Project Thermals

 On June 12 & 13, Project THERMALS kicked off when Debbie Fenner, Kerry  Fenner, Colin Mahon, Devin Stephenson , Jordan Erwin. Kai Labella and Douglas Moran joined our friend Mark Nemeth of the DNR in 2 days of climbing in and out of South Creek and the South Branch of the Vermillion.
Project THERMALS is a 5 year program to monitor and report water temperatures in those 2 trout streams. The project was jointly developed between the DNR, the Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers Organization and TCTU. 
Why is it important? Because it will provide important baseline data that can be used to influence policy and practices for the streams and the landscape around them. Think of it this way, it will give the bugs and fish and wildlife in those streams a voice as the land use around the streams change.

Project details
The South Branch of the Vermillion River and South Creek, all part of the Vermillion River Watershed, represent important coldwater resources within the rapidly developing southern Twin Cities metropolitan region. Historically, much of the surrounding watershed has consisted primarily of agricultural land uses, including row crop production, pasture, and rural residential development. These land uses, while impactful in their own right, have generally maintained lower levels of impervious surface coverage compared to fully urbanized landscapes.
Over the coming decades, however, the watershed is expected to experience substantial land-use transition and development pressure associated with continued growth in and around Farmington and Lakeville, Minnesota. Agricultural lands within the watershed are increasingly being converted to suburban residential development, transportation infrastructure, commercial corridors, and industrial uses. Of particular concern is the potential expansion of high-intensity industrial development, including data centers and associated utility infrastructure, which may substantially alter stormwater runoff patterns, groundwater discharge and recharge dynamics, and localized thermal conditions. (concerns over biases)Coldwater streams are especially sensitive to changes in watershed hydrology and temperature. Increased impervious surface coverage associated with suburban and industrial development can:

• Accelerate stormwater runoff
  
• Reduce groundwater infiltration and recharge
  
• Increase stream flashiness
  
• Elevate stream temperatures
  
• Reduce baseflow stability during drought periods

These impacts may be compounded by climate-driven increases in air temperature and the frequency of extreme precipitation events.
Because trout and many aquatic macroinvertebrates require cold, well-oxygenated water, even modest increases in stream temperature can significantly affect habitat quality, reproduction, survival, and overall biological integrity. Maintaining suitable thermal conditions is therefore critical to the long-term health of the Vermillion River coldwater system.
Water and air temperature are key links between broader climate and land use changes and biota living in the Vermillion River Watershed streams, especially recreationally important fishes such as Brown Trout and Brook Trout in coldwater streams.  Water temperature affects physiological processes of fish and other aquatic organisms leading to changes in fish growth and survival and can also influence fish habitat use.  
At present, relatively little recent long-term continuous temperature data exists for the South Branch Vermillion River and South Creek. Water temperatures can be extremely variable among years, seasons or months within years, or even hours within a day.  Some aquatic organisms' life stages may respond to annual changes whereas other organisms may respond more to short-term daily fluctuations.  Consequently, effective water temperature monitoring requires continuous measurement.  Establishing a multi-year temperature monitoring network now—before large-scale watershed conversion occurs—provides an important opportunity to:

• Document existing baseline thermal conditions
• ​Measure future changes associated with development and climate trends
  
• Compare data collected the first year using 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour and 3 hour intervals to quantify differences of temperatures associated with runoff within urban streams during a strong El Nino year
  
• Support science-based watershed planning and restoration and inform local governments and resource managers for future land-use decision-making

This monitoring effort reflects a proactive partnership among the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers Organization, and Twin Cities Trout Unlimited to better understand and protect one of the Twin Cities region’s most important remaining coldwater stream systems before substantial watershed transformation occurs.

June 12-13 by the numbers:
2:  days of work
8:  number of volunteers
2:  streams worked on
12: temperature loggers installed
15: cheeseburgers consumed
5:   Subway box lunches eaten
35: approx miles driven 
1:   excellent fishing locations discovered
0:   injuries

Incidentally, keep an eye out for volunteer activities-we will need assistance doing data downloads in each September, December, March and July for the next 5 years!