Virginia Coastal Program: 2005 Coastal Grant Project Description and Final Summary
Project Task:
FY 2005 Task 92.06
Grantee:
Virginia Commonwealth University
Project Title:
Enhancements to Blue Infrastructure Assessment Tools
Project Description as Proposed:
The Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program (VA-CZM) has supported the development and application of a comprehensive and integrative assessment tool for coastal streams and rivers, and for the critical ecological services that these systems provide. This INSTAR (INteractive STream Assessment Resource) application (http://instar.vcu.edu) combines an extensive and dynamic database on aquatic living resources and stream habitat with state-of-the-art information technologies. Currently, sampling and data analysis have been based on the 5th order Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) system in Virginia. The work proposed herein would restore appropriate data density for a statistically valid stream health classification and assessment based on the new 6th order HUCs within Virginia’s Coastal Zone. Specific analyses and outputs from INSTAR will contribute significantly to the Coastal GEMS portal, which is currently under development as a joint effort by VA-CZM and VCU.
Blue infrastructure assessments using INSTAR are limited primarily to freshwater (tidal and non-tidal) aquatic systems, resulting in a limited amount of information for the estuarine and mainstem habitats of Chesapeake Bay. This potential limitation of information for the GEMS portal is unfortunate because many of the major coastal environmental policies (e.g. Tributary Strategies) and regulations (e.g. Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act) in Virginia are based on the assumption of important (i.e., causal) ecological linkages between the coastal landscape (i.e., land-use and tributary health) and the condition and status of Chesapeake Bay. In order to begin to address this problem, VCU is proposing to develop an interpolated benthic IBI geospatial data layer using long-term benthic monitoring data collected by Dan Dauer at ODU. This data layer will be used as a measure of the condition or ecological integrity of estuarine waters based on an analysis of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages from the tributaries and mainstem of Chesapeake Bay.
Federal Funding:
$44,852
Project Contact:
Greg Garman, (804) 828-1574; ggarman@mail2.vcu.edu
Project Status:
9/1/2006 - 3/31/2007; Project Completed
Final Product Received:
Final Report - Enhancements to Blue Infrastructure Tools (“Coastal GAP”) (PDF)
Project Summary Provided by Grantee:
During the grant period, VCU biologists, including David Hopler, Steve McIninch, Drew Garey, Greg Garman, Matt Balazik, and Casey Seelig, conducted quantitative sampling of stream fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages, and instream habitat, within targeted hydrologic units (HUCs) with less than a minimum of three INSTAR collections. Targeted HUCs were within the jurisdictional Coastal Zone and had sufficient freshwater stream habitat (tidal or nontidal) to warrant classification and were > 5,000 acres in area. A total of 176 stream collections were completed within the Coastal Zone during this period and all targeted HUCs are now represented by a minimum of three (3) INSTAR collections. Field sampling employed standard protocols and a probabilistic design (see the Final Report and the INSTAR website http://instar.vcu.edu for more information). Data were subjected to approved QA procedures and entered into the INSTAR database for reference model development and site classification. All fish and macroinvertebrate community data and stream habitat data were entered into the INSTAR SQL database and QC’d. During the same period, VCU finished migration of the geospatial component of INSTAR to the new 6th-order HUCs, which are considerably smaller (i.e., higher resolution) than the previous watershed boundaries. This change has the potential to increase the spatial resolution of INSTAR-based stream assessments by a factor of three, and meet the ‘reach-level’ of analysis. New data provided by this effort were used to refine virtual reference models for the Coastal Zone and identify a subset of approximately 120 ‘Healthy Streams’ in the Coastal Zone, based on statistically valid criteria (e.g. mean and standard deviation of VSA scores). This ‘Healthy Streams’ dataset will be publicly viewable on the Coastal GEMS application (www.deq.virginia.gov/coastal/coastalgems.html). New data were also used to refine metrics and scoring criteria for the modified Index of Biotic Integrity, which is used by INSTAR to classify watershed health.
Also during the grant period, VCU collaborated with Dr. Dan Dauer, Old Dominion University, regarding the integration of his Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (bIBI) data into the Coastal GEMS application as a geospatial data layer. Approximately 3,400 benthic IBI collections in Virginia tributaries and the Chesapeake Bay were classified by ecological integrity status (meets goals, marginal, degraded, severely degraded) of estuarine waters based on an analysis of the benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage by standardized bay-wide metrics and scoring criteria.
Disclaimer: This project summary provides the federal dollars initially awarded to the grantee. Due to underexpenditure or reprogramming of grant funds, this figure may change. For more information on the allocation of coastal grant funds, please contact Laura McKay, Virginia Coastal Program Manager, at 804.698.4323 or email: Laura.McKay@deq.virginia.gov
A more detailed Scope of Work for this project is available. Please direct your request for a copy to Virginia.Witmer@deq.virginia.gov
