Biological Monitoring
Rice Creek
| Monitoring Location | at Hwy 65, Locke Park, Fridley |
| Monitored By | Columbia Heights High School |
| Number of Years Monitored | 4 yrs |
| Background: Rice Creek originates from Howard Lake in east-central Anoka County and flows south and west through the Rice Creek Chain of Lakes and eventually to the Mississippi River. Sampling is conducted in Locke Park, which encompasses a large portion of the stream's riparian zone in Fridley. Outside of this buffer, though, the watershed is highly urbanized and the stream receives runoff from a variety of sources. The stream has a rocky bottom with pools and riffles, some due to streambank stabilization projects. | |
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| Results Three Totino Grace High School classes monitored this stream in fall 2006, facilitated by the Anoka Conservation District (ACD). ACD staff monitored it in spring 2006, when the school was unable. At first glance, it may appear that Rice Creek has only a slightly below average condition. A closer examination reveals a highly impaired macroinvertebrate community. While the number of families found is similar to the average for Anoka County streams, virtually all of these are generalist species that can tolerate polluted conditions. Only two EPT families were found during each visit in 2006, and most of those individuals were hydropsychidae, caddisfly that thrives in low-quality streams. In fact, hydropsychidae has been the most abundant family in 10 of the last 13 sampling efforts. Overall, the invertebrate community of Rice Creek at near Highway 65 is poor. |
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| Discussion The poor macroinvertebrate community in this stream is likely due to poor water quality, not poor habitat. Habitat at the sampling site and nearby is good, in part because of past stream habitat improvement projects. The stream has riffles, pools, and runs with a variety of snags and rocks. The area immediately surrounding the stream is wooded, with walking trails. However, outside of this natural corridor around the stream, the watershed is urbanized and storm water inputs probably degrade water quality. |
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