Help wanted: Must love benthic macroinvertebrates. [The Water and Land Resources Division at work.]

By Gavin Tiemeyer

Hard at work: King County’s seasonal Stream Team collect bug samples in Coal Creek Natural Area in Bellevue, Washington.

Editor’s note: this story was written prior to the pandemic and social distancing requirements were in place. Team members are currently using masks and social distancing protocols.

Hands down, one of the coolest job at King County is working with the stream bug monitoring program, and arguably one of the most underappreciated.

Stream bugs don’t generate the same hype as salmon or Orcas, but they’re deserving of the same attention. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that most of us associate verbs like squashing, swatting, and killing with the word bugs. Regardless of how we humans feel about them, bugs rule the world, and we’d be wiser to learn to share it with them.

King County’s stream bug monitoring team thinks differently about bugs. They recognize the important role bugs play as indicators of the health of Washington’s watersheds.

On this field day, members of King County’s Stream Team collected samples from a handful of streams in Bellevue, Washington. Their first stop was the Coal Creek Natural Area, an urban greenspace that is just big enough that you forget you’re in a major metropolitan city.

The team was looking for benthic macroinvertebrates – think bottom dwelling bugs that live in the gravel, wood, and other debris in a stream. The team is particularly interested in documenting bugs that live in the riffles of the stream.

“The bugs we want to find are more diverse and plentiful in riffles,” explains Emily Rahlmann, a seasonal Stream Team member. A riffle is important habitat where fast moving water supplies plenty of oxygen that stream bugs to need to survive.

But why care about the little creepy crawlers in a stream?

“Bugs are super good indicators of what is going on in a stream, as well as the whole health of the watershed,” Tristan Hites, another seasonal Stream Team member explains. He’s right. The presence or lack of stream bugs says a lot about the health of a stream, and the larger ecosystem. According to the stream bug monitoring program, “bugs play a crucial role in the stream nutrient cycle. If bug populations are suffering it will affect the whole ecosystem.” That means that without bugs, growing fish have nothing to eat, and without fish, ocean predators have nothing to eat, and so on and so forth in a trophic cascade that is bad for everyone, including us.

Meet a stonefly nymph. This type can spend 2 years in the stream before molting into an adult and venturing to the land to mate and die.

The teams work in twos and will sample an area of the stream containing four riffles. One team member will collect bug samples from a riffle using a tool called a Surber sampler while the other team member will take measurements of the stream and outlying area in order to learn more about overall health of the surrounding ecosystem. When they move to a new stream, they alternate responsibilities.

A Surber sampler is like an underwater butterfly net that collects insects into a plastic receptacle at the end of a net.

Emily starts with the Surber sampler, a net fixed to a square brass frame that when seated firmly against the streambed allows water to flow into a plastic receptacle at the net’s end. She explains the Surber sampler is handmade by a local company and it is arguably the most valuable tool they have. One worth taking care of. Oh yeah – one crucial step to this process is digging up the riffle with a “weed tool” in order to shake loose the tiny benthic insects hiding in the streambed. Under a one-minute time interval, Emily digs the weed tool vigorously into the riffle and a brown plume of pebbles and fine sediment flow through the Surber into the plastic receptacle.

Emily works to position the Surber sampler into the streambed. Pictured also is the “weed tool” used to dig loose benthic macroinvertebrates hiding under the rocks.

Downstream, Tristan, who holds a degree in wildlife biology degree, takes measurements of the streambed, using a variety of nifty, low-tech instruments. They work with a calm and collected ease, the movements of professionals who have perfected their craft through repetition. Tristan makes quick use of the stadia rod and measuring tape to document instream features such as riffle depth and stream width.

It takes a team of two working together to take bug samples and record stream measurements.

Dr. Kate Macneale, an Environmental Scientist and the lead of King County’s Stream Bug Monitoring Program, explained how the seasonal work is done with a small team. Out of a large pool of applicants for the seasonal work, team members are chosen for their unique qualifications and ability to perform the important job.

Both Emily and Tristan speak fondly of their team leads. “They’re both very enthusiastic about their bugs – especially Kate,” reflects Emily. “Kate gets very excited when we find big stoneflies.” A stonefly is to a stream what a canary is to a coal mine. Stoneflies are great indicators of stream health because they’re so sensitive to the fine silt and pollution that run off roads and into streams when it rains.

Emily dumps the contents from the riffles she’s sampled into a white rubber tub and begins the process of separating pebbles from the more important things that will be sent to the lab for analysis. Mayfly, stonefly, and caddisfly nymphs are good signs. Samples dominated by midges and worms, however, indicate water and habitat conditions are not so good. Tristan and Emily also keep an eye out for New Zealand mud snails in order to document the spread of the invasive species.

It’s the stream life: Emily gets comfortable to separate larger pebbles from the important stuff in her sample.

So far, no signs of big stoneflies, just a couple of caddisflies. But Emily points to something else blending in among the other pebbles. A vertebrate. A fish. “A sculpin!” Emily pronounces. The tiny fish is no bigger than your thumb. Here, in the middle of a densely populated city lives this unique animal, just like its predecessors have done for eons. Emily gently places it back into the stream, protocol if you catch a live fish.

Eye Spy: Can you find the animal blending in among the pebbles in this photo? Clue: It’s a fish.

“Oh yeah, we gotta show you the pebble count,” Tristan says with a smile.

The pebble count is the most charming task of the stream bug monitoring team. Not because it’s fun but because of the way Tristan and Emily deal with the monotony of the task. The Wolman pebble count (to be exact) is a method used to measure the diversity of the stream’s substrate. A team member must pick 100 pebbles at random and measure each pebble’s diameter by pushing it through a size slot in a metal frame called a gravelometer. If the pebble fits you have a measurement. Pebble measurements are documented by the other team member using the slot’s corresponding letter.

“But sometimes the noise of the stream can get in the way,” Tristan explains. “The letter B and D sound similar so it’s easier to come up with names.”

Tristan picks up a rock. “Kathryn.” He picks up another rock, and another. “Judith, Frankie, Judith, Judith, Frankie, Gordon, Horris, Ethel, Kathryn, Astrid, Judith, Kathryn, Lucile, Michael…” And so on and so forth until 100 pebbles are counted.

“Sometimes we use the names of snacks, but get too hungry,” Emily adds.

Remember, even the smallest neighborhood stream contains a diversity of life. Tread lightly.

The last stream the team sampled is squeezed between two residential properties close to Lake Sammamish. It doesn’t scream nature as much as the Coal Creek Natural Area. There aren’t many trees to provide habitat for insects and fish and the banks have been reinforced. Still, there is something special about it. Despite the developing landscape around the stream, a tiny, hidden world of life persists. If you look down at the moving water and squint your eyes you can almost see it. Tristan and Emily get to work: Seat the Surber sampler in the riffle, collect the sample, and take measurements of the stream. One riffle, two riffle, three riffle four. If they’re not here now, maybe the mayfly, stonefly, and caddisfly – the tiny indicators of the stream ecosystem—will return. Our future looks better if they do.

In May 2020, the Stream Bug Monitoring Program published a project report that studied how the health of several historically degraded King County streams could be improved by seeding them with a diverse community stream bugs from healthy streams. Read Bug Seeding: A Possible Jump-start to Stream Recovery.

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Gavin Tiemeyer is a graduate of The Evergreen State College where he studied environmental communication. He was a communications intern with the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks where he spent time in the field with employees of the Water and Land Resources Division to detail a fraction of the work they do along rivers and streams to ensure clean water and healthy habitat in King County.

King County scientists see unprecedented harmful algal bloom in Puget Sound

On June 16, field scientists from the King County Environmental Laboratory were collecting routine water quality samples aboard the research vessel, SoundGuardian, in the Central Basin of Puget Sound. As they were sampling, they noticed some patchy, brown coloration at the water’s surface at several sites visited that day.

Blooms of Heterosigma akashiwo can develop very quickly and form conspicuous brown patches at the water’s surface where they congregate during the day. This flagellate can bloom in high numbers multiple times per season. (Photo: Gabriela Hannach)

The samples were analyzed and determined to be a dense bloom of a tiny, harmful flagellate known as Heterosigma akashiwo. A regular component of Puget Sound’s phytoplankton community, Heterosigma has the dubious honor of belonging to a group known as Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) species. Heterosigma has been repeatedly associated with fish mortality.

The highest concentration of Heterosigma measured in the last six years reached 2 million cells per liter in the protected waters of Quartermaster Harbor. Last week’s bloom reached numbers as high as 4 million cells per liter. Cell densities of this magnitude are rarely observed in Puget Sound’s main basin.  It is the largest Heterosigma bloom King County scientists have observed in the history of the phytoplankton monitoring program in Puget Sound’s Central Basin.

The FlowCAM instrument is an automated imaging microscope used at the King County Environmental Lab to study phytoplankton cells in water samples. (Photo: Lyndsey Swanson)

A common and globally distributed coastal species, Heterosigma often blooms in shallow recesses of Puget Sound’s shoreline, but much less frequently in the mixed waters of its three deeper basins.

Puget Sound is home to many different types of HABs that exhibit a wide range of troublesome effects for people and wildlife. Heterosigma has long been associated with fish kills and while the exact mechanism is not yet clear, there is some evidence that it produces hydrogen peroxide (a reactive oxygen species) which can cause gill damage and lead to anoxia and respiratory failure.

Scientists believe the explosion of Heterosigma cells was enabled by a period of rainy weather that established a stable surface layer of nutrient-rich, low-salinity water where these cells could thrive and reproduce readily. It is extremely unlikely the bloom was related to the West Point Treatment Plant as the bloom is occurring all over central Puget Sound; the plant’s performance has been normal with no overflows; and the effluent quality has been excellent.

A clear relationship between Heterosigma blooms and rising spring temperatures has been documented in field studies, suggesting that as the average global temperature rises, we could see an increase in the frequency of blooms of this toxic flagellate in Puget Sound waters.

Above are microscopic photos of individual particles detected in water samples arranged in a collage by the FlowCam instrument. The golden, oval-shaped particles in this collage are Heterosigma akashiwo collected from the recent bloom. (Photo: Gabriela Hannach)

Since 2008, the King County Environmental Laboratory has monitored the phytoplankton community of the Central Basin of Puget Sound, using microscopy to document the enormous variety of phytoplankton that inhabit these waters.

King County shares data with local agencies to share and inform aqua-culturists and other relevant agencies as an advanced warning, thereby helping to protect local industry from the potentially deleterious effects of this harmful species.

Heterosigma akashiwo is a small, photosynthetic flagellate common to Puget Sound waters. It is best known for its cartwheeling swimming pattern, cornflake-like appearance, and association with fish kills. (Video: Lyndsey Swanson)

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Sources

Cochlan,W.P., Trainer, V.L. Trick, C.G., Wells, M.L., Eberhart, B.-T. L., Bill, B.D. 2013.Heterosigma akashiwo in the Salish Sea: defining growth and toxicity leading to fish kills. Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Harmful Algae.

Glibert, P.M., Anderson, D.M., Gentien, P., Grane´li, E., Sellner, K.G., 2005. The global, complex phenomena of harmful algal blooms. Oceanography 18 (2), 136–147.

Taylor, F. J. R., Haigh, R. 1993. The Ecology of Fish-Killing Blooms of the Chloromonad Flagellate Heterosigma akashiwo in the Strait of Georgia and Adjacent Waters. In: Smayda, T. J. and Shimizu, Y. (eds.). Toxic Phytoplankton Blooms in the Sea. Elsevier, Amsterdam. 705-771

Horner, R. A. 2002. A Taxonomic Guide To Some Common Phytoplankton. Biopress Limited, Dorset Press, Dorchester, UK. 200.

Steidinger, K.A. & Meave del Castillo, M.E. [Eds.] 2018. Guide to the Identification of Harmful Microalgae in the Gulf of Mexico.(Vols. I-II). St. Petersburg, FL; DiggyPOD, Inc.

Swanson, L.M, & Hannach G.; “Harmful Algal Species in the Central Basin of Puget Sound: Seasonal Bloom Patterns Analyzed Via FlowCAM Technology.” Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference 2020 (Digital poster presentation). King County Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA.

Rensel, J.E.J., 2007. Fish kills from the harmful alga Heterosigma akashiwo in Puget Sound:  Recent blooms and review.

Stormwater mapping: A glimpse into the world of tracking where the rain goes

By Alison Sienkiewicz

Aeronautical engineers, consultants, graphic designers, and Geographic Information System (GIS) professionals formed an unlikely, but unstoppable, team at King County’s Water and Land Resources Division last year. The project team’s short-term goal was to map the stormwater drainage system within parts of unincorporated King County, an assignment that allowed them to test their field skills and environmental passion. To help accomplish this, a team was brought together as part of an ongoing effort to map stormwater drainage system that had not been inventoried, as required by King County’s Phase 1 Municipal Stormwater Permit. Team members were hired for their knowledge of stormwater management and GIS, as well as a love of the environment. Their diverse backgrounds helped them each bring different skills to this project.

“This was a great opportunity to get a foot in the door at King County,” said Anna Lucero, one of the first mappers hired onto the team.

A team of about a dozen people was hired to locate, map, and inspect stormwater structures along nearly 800 of the 1,400 miles of roadways in unincorporated King County. The team started their days dispersing across the county to map and inspect nearly 65,000 stormwater structures and mechanisms, including pipes, ditches, catch basins, manholes, and other drainage features. The team would verify that these structures were not full of debris, cracked, or otherwise deficient, allowing water to continue to move smoothly throughout the stormwater system and help reduce flooding. To give a sense of magnitude of the stormwater infrastructure within King County, King County Roads Division estimates there are more than 5,000,000 linear feet of ditches, more than 25,000 catch basins, and more than 2,000,000 linear feet of pipe.

“The data needed a lot of work,” said Joe Espinosa, the project lead. “(It) hadn’t been updated in more than 15 years.”

Mapper Chris Meder enters data into a tablet during a ditch and culvert inspection.

A day in the life of the temporary mappers would start with the team strategizing their game plan for the day and making computer updates to the mapping work from the previous days. They would review the updated maps, determine what areas still needed to be mapped or reviewed, and would venture out with a teammate in a truck, traveling to their designated area to spend the day.  “Having a partner in the field built great comradery among the team,” said Chris Meder.

Within their designated area, the mapping team would inspect each catch basin, measuring its dimensions, and assess if there were any large cracks or deficiencies in the structure. Using mirrors on sticks, they inspected the pipes coming in and out of each catch basin.

“I put a mirror down into a pipe one day and saw a skunk tail pointing at me,” said Jeff Tarshis. “Needless to say I wrapped up that inspection pretty quickly.”

Culverts were also a common stormwater conveyance structure that the team inspected. A culvert is a pipe or concrete box structure that drains to an open channel, swale, or ditch under a roadway or embankment. It is important that these culverts are not clogged with debris and do not have any breaks in the pipe or structure so water can move smoothly and quickly through the structure, therefore reducing flooding.

“One of my best field memories was when I inspected a culvert and saw two kittens in there,” said Emily Davis. “The kittens did not appear hurt but were quite playful and keen on diverting our attention.”

Mapper Emily Davis encounters a kitten while inspecting a concrete pipe in unincorporated King County.

The team explored the widespread geographical areas of King County, the 13th largest county in the United States, which included summer field work on Vashon Island, winter trips to Enumclaw in the snow, and foggy fall trips to Duvall. Over the course of the short-term project the crew of 16 assessed nearly 27,000 stormwater structures and, of those, more than 5,000 structures were flagged for further investigation.

An example of a catch basin that is plugged with sediment and needs cleaning.

One surprise on the job was how interesting stormwater is within our environment.

“I came into the job wanting to expand my GIS skills,” says Chris Meder. “I came out stoked about stormwater management.” This short-term project provided the team with a boots-on-the-ground understanding of how rainwater flows through our communities and how extensive the stormwater infrastructure is in King County. The field work provided the mappers with real-world experience in understanding how stormwater pollutes our local waterways — an invaluable lesson since stormwater is the predominant source of pollution threatening the health of Puget Sound.

Getting out of the office and having this field component was a draw for many on the team.

“I love field work,” said Emily Davis. “It was satisfying to go out and get a lot of work done, regardless of weather.” Physically, the project gave the team experience in dealing with challenges of weather because they were out in the field mapping each week, rain or shine.

“I learned to always wear rain pants when it is raining,” said Taylor Rulien, “because just wearing a rain jacket doesn’t always keep you dry in our rainy season.”

This job also helped the team field test their knowledge of water systems in the real world, which requires an engaging mind to appreciate and understand.

“My educational background in engineering and my inquisitive mind for water systems helped me in this job,” said Melissa Dahl.

Mapper Andrea Wong inspecting a catch basin alongside a road.

In addition to field and GIS skills, the project also provided numerous non-technical skills, including how to work together in a team setting, transferring outdoor data collection into online data tools, and building community relation skills.

“The public was so supportive of this project,” said Anna Lucero. “Everyone was very understanding and interested to learn that the rain does not go into the same pipes as their sewage. Everyone cared.”

This stormwater mapping project helps King County save time and money by minimizing emergency responses and road or property damage. Mapping and inventorying these structures provides data to make better decisions on stormwater infrastructure investments for a county of more than two million residents. And, with more knowledge about where the stormwater runoff goes and how it gets there, we can continue to clean up our lakes, rivers, and streams by looking upstream at potential sources of pollution.

Many of the team members were uncertain about applying for the project’s positions because of the short-term nature, but they were all glad they did it.

“I knew it was risky going from a full time consulting job to this, but it was exciting to jump into the unknown,” said Emily Davis. “This short term position pushed us to learn more and not be sedentary in a career.”

“This is the first job I have ever been sad to leave,” said Kasim Salahuddin.

“This job has helped shape my future,” said Melissa Dahl. “King County gave all of us a great opportunity and we are so appreciative.”

Keep an eye out for future internships, short term jobs or sign up for alerts at Careers at King County.

The stormwater mapping team (*permanent data support staff). Back row, from left: Nick Hetrick*, Matthew Goad*, Kasim Salahuddin, Emily Davis, Melissa Dahl, Mark Preszler*. Middle row, from left: Jeff Tarshis, Kyle Korbines, Taylor Rulien, Edward McFarlin*, Lusha Zhou*. Front row, from left: Chris Meder, Ana Lucero, Andrea Wong, Jeannie Pride*, Joe Espinsoa*.

 

 

The Point Williams Buoy

On March 29, the crew of SoundGuardian, King County’s marine research vessel, re-deployed a water quality buoy that got loose earlier in the month at Point Williams, off Lincoln Park in West Seattle. In this video, watch Jim Devereaux, Bob Kruger, Houston Flores, and Christopher Barnes from the King County Environmental Laboratory re-anchor the buoy.

The Point Williams buoy is one of four automated, high-frequency data collection systems used by King County in marine waters and is the only floating platform — with the other three attached to piers or docks at Seattle Aquarium and inner and outer Quartermaster Harbor on Vashon-Maury Island. King County began using automated systems back in 2008 but the Point Williams buoy has been at the current location since 2013.

Sensors are used to continually collect data that is used to monitor water quality in Puget Sound.

The buoy functions as a platform to suspend multiple instruments into the top of the water column to take measurements that determine water quality in the Central Puget Sound basin.  Automated, water quality data collection allows measurements to be taken every 15 minutes of physical, chemical, and biological parameters. The result is improved information to determine variability on a weekly, even daily,  basis compared to traditional water quality measurements that are typically measured every two to four weeks.

The sensors are attached to the buoy which acts as a floating platform.

The data are transmitted via a cellular modem to a cloud data collection service, then transferred to the King County mooring data website where it can be viewed or downloaded within 30 minutes of data collection. Data undergo automatic quality checks to assess for issues in real-time as well as semi-annually by a data manager.

The data are used to characterize Puget Sound water conditions on numerous time scales (e.g., daily, seasonal, annual, inter-annual) and used for status and trends analysis, to compare with data from other locations in Puget Sound to assess spatial differences, populate or validate numerical Puget Sound models, and provide data for management decisions. The data from this water quality monitoring system are also sent to Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems to be included in a larger marine waters data collection network.

Check out more cool stuff from @KCEnviroLab on Instagram.

King County swimming beach monitoring starts up – data and alerts available weekly

Summer is on the way (fingers crossed warm weather comes to stay sooner rather than later) and King County has begun its seasonal monitoring of freshwater swimming beaches to ensure they are safe for recreation.

Water samples are taken weekly at the freshwater swimming beaches listed below and analyzed for fecal coliform bacteria, toxins, water temperature, and harmful algal toxins.

Beach goers, swimmers, and science enthusiasts can sign up to receive weekly alerts and status updates about the freshwater beaches being monitored. Visit the King County Swimming Beach Monitoring Program website to subscribe. Monitoring results and closure information are posted weekly to the web page. There you can also find information about “swimmer’s itch,” toxic algae blooms and hazards to pets, plus combined sewer overflow locations and status and a link to marine beach monitoring performed by the Washington State Department of Ecology.

The Water and Land Resources (WLR) Division and Public Health – Seattle & King County work together on the program, with WLR managing the monitoring and analysis and Public Health being responsible for closing beaches when there is a risk to public health.

2017 swimming beaches monitored by King County

• Andrews Bay – Seward Park
• Beaver Lake Beach
• Echo Lake
• Enatai Beach
• Gene Coulon
• Green Lake Duck Island Launch
• Green Lake – East
• Green Lake – West
• Groveland Park Beach
• Hidden Lake
• Houghton Beach
• Idylwood Beach
• Idylwood Creek
• John’s Creek
• Juanita Beach
• Juanita Creek
• Kennydale Beach
• Lake Sammamish Beach
• Lake Wilderness Beach
• Luther Burbank Beach
• Madison Park Beach
• Madrona Beach
• Magnuson Beach
• Magnuson Beach Off Leash Area
• Marina Park Beach
• Matthews Beach
• Mount Baker Beach
• NE 130th Pl
• Newcastle Beach
• Pine Lake
• Pritchard Island Beach
• Rattlesnake Lake (monitored by Seattle Public Utilities)
• Sammamish Landing Beach
• Thornton Creek
• Waverly Park Beach