Clean Rivers, Clean Lake 8 -- Ozaukee County Fishway -- Andrew Struck

Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

Restoring Fish and Aquatic Organism Passage:A Milwaukee River Watershed Case Study

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Clean Rivers, Clean Lakes ConferenceMonday, April 30th, 2012Andrew Struck, M.S., Director

Ozaukee County (WI) – Planning and Parks Department


Presentation Outline

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• Program Background• Aquatic Connectivity to Existing Habitat• Target Species - Native / Species of Concern• Impediment Types• Watershed-wide Conservation Approach

- Major Mainstem Dams- Large Scale “Public Works”- Small Scale “Conservation Corps”

• Environmental Monitoring• GIS Habitat Tool / Habitat Restoration• Lessons Learned – Adaptive Management

- Program Accomplishments and Setbacks- Stakeholder Coordination - Education and Outreach


Planning and Parks

Department

Golf Division Tourism Division Planning Division

Ecological Division

Bird Conservation

Fish Passage Program

Fragmentation & Impediment Remediation

Monitoring Habitat Restoration

Education and Outreach Reporting

Invasive Species

Trails DivisionParks,

Recreation, and Culture Division

Ecological Division – Fish Passage & Habitat Program


Program Location – Ozaukee County, WI

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Milwaukee River Basin

Map courtesy of http://basineducation.uwex.edu/milwaukee/resources/rivers.html

http://basineducation.uwex.edu/milwaukee/resources/rivers.html



Fish Passage Program Summary• $5.24 Million NOAA/ARRA Grant

Awarded (2009 & 2010): Restore Fish Passage in the Milwaukee River Watershed

• $1.48 Million USEPA GLRI Grant Awarded (2010): Enhancing Ecological Productivity

• $491,000 USEPA GLRI Grant Awarded (2010): Monitoring to Address 7 of 11 BUIs

• Program Scope• 18 tributaries • 4 main-stem dams• Develop GIS Model for

Prioritizing Habitat and Restoration Activities

• Water Quality Monitoring• Sediment Sampling• Fisheries Monitoring

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Theme – “Making Connections”

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Milwaukee River Basin

Map courtesy of http://basineducation.uwex.edu/milwaukee/resources/rivers.html

Renewing “Old” Connections….–Lake Michigan–Milwaukee River–Tributary Streams–Spawning and Rearing Habitats

….and Forming “New” Connections (Non-traditional Stakeholders) through…

Ozaukee County Elected Officials

MunicipalitiesBusinesses

SchoolsNGOs

Citizens / LandownersVolunteers

Collaborative Partnerships




Primary Program Goals – Making Connections

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1. Removal of Fish Passage Impediments / Increased Connectivity to Existing High Quality Habitat

Measures: – Restored passability at inventoried impediments– Number of passable stream miles– Number of impediments removed– Presence of target species after impediment removal–Acres of existing wetland habitat made accessible

2. Support Career Development and Job CreationMeasures:– Labor hours created– Dollars expended


Making the Most of What’s Left

• Desirable aquatic habitat has been lost or significantly altered

• Restored aquatic habitat is expensive to create and is commonly inferior to quality natural habitat

• Many pockets of quality natural aquatic habitat remain and are protected. However, many, if not most, are ecologically isolated

• Reconnecting isolated habitat restores its ecological function to the watershed and saves resources


Fish Life Cycle – Aquatic Connectivity

Spawning

Critical passage barrier

Migrate up from Lake Michigan

Develop in wetlands

and streams

Fry

Larvae

Juveniles

Eggs

Adults

Critical passage barrier

Drift downstream to Lake Michigan

Milwaukee River Watershed Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

Native Fish Swimming Performance

• Good for short distance “bursts” < 15 sec.

• Fair for “sustained” movements in velocities < 2 ft/s

• Poor for “prolonged” swimming

• Very Poor jumpers

• Require Low velocity (< 2 - 3 ft/s)

Short jumps < 8 inches Frequent rest areas


Aquatic Species Passage

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Wisconsin Endangered Species• Striped Shiner

Source: pond.dnr.cornell.edu

Wisconsin Threatened Species•Greater Redhorse


•Longear SunfishSource: library.marist.edu

•Ellipse MusselSource: library.marist.edu

Program Target Species•Northern Pike


•WalleyeSource: utoledo.edu

•Lake Sturgeon (WI Special Concern)Source: pond.dnr.cornell.edu


Target Species: Northern Pike• Valued Species• Historically Spawned in

Milwaukee River Tributaries• Require wetland

vegetation to spawn (e.g. sedges)

• “Burst Swimmers” – Vulnerable to Barriers

• Adults and Larvae Affected Differently

• Surrogate for a Wide Array of Organisms


Impediment Examples• Major Dams• Poorly designed/ installed

culverts• Excessive water velocities• Pervious fill deposits• Channel-constricting bridge

abutments• Debris jams and channel

aggradation• Certain log jams• Sediment deposits• Invasive vegetation


Watershed-wide Conservation Approach

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ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT

PROJECT Example PROGRAM Example

Planning Opportunity Landowner / Impediment

Measurable Outcomes

Metrics - Socioeconomic / Biological

Research / Design Immediate Needs

Permitting /Design & Engineering Criteria

Long term / Watershed Scale

Level of Effort / Priority – Inventories / GIS modeling

Implementation / Program Delivery

Objectives Construct Fish Passage / Remove Impediment

Multiple Objectives to Achieve Goal

Dams and Other Barriers (Public Works / Cons. Corps)

Monitoring / Evaluation

Demonstrate Success

Target Species

Identify Next Steps

Beneficial Use Impairments


Milwaukee River Mainstem Dam Barriers

Newburg Dam Removal, Ongoing

Mequon-Thiensville Dam Passive “Nature-like” Fishway, 2010

Lime Kiln Dam Removal, 2010

Bridge Street Dam – Passive Fishway (Proposed)


Mequon-Thiensville Dam, Village of Thiensville


Mequon-Thiensville Dam – Fishway Construction• Fishway design

– Series of pools and riffles– Meandering stream channel– Less than 2% slope

• Entrance near face of the dam, exit through former millrace entrance

• Program electrofishing and underwater camera - passage success

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Mequon Thiensville Dam – Nature-Like Fishway


Mequon-Thiensville Dam - Fishway Construction


Lime Kiln Dam, Village of Grafton

Map courtesy of Bing Maps


Lime Kiln Dam – Removal and Restoration

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Lime Kiln Dam – Removal and Restoration– Removal incorporated slow draw-

down through historic raceway to minimize sediment transport

– Used blasting to fracture the dam structure – three separate blasts

– Long-term restoration strategies (e.g. seeding and tree planting)

– Planned educational signage and pedestrian bridge

– Budgeted Costs: $232,000

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Photo Credit: Jerry Kiesow


Lime Kiln Dam – Restoration11.19.10 – following removal 5.25.11 – 6 months after removal

6.16.11 – 7 months after removal 10.11.11 – 11 months after removal


Lime Kiln Dam – Public Access Amenities

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Bridge Street Dam Passive Fishway Design

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Bridge Street Dam, Village of Grafton

Map courtesy of Bing Maps


Bridge St. Dam – Potential Removal/Public Input– NOAA funds allowed option of removal or fishway construction– Public involvement process and April 2010 referendum – resident

support for keeping the dam


Bridge Street Dam Fishway Concept Design– Design required close

coordination with US Army Corps of Engineers, Wisconsin DNR, Ozaukee County, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Village of Grafton, Interfluve, Bonestroo, and local residents

– Design incorporates combination of “buried box” through dam at entrance and exposed naturalized channel daylighting upstream

– AIS, <2% slope, landowner preferences, upstream AND downstream considerations

– Budgeted Costs: $1.3 million


Bridge Street Dam Fishway Final Design


Bridge Street Dam – Fishway Design

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Aluminum Stoplogs for AIS Control


AIS – Program Response Summary• Round goby

• Inconclusive ability to surpass existing downstream natural Milwaukee River gradient conditions or navigate fishway

• Predatory control increases as populations of various species improve

• Tiered Monitoring Approach and Plan• Sea lamprey

• USFWS criteria incorporated into fishway design

• VHSv• Bridge Street Dam not a full barrier to

fish / VHSv passage• Inconclusive evidence of VHSv prevalence

in watershed • Spread of VHSv by migrating fish far less

likely than by human introduction

“Given what we know to date, the most likely mechanism to infect new waters is through human actions that concentrate the virus in one location. Diffuse movement of the virus by fish movements does not seem to be moving the virus significantly."

"We also considered closing all of our fishways, but decided that the risk was much lower than human intervention vectors.“

- Michigan DNR Fisheries and USACE staff


Aquatic Invasive Species – Conclusions• WDNR issued permit for “active” fishway,

requiring: • Construction of trap and sort facility• Only passage of lake sturgeon allowed• Fishway closure if impoundment water levels

rise within .25’ of spilling over western open channel wall

• V. Grafton (dam owner) rejected permit in 2011

“Take Home Messages”• Develop, publish and adopt objective, science-based

criteria for defining Great Lakes “boundary dams”• Recognize demonstrated value of passive fishway

designs for sustainable aquatic connectivity• Identify and involve regulatory “decision-makers”

early in the process


Newburg Dam, Village of Newburg


Newburg Dam - Structural Issues2009 WDNR dam safety inspection identified:

–Right abutment leakage

–Cracking present acrossentire crest

–Inoperable gates

–Embankment repairs

–Need for a detailedengineering study todetermine necessary repairs


Newburg Dam – Removal Village of Newburg voted unanimously to remove the dam on 10/27/11

• Tight timeline – substantial completion by September 30, 2012

• Removal will reconnect 37.25 mainstem river miles (13 from Newburg Dam to Barton Dam in West Bend, 24.25 from Newburg Dam to Bridge Street Dam in Grafton), passively reconnect 33 upstream tributary miles

• Sediment characterization work completed

• Engineering and design ongoing

• Available NOAA funds - up to $650,000

• WDNR Dam Removal Grant $50,000


Ozaukee County Road/Stream Crossing Barriers

• 644 Public Road / Stream Crossings

• Even More Private Road Crossings

• Even More Farm / Trail Crossings


“Large-Scale” ImpedimentsFredonia Creek – Low-Head Dam Trinity Creek– HWY 57

Lac Du Cours Creek– River Road


“Large-Scale” ImpedimentsFredonia Creek – Snowmobile Crossing

Ulao Creek – Stone Ford

Riveredge Creek – Utility Bridge


“Small Scale” Impediments

• 110 NOAA Sites• Up to 100 EPA Sites• Impediments Include

– Log Jams/Debris Jams– Sediment Aggradations– Invasive Vegetation– Pervious Fill Deposits– Railroad Ballast Deposits


Unreliable Fish Passage Techniques


Monitoring

Fish Surveys

Fyke Netting Creel Surveys Visual Surveys Electrofishing Larval Trapping eDNAFishway Camera

Water Quality

Continuous Monitoring

Discrete Sampling

Lab Analysis

Sediment Contamination

Coring

Lab Analysis

Fish Passage Program - Monitoring


Fisheries - Fyke Netting and Larval Trapping• Fyke Netting (2010)

– Four Program streams– Six locations– 100 fish from 15 species

• Larval Trapping (2010/2011)– Nine Program streams and two

“control” streams– 36 pike larvae from one stream

(2010)– 34 pike larvae and young-of-year

from three streams (2011)


Tributary and Milwaukee River Electrofishing• Tributary Electrofishing

(2010)– Five Program streams

and two “control” streams

– Over 2,800 fish– Confirmed upstream

passage at four of five remediation sites

• Milwaukee River E-fishing (2011)– Over 4,900 fish from six

sites– Over 400 fish tagged


Mequon-Thiensville Fishway Camera• Underwater Camera and PIT Tag

Readers• Since June of 2011:

– Thousands of fish– 30 species– 12 PIT-tagged fish– Other Wildlife (e.g. Beaver)

Beaver


Environmental Monitoring – Tagged Fish

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Mequon-Thiensville Fishway Camera


Water Quality and Sediment Contamination• Water Quality Sampling (2011/2012)

– Three continuous monitoring stations– 30 discrete sampling locations

• Baseflow and high flows

– Biological Impacts (Fish and Wildlife)

• Sediment Contamination Sampling (2011/2012)– Four sampling reaches

• Two impoundments• Two free-flowing reaches

– Biological Impacts


GIS Tool & Habitat Restoration: USEPA & WCMP

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• Program staff and partners will refine existing GIS Tools to:

• Overlap existing and potentially restorable pike spawning habitat with highest value riparian wildlife habitat to rank and direct restoration priorities

• Conduct habitat improvement demonstration projects (stream meandering, wetland restoration)


Habitat Restoration – Wetland and Floodplain• GIS Tool Outputs

– Future wetland, in-stream, and/or floodplain restoration projects

• Sweet Property (Town of Fredonia)– Wetland enhancement and

floodplain connectivity project on Program stream (Sandhill Creek)


• Lime Kiln Dam Removal• M-T Dam Nature-Like Fishway• Bridge Street Fishway Engineering & Design• 35 Road/Stream Crossing Reconstructions,

22 Additional Planned• 138 Small-Scale Impediment Removals• Reconnection of 75 stream miles• 175+ Volunteers = 1,869 Volunteer Hours• Over 50,000 Labor Hours Created• Over $1.75 million Invested in Ozaukee

County Infrastructure Improvements• Info to over 5,251 people at 66 events• Agreements with 75 Different Landowners • National Awards & Recognition

Major Program Successes


Lessons Learned -- Stakeholder Buy-In is Crucial

• Program works closely with nine Cities, Villages and Towns

• 35 road/stream crossings & low-flow dams

• Three large dams

Improve fish passage AND meet infrastructure needs…….

NOAA/ARRA-Funded Expenditures, by Municipality (4/16/12)Municipality Conservation Corps* Public Works ** Dam Projects Totals

T of Fredonia $26,728 $56,521 $83,249

V of Fredonia $6,013 $106,636 $112,649

T of Saukville $61,706 $519,362 $581,068

C of Mequon $60,739 $453,054 $130,000 $643,793

V of Grafton $13,172 $110,273 $123,445

T of Grafton $6,082 $13,908 $19,990

T of Cedarburg $58,928 $58,928

V of Thiensville $867 $130,000 $130,867

Total $234,233 $1,149,481 $370,273 $1,753,987


Lessons Leaned -Stakeholder Support• NGO’s

– Develop/expand relationships, utilize mutually-beneficial efforts

• Landowners– Program staff working with

over 150 landowners throughout 2010-11

• Volunteers– Fulfilled time-intensive

environmental monitoring activities

• Universities– Internship opportunities and

student projects


Education & Outreach – Awareness/Stewardship


Fish Passage Program – Education & Outreach


Lime Kiln Dam removal andfisheries featured in:

• Outdoor Wisconsin• Discover Wisconsin• On Wisconsin Outdoors• National and International Conferences

Media Coverage – Fish Passage ProgramMequon Thiensville Fishway featured in:

• Outdoor Wisconsin• Discover Wisconsin• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel• Aqua Kids• 2010 and 2011 Sturgeon Fest• National and International

Conferences• Underwater camera “live” on web

soon


Fish Passage Program - Partners• National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration• US Environmental Protection Agency• WI Department of Natural Resources• Milwaukee Community Service Corps• US Geological Survey - Conte Anadromous Fish

Laboratory • US Fish and Wildlife Service• Ulao Creek Partnership• Riveredge Nature Center• Mequon Nature Preserve• Carroll University• Concordia University• Marquette University• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Field Station• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee• University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point• University of Wisconsin Extension Service • University of Notre Dame• Milwaukee Area Technical College• Wisconsin Lutheran College• Great Lakes Sport Fisherman• Trout Unlimited• Milwaukee Riverkeeper• Inter-Fluve• Kapur and Associates

• Ozaukee County Tourism Council• Milwaukee Audubon Society• Wisconsin Youth Conservation Corps• Community High Schools• River Revitalization Foundation• Treasures of Oz• Urban Ecology Center• Ozaukee Washington Land Trust• Ozaukee County Land Conservation

Partnership• Ozaukee County (multiple departments)• Ozaukee County Volunteer Center• Ozaukee County Master Gardeners• Bonestroo • Environmental DNA Solutions• City of Mequon• Village of Thiensville• Village of Grafton• Town of Grafton• Town of Saukville• Village of Fredonia • Town of Fredonia• Town of Cedarburg• AECOM• Short Elliott Hendrickson


Acknowledgements

Program OfficersJessica Berrio, NOAATerry Heatlie, NOAAJulie Sims, NOAARajen Patel, USEPAJennifer Conner, USEPA

2011 Ozaukee Fish Passage Program Staff

Matt Aho, Ozaukee County

Luke Roffler, Ozaukee County

Ryan McCone, Ozaukee County


Acknowledgements - FundingNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration –

Great Lakes Program - American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

US Environmental Protection Agency – Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

Wisconsin Coastal Management Program

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

US Fish and Wildlife Service – Partners for Fish & Wildlife

Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection – Soil and Water Conservation


Making Connections Across Our Watersheds

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QUESTIONS ?

Photo Credits: Larry Polenske

Clean Rivers, Clean Lake 8 -- Ozaukee County Fishway -- Andrew Struck

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