Goals of the TWP include

·        Estimates of stream nutrient/sediment loading into lakes Wedowee and Martin and the effects on lake water quality

·        Enhancing the long-term capabilities of citizen volunteer monitors in assessing and managing their local watersheds

Monitoring stream water quality and aquatic insect population assessments are good measures of immediate and short-term stream health

Fish communities not only reflect immediate conditions in a stream, but also those that have occurred over longer periods of time

Because fish are an important and valued component of any aquatic system, the condition of streams within the Tallapoosa Watershed can be more readily communicated to the public in terms of the health of the fish community

Auburn University Fisheries Department personnel, under the direction of Dr. David Bayne, use fish communities as biological indicators to assess the quality of select tributary streams of lakes Martin and Wedowee

Fish bioassessments was conducted in seven selected streams in the Tallapoosa Watershed in November-December 2005

Selected sites are located on four agricultural streams, two forested streams and one urbanized stream currently monitored in the TWP

Sampling was done during

low flow conditions

(…using a modification of Karr’s Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI), (Karr, 1981; Agermeir and Karr,1986; O'Neil and Shepard, 1998). This index uses fish community structure to characterize the overall health of a stream)  

The purpose of the fish bioassessment is to further investigate the effects of different land use practices on the health of streams in the Tallapoosa Watershed

Biologists from the Rivers and Reservoirs Laboratory  in the Department of Fisheries at Auburn University conducting a bioassessment fieldtrip

·        Determine IBI scores of the seven streams currently sampled in the TWP

·        Investigate linkages between land uses in the Tallapoosa Watershed and impacts on fish communities in local streams

Stream Bioassessment    Procedures

 To see photo gallery click on the underlined words

The fish sampling includes sampling all habitats in a 100-meter section of each stream, blocked off with seines.

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Each sample location includes similar numbers of stream habitats (riffles, runs, and pools).

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Fish are collected using a backpack electroshocker by making multiple passes through the blocked off stream sections.

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Fish are identified, weighed, and measured in the field and released back into the stream unharmed.

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Fish are kept in aerated live wells while they are out of the stream to reduce stress on them.

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Only fish difficult to identify or those that will be used for a reference collection are preserved and brought back to the laboratory..

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From the samples, Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) scores is calculated for each stream to determine stream health.

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Stream health is determined by comparing samples from disturbed streams to an undisturbed (reference) stream based on stream IBI scores. For this project, Birdsong Creek in Tallapoosa County is being used as a relatively "pristine" reference stream, since it has exhibited excellent water quality during the two years (2004-2005) of intensive stream sampling.

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Normally the reference stream has the highest number of individuals and fish species.