e.g., "Oxygen weed") – short (< 30 cm high)
Macrophytes– tall (> 30 cm high)
Periphyton as brown slimes
Periphyton as green algal filaments – short (< 2 cm long)
Periphyton as green algal filaments– long (> 2 cm long)
Solid substrates
Bedrock
Boulders (particles > 25 cm across, not the length)
Large cobbles (12 – 25 cm across)
Small cobbles (6 – 12 cm across)
Gravels (0.2 – 6 cm across)
Sand (0.01 – 0.2 cm across)
Mud/silt (fine and smooth, not gritty)

In slow moving streams (e.g., < 0.1 m/s water speed) you will often get large plants called "macrophytes". These are good habitat for many invertebrates. in faster flow, you will often have algae growing on stones (called "periphyton"). These may appear as green filaments or brown slimes. Short filaments and brown slimes are good, long green filamentous algae are not so good.

9. Invertebrate Life
In order to assess the invertebrate life you need to:

Collect ten stones or samples of mud (with a small kitchen sieve) at 1 metre intervals up the central part of the stream. Always move upstream. You can use two paces to approximate 1 metre if this makes it easier.
Record the type of substrate that the sample was collected from (see the preceding table) because this has a strong influence on the type of invertebrate you will find.
Please refer to the Identification Key to assist in the identification of the different invertebrate species.
Refer back to No. 3 and mark on the Diagram of the site the location of the sites where samples were collected.

Invertebrate type Pollution tolerance Sample Total

Dark brown snails (2 – 3mm ) 4

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Large light brown snails (4 – 6 mm) 3

Flatworms 3

Red worms 1

Midge larvae 2

Caddisflies (stone/sand cases) 8

Spiral cassed caddis 10

"Axehead" caddid 3

Stoneflies 10

Mayflies 9

Beetles 6

Crustaceans 5

Bivalves/clams 3

Substrate type

A list of "pollution tolerance scores" is also given for each type of invertebrate (10 = low tolerance indicating a low degree of pollution and high habitat quality; 1 = high tolerance indicating a high degree of pollution and/or habitat degradation). The scores of the most common invertebrates at your site can be used to indicate the health of your stream.

10. Data Collection
The Water Services Unit is interested in keeping a record of the results in order to assist the Council in monitoring the health of the city's waterways. Your results can either be faxed to the Council on (03) 371-1384 or posted to the Christchurch City Council, P O Box 237, Christchurch 1.