Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Section (DSB)
Division of Water Quality Assessment And Standards
Bureau of Water Supply and Wastewater Management
Department of Environmental Protection
January 2001
Revised November 2002
GENERAL WATERSHED DESCRIPTION
Frya Run is a tributary of the Delaware River located in Williams Township, Northampton County (Figure 1). This basin has a drainage area of 6.1 square miles and contains 6.9 stream miles. The estimated Q7-10 at the mouth is 0.29 cubic feet/second. Frya Run is currently designated High Quality-Cold Water Fishes (HQ-CWF), Migratory Fishes (MF). This designation was the result of a stream study conducted in October 1990. The Environmental Quality Board (EQB) approved the designation as final rulemaking at its April 21, 1992 meeting. In response to a petition submitted by the Fry's Run Residents' Group, this watershed was evaluated for redesignation to Exceptional Value Waters (EV). This evaluation is based on field surveys conducted in December 1997 and March 2000.
This watershed contains no major population centers. It is mostly agricultural
land and low-density residential development. Some of the hillsides have areas
of deciduous forest. The National Wetlands Inventory maps indicate the presence
of a small area of emergent marsh and forested swamp along one of the tributaries
of Frya Run. Based on these maps, wetlands constitute less than 5% of the total
watershed area.
WATER QUALITY AND USES
Surface Water
No long-term water quality data were available to allow a direct comparison
to water quality criteria. Grab samples were taken at two stations (Table
1). The results of these samples (Table 2) show
a dramatic increase in alkalinity along with smaller increases in pH, calcium,
and magnesium from 1FR to 2FR. This indicates the presence of a limestone influenced
groundwater discharge into Frya Run somewhere between the two stations. Water
quality was generally good at both stations; however, the instantaneous nature
of grab samples precludes a direct comparison to applicable water quality criteria.
The indigenous aquatic community is a better indicator of long-term conditions
and is used as a measure of both water quality and ecological significance.
There are no permitted surface water withdrawals or NPDES discharges in the
Frya Run watershed.
Aquatic Biota
Station 2FR was sampled for benthic macroinvertebrates and habitat assessment
in January 1997 and again in March 2000. Between these two dates it appears
that a major flood occurred in this basin. Habitat scores for aquatic biota
at Station 2FR decreased from 211 to 157 between 1997 and 2000 (Table
3). The parameters most affected were Bank Condition and Vegetative Protection,
but several other parameters also decreased. At Station 1FR instream habitat
was good but the banks were impacted by agricultural activity and the riparian
zone was very narrow.
Benthic macroinvertebrates were collected using sampling techniques adapted from the EPA Rapid Bioassessment Protocols. Taxonomic diversity also decreased from 1997 to 2000 at Station 2FR from 33 to 24 total taxa (Table 4). Some of this decrease is the result of the seasonality of winter stoneflies (Capniidae and Taeniopterygidae), which are present in December but have probably emerged by the middle of March. Total numbers of many taxa also decreased as a result of this flood. In 1997 Gammarus sp. were Very Abundant (VA) at 2FR and they were not present at Station 1FR, another indication of a limestone influenced discharge somewhere between the two stations.
A total of 13 fish species were collected at the two stations (Table
5). Wild brown trout were abundant at Station 2FR during both the Pennsylvania
Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) and the DEP surveys. American eel, a migratory
fish species, were present at Station 2FR. Streams within the Frya Run basin
support all designated uses.
BIOLOGICAL USE QUALIFICATIONS
The biological use qualifying criterion applied to Frya Run was the integrated benthic macroinvertebrate score test described at § 93.4b(a)(2)(i)(A). This score is calculated from a subsample of approximately 100 individuals that were randomly selected from the total sample and enumerated following the EPA's RBP III protocols (Table 6). Selected benthic macroinvertebrate community metrics were compared to two reference stations with comparable drainage areas (Table 7). Both stations on Frya Run are located in the Reading Prong (58h) subecoregion. Two unnamed tributaries to Cooks Creek in the same subecoregion were used as the reference streams. One tributary (R1) is a freestone stream while the other one (R2) is influenced by limestone springs. The Cooks Creek basin is currently designated EV in Chapter 93. Samples from both the candidate stream and the reference stream were collected on the same day to minimize the effects of seasonal variation. This comparison was done using the following metrics which were selected as being indicative of community health: taxa richness; modified EPT index (total number of intolerant Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera taxa); modified Hilsenhoff Biotic Index; percent dominant taxon; and percent modified mayflies.
The biological use qualifying criterion applied to Frya Run was the integrated benthic macroinvertebrate score test described at § 93.4b(a)(2)(i)(A). This score is calculated from a subsample of approximately 100 individuals that were randomly selected from the total sample and enumerated following the EPA's RBP III protocols (Table 6). Selected benthic macroinvertebrate community metrics were compared to two reference stations with comparable drainage areas (Table 7). Both stations on Frya Run are located in the Reading Prong (58h) subecoregion. Two unnamed tributaries to Cooks Creek in the same subecoregion were used as the reference streams. One tributary (R1) is a freestone stream while the other one (R2) is influenced by limestone springs. The Cooks Creek basin is currently designated EV in Chapter 93. Samples from both the candidate stream and the reference stream were collected on the same day to minimize the effects of seasonal variation. This comparison was done using the following metrics which were selected as being indicative of community health: taxa richness; modified EPT index (total number of intolerant Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera taxa); modified Hilsenhoff Biotic Index; percent dominant taxon; and percent modified mayflies.
Based on these five metrics, Stations 1FR and 2FR both had biological condition scores less than 83% of the reference station scores and did not meet the threshold required for designation as High Quality Waters (§ 93.4b(a)(2)(i)(A)).
The PFBC classifies the portion of Frya Run from the mouth to RMI 1.0 as a
Class A Wild Trout Water based on a biomass of 128.8 kg/ha of wild brown trout.
Except for this requirement, none of the other antidegradation qualifying
requirements listed in §93.4b applies to this watershed.
PUBLIC RESPONSE AND PARTICIPATION SUMMARY
The Department provided public notice of this redesignation evaluation and requested any technical data from the general public through publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on April 22, 2000 (30 Pa.B 2427). A similar notice was also published in The Express Times, Easton on May 12, 2000. In addition, the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission and Williams Township were notified of the evaluation in a letter dated May 10, 2000. No data were received as a result of these requests.
A draft of this report was submitted to the above stakeholders including the
petitioner, along with a request for comments, on September 20, 2002. No
comments were received in response to this request.
RECOMMENDATION
Based on applicable regulatory definitions, the Department recommends that the Frya Run basin (6.9 stream miles) retain the current High Quality-Cold Water Fishes (HQ-CWF), Migratory Fish (MF) designation. A portion of the basin supports a "Class A" trout water and contains migratory American eels. The remainder of the basin is recommended to retain its High Quality designation based on the 1992 rulemaking. This designation provides less protection than requested by the petitioner.
|
Tables
and Figures
Figure 1, Map of Frya Run, Northampton County,
PA Table 1, Frya Run Station Locations |
Return to the Status List & Stream Reports Main Page