Au Sable River Assessment

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1 Gaylord N Grayling Frederic 4 Roscommon 23 Waters Lovells Luzerne St. Helen Lewiston Mio Fairview Mc Kinley South Branch W Barton City S 52 Glennie E Lincoln 76 Oscoda Lake Huron 81 MILES Figure 1. Major tributaries of the Au Sable River. 196

2 1. Kolke Creek 2. Bradford Creek 3. Au Sable River 4. East Branch Au Sable River 5. Shellenbarger Creek 6. Barker Creek 7. Wakeley Creek 8. Marsh Creek 9. South Branch Au Sable River 10. South Creek 11. East Creek 12. Hudson Creek 13. Robinson Creek 14. Beaver Creek 15. Hickey Creek 16. Thayer Creek 17. Douglas Creek 18. Sauger Creek 19. White Creek 20. Grace Creek 21. Conner s Creek 22. North Branch Au Sable River 23. Chub Creek 24. Turtle Creek 25. Crapo Creek 26. East Branch Big Creek - North 27. Wright Creek 28. Middle Branch Big Creek - North 29. West Branch Big Creek - North 30. Gammy Creek 31. Whitewater Creek 32. Sohn Creek 33. Beaver Creek 34. West Branch Big Creek - South 35. Hunt Creek 36. East Branch Big Creek - South 37. Red Creek 38. Lost Creek 39. Antler Creek 40. Honeywell Creek 41. Wolf Creek 42. Cherry Creek 43. Loud Creek 44. Perry Creek 45. Gusler Creek 46. Cauchy Creek 47. Comins Creek 48. Glennie Creek 49. Nine Mile Creek 50. Blockhouse Creek 51. Wilbur Creek 52. Bamfield Creek 53. Smith Creek 54. Hoppy Creek 55. Stewart Creek 56. Mink Creek 57. Harper Creek 58. Au Sable Creek 59. South Branch River 60. Stuart Creek 61. Wildcat Creek 62. East Branch Pine River 63. West Branch Pine River 64. Loud Creek 65. Backus Creek 66. Bryant Creek 67. Wallace Creek 68. Kurtz Creek 69. Samyn Creek 70. McGillis Creek 71. Gimlet Creek 72. South Branch Pine River 73. McDonald Creek 74. Roy Creek 75. Grey Creek 76. Van Etten Creek 77. Duval Creek 78. Hill Creek 79. Coppler Creek 80. Pine River (Van Etten Creek) 81. Old Au Sable River 82. State Ditch 197

3 N Gaylord Otsego Lake North Branch Au Sable West Twin Lake W S E Waters Lewiston F32 Big Creek - North 0 10 MILES Co. Rd. 612 Grayling Dam Grayling Frederic Stephan Bridge Wakeley Bridge South Branch Au Sable Roscommon Lovells Kellogg's Bridge Luzerne Smith's Bridge Chase Bridge Mio Parmalee Bridge Mio Dam Fairview Mc Kinley Co. Rd. 487 Bridge Alcona Dam McKinley Bridge Barton City Glennie Van Etten Lake Pine River Lincoln St. Helen Lake St. Helen South Branch Loud Dam Five Channels Dam Big Creek - South Cooke Dam Foote Dam Oscoda US - 23 Bridge Lake Huron Au Sable River Valley Segments Headwaters to Wakeley Bridge Wakeley Bridge to Mio Pond Mio Pond to McKinley Bridge McKinley Bridge to Five Channels Dam Five Channels Dam to Foote Dam Foote Dam to Lake Huron Figure 2. General sites and river valley segments within the Au Sable River watershed. The dams shown here form ponds having the same name. Roads for differently named bridges are: Kellogg s Bridge = F32; Smith s Bridge = M-72; Parmalee Bridge = County Road

4 Figure 3. Surface geology of the Au Sable River watershed. Data from Farrand and Bell (1982). 199

5 Au Sable below Foote Dam Manistee at High Br. Muskegon at Evart Kalamazoo at Kalamazoo Thunder Bay at M65 Cass at Frankenmuth Mainstem at Grayling East Branch at Grayling Mainstem at Wakeley Br. South Branch at Smith's Br. Big Cr.-North at F32 North Branch at Kellogg's Br. Big Cr.-South at Co. Rd. 487 Mainstem at McKinley Br. Pine River (Van Etten Creek) near mouth Glacial outwash sand & gravel Medium-textured glacial till Coarse-textured glacial till Fine-textured glacial till Lacustrine sand & gravel Other (water, peat, dune, lacustrine clay) Figure 4. Percent composition of the surficial geology for Michigan catchments similar in size to the Au Sable River below Foote Dam, and for catchments of segments and tributaries throughout the Au Sable River watershed. Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division records. 200

6 x coefficient of variation of daily discharge Yellowstone, MT Gallatin, MT E. Br. Penobscot, ME Salmon, ID Bois Brule, WI Deschutes, OR Manistee, MI Au Sable, MI Clarks Fork, MT Beaverkill, NY S. Umpqua, OR Maximum monthly / minimum monthly discharge Figure 5. Flow stability of United States trout streams as shown by two measures: 1) ratio of the monthly average flows for the months having the highest and lowest monthly average flows; 2) coefficient of variation for daily flow values over the water year (calculated as the standard deviation of daily flows divided by the mean daily flow times 100). Lower values on either axis indicate greater hydrologic stability. Both the Au Sable and Manistee rivers are in the lowest, left-most corner of the graph. Data from United States Geological Survey and Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division records. 201

7 Cass at Frankenmuth Muskegon at Evart Thunder Bay at M65 Manistee at High Bridge Au Sable below Foote Dam a Mainstem at Alcona Dam* b Mainstem at McKinley Br.* Mainstem at Mio Dam Mainstem at Parmalee Br. South Branch at Smith's Br. East Branch at Grayling Mainstem at Grayling Ratio of 10% to 90% exceedence flows Figure 6. Flow stability (expressed as the ratio of 10% and 90% exceedence flows) of: a) Michigan streams having catchments comparable in size to the Au Sable River below Foote Dam; and b) gauged Au Sable River catchments upstream of Mio. Data from United States Geological Survey. * indicates data for 1997 only. 202

8 Cass at Frankenmuth Muskegon at Evart Kalamazoo at Kalamazoo Thunder Bay at M65 Au Sable below Foote Dam Manistee at High Br. Mainstem at Alcona Dam* Mainstem at McKinley Br.* Mainstem at Mio Dam Mainstem at Parmalee Br. North Branch at Kellogg's Br.** Big Cr.-North at F32** South Branch at Smith's Br. East Branch at Grayling Mainstem at Grayling Low-flow yield (cfs/mi 2 ) Figure 7. Low-flow yield (90% exceedence flow divided by catchment area) of Michigan streams having catchments comparable in size to the Au Sable River below Foote Dam, and for Au Sable River catchments having USGS streamflow data. Data from United States Geological Survey and Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division records. * indicates data for 1997 only. ** indicates USGS miscellaneous low-flow discharge measurement. 203

9 T = > 50 PERCENT TROUT (TROUT) F = PERCENT TROUT (FAIR) M = 0 20 PERCENT TROUT (MARGINAL) N = 0 PERCENT TROUT (NO TROUT) Figure 8. Classification of sites in the Au Sable River upstream of Alcona Pond according to the percent of the electrofishing catch made up by trout. Figure from Coopes et al. (1974). 204

10 1300 Discharge, in cubic feet per second Au Sable River near Red Oak, MI Instantaneous discharge (cfs) Au Sable River at Mio, MI Instantaneous discharge (cfs) June Figure 9. Instantaneous streamflow measurements for June 22-30, 1998 for the Au Sable River in riverine reaches above (near Red Oak) and below (at Mio) Mio Pond. Water levels of Mio Pond were lowered for inspections of Mio Dam on June 25th. Data from United States Geological Survey. 205

11 Mainstem at Wa Wa Sum East Branch at Grayling South Branch at Smith's Br. North Branch at Kellogg's Br. Mainstem at Wakeley Br Big Cr-South at Co. Rd. 487 Big Cr-North at F32 Mainstem at McKinley Br. Mainstem below Foote Dam Pine River (Van Etten Creek) near mouth 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Decidious Forest Rangeland Urban Water Coniferous Forest Forested Wetland Agriculture Figure 10. Percent of different land use types for catchments of segments and tributaries of the Au Sable River. Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division records. 206

12 Figure 11. Elevation changes by river mile along the mainstem Au Sable River from its headwaters at the confluence of Kolke and Bradford creeks to its mouth. Impoundments created by major mainstem dams are shown. Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division records. 207

13 80 Free-flowing Impounded 60 Miles low medium high Gradient class (ft/mile) 10+ very high Figure 12. Stream gradient distribution for the mainstem Au Sable River. Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division records. 208

14 60 Free-flowing Impounded 40 Miles low medium high Gradient class (ft/mile) 10+ very high Figure 13. Stream gradient distribution for the mainstem Au Sable River from the confluence of the South Branch Au Sable River to Lake Huron. Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division records. 209

15 Gaylord N Waters Lewiston W E Frederic Lovells S Fairview Barton City Lincoln Grayling Luzerne Mio Mc Kinley Glennie Roscommon South Branch Oscoda Lake Huron St. Helen 0 10 MILES Figure 14. Dams in the Au Sable River watershed. Data from Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Land and Water Management Division. 210

16 75 B-Foote B-Cooke B-Loud 73 B-Alcona 71 B-Mio 1990 July temperatures (F) Max Mean A-Loud A-Alcona A-Mio 57 Min Wa Wa Sum Miles above Lake Huron Figure 15. Average weekly maximum, minimum, and mean stream temperatures in July 1990 for riverine (or tailwater) reaches of the Au Sable River above (A-) and below (B-) Consumers Energy ponds. Data show that ponds unnaturally elevate summer temperatures and reduce natural temperature variations. Data were not collected above Five Channels, Cooke, and Foote ponds due to absence of free-flowing river reaches directly upstream of each pond. Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division records. 211

17 Spawning habitat migrations migrations Refuge habitat daily winter drought migrations Feeding and growth habitat Figure 16. The basic life cycle of stream fishes in regard to habitat use (modified from Schlosser 1991). 212

18 Top Quality Coldwater Second Quality Coldwater Top Quality Warmwater Second Quality Warmwater Gaylord N Waters Lewiston W E Frederic Lovells S Fairview Barton City Lincoln Grayling Luzerne Mio Mc Kinley Glennie Roscommon South Branch Oscoda Lake Huron St. Helen 0 10 MILES Figure 17. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division classification of the Au Sable River drainage in Top- and second-quality coldwater streams are designated trout streams. Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division records. 213

19 25 Lake Superior Total PCB concentration (mg/kg) Lake Huron Lake Michigan Lake Ontario Year Figure 18. Mean total PCB concentrations in whole lake trout from the Great Lakes, Data from De Vault et al. (1996). 214

20 LAKE MICHIGAN Grand 1987 Grand 1990 Grand 1993 Kalamazoo 1987 Kalamazoo 1990 Kalamazoo 1993 Manistee 1990 Manistique 1990 Menominee 1993 Muskegon 1987 Muskegon 1990 Muskegon 1993 Pere Marquette 1990 Pere Marquette 1993 St Joseph 1989 St Joseph 1993 Escanaba 1993 LAKE HURON Thunder Bay 1989 Thunder Bay 1996 Au Sable 1991 Au Sable 1996 Au Gres 1991 Saginaw 1986 Saginaw 1988 Saginaw 1992 LAKE ERIE Huron 1988 Huron 1991 Raisin Net PCB uptake (mg/kg) Figure 19. Net uptake of PCBs in channel catfish caged for 27 to 29 days at the mouths of select Michigan rivers. Zero values indicate no detectable uptake. Data from Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Surface Water Quality Division records. 215

21 0.6 Lake Superior Chlordane concentration (mg/kg) Lake Huron Lake Michigan Lake Ontario Year Figure 20. Mean total chlordane concentration in whole lake trout from the Great Lakes, Data from De Vault et al. (1996). 216

22 Gaylord N Waters Lewiston W E Frederic Lovells S Fairview Barton City Lincoln Grayling Luzerne Mio Mc Kinley Glennie Roscommon South Branch Oscoda Lake Huron St. Helen 0 10 MILES State Natural Rivers Federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Figure 21. State Natural Rivers and Federal Wild and Scenic Rivers in the Au Sable River watershed. The Federally designated portion is also designated as a State Natural River. Data from Anonymous (1987). 217

23 Gaylord N Waters Lewiston W E Frederic Lovells S Fairview Barton City Lincoln Grayling Luzerne Mio Mc Kinley Glennie Roscommon South Branch Oscoda Lake Huron St. Helen 0 10 MILES Figure 22. Blue Ribbon trout streams in the Au Sable River watershed. Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division records. 218

24 Mainstem North Br. Brown trout abundance (pounds/acre) South Br Year Figure 23. Brown trout abundance for the mainstem, North and South branches of the Au Sable River, Data are averages for the following combinations of electrofishing sites: Mainstem-WaWaSum and Stephan s Bridge; North Branch- Twin Bridges and Dam Four; South Branch- Chase Bridge and Smith Bridge. 219

25 Brook trout abundance (pounds/acre) Mainstem North Br. South Br Year Figure 24. Brook trout abundance for the mainstem, North and South branches of the Au Sable River, Data are averages for the following combinations of electrofishing sites: Mainstem- WaWaSum and Stephan s Bridge; North Branch- Twin Bridges and Dam Four; South Branch- Chase Bridge and Smith Bridge. 220

26 A-Mio B-Mio A-Alcona B-Alcona A-Loud B-Loud B-Five Channels B-Cooke B-Foote Number of invertebrate taxa Figure 25. Number of invertebrate taxa collected in riverine reaches of the Au Sable River above (A-) and below (B-) Consumers Energy ponds. Taxa were usually identified to the species level, but in some cases, only to the genus level; the level of identification (genus vs. species) was consistent across collections. Data were not collected above Five Channels, Cooke, and Foote ponds due to absence of free-flowing river reaches directly upstream of each pond. Data from Lawler, Matusky, and Skelly Engineers (1991 a, b, c, d, e, f). 221

27 A-Mio B-Mio A-Alcona B-Alcona A-Loud B-Loud B-Five Channels B-Cooke B-Foote Fall Spring Invertebrate density (# of organisms per m 2 ) Figure 26. Spring and fall densities of aquatic invertebrates on cobble and boulder substrates in riverine reaches of the Au Sable River above (A-) and below (B-) Consumers Energy ponds. No spring data were available below Loud, Five Channels, and Cooke Ponds. Data were not collected above Five Channels, Cooke, and Foote ponds due to absence of free-flowing river reaches directly upstream of each pond. Data from Lawler, Matusky, and Skelly Engineers (1991 a, b, c, d, e, f). 222

28 A-Mio B-Mio A-Alcona B-Alcona A-Loud B-Loud B-Five Channels B-Cooke B-Foote Number of mayfly, stonefly, and caddisfly taxa Figure 27. Number of mayfly, stonefly, and caddisfly taxa collected in riverine reaches of the Au Sable River above (A-) and below (B-) Consumers Energy ponds. Taxa were usually identified to the species level, but in some cases, only to the genus level; the level of identification (genus vs. species) was consistent across collections. Data were not collected above Five Channels, Cooke, and Foote ponds due to absence of free-flowing river reaches directly upstream of each pond. Data from Lawler, Matusky, and Skelly Engineers (1991 a, b, c, d, e, f). 223

29 6,000 Brook 5,000 Brown Rainbow 4,000 Number stocked 3,000 2,000 1, Year Figure 28. Brook, brown, and rainbow trout stockings in the Headwaters to Wakeley Bridge segment of the Au Sable River, Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division records. 224

30 30,000 Brown 25,000 Rainbow 20,000 Number stocked 15,000 10,000 5, Year Figure 29. Brown and rainbow trout stockings in the Wakeley Bridge to Mio Pond segment of the Au Sable River, Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division records. 225

31 35,000 30,000 25,000 Brook Brown Rainbow Number stocked 20,000 15,000 10,000 5, Year Figure 30. Brook, brown, and rainbow trout stockings in the Mio Pond to McKinley Bridge segment of the Au Sable River, Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division records. 226

32 30,000 25,000 Brown Rainbow 20,000 Number stocked 15,000 10,000 5, Year Figure 31. Brown and rainbow trout stockings in the McKinley Bridge to Five Channels Dam segment of the Au Sable River, Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division records. 227

33 800, , ,000 Coho Steelhead Brown Rainbow Chinook Lake trout Number stocked 500, , , , , Year Figure 32. Salmonid stockings in the Foote Dam to Lake Huron segment of the Au Sable River, Not shown are 9,000 Atlantic salmon that were stocked in Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division records. 228

34 Number of occupied nests in Lower Peninsula Anadromous Great Lakes Inland Year Figure 33. Number of occupied bald eagle nests in Michigan s Lower Peninsula by nest category, Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Division records. 229

35 Young fledged per occupied nest in Lower Peninsula 1.8 Anadromous 1.6 Great Lakes 1.4 Inland Year Figure 34. Productivity of bald eagle nests in Michigan s Lower Peninsula by nest category, Horizontal lines at productivity values of 0.7 and 1.0 young fledged per occupied nest represent production levels of stable and healthy populations (Sprunt et al. 1973). Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Division records. 230

36 231 Au Sable River Assessment

37 Gaylord N Frederic Waters Lovells 58 Lewiston W S E Grayling Luzerne 66 Roscommon St. Helen Fairview Mio Mc Kinley South Branch 0 10 MILES 40 Barton City Glennie Lincoln Oscoda Lake Huron 51 Figure 35. Designated public access sites along the Au Sable River and its tributaries. Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources and United States Forest Service records. Listed on the following page, access sites are categorized using font types as follows: regular = walk in access; regular, italics = walk in access and campground; bold = boat ramp; bold, italics = boat ramp and campground. 232

38 Mainstem Au Sable River 1. Grayling City Park 2. Au Sable River Canoe Camp 3. Burton s Landing 4. Louis Cabin Landing 5. Keystone Landing 6. Whirlpool Road 7. Thendara Road 8. Guide s Rest 9. Stephan Bridge 10. Pine Road 11. Wakeley Bridge 12. Townline Road 13. White Pine State Forest Campground 14. Conners Flat 15. Rainbow Bend State Forest Campground 16. McMasters Bridge 17. Parmalee Bridge State Forest Campground 18. Whirlpool Road 19. Camp Ten Bridge 20. Oscoda County Park 21. Popps Road (Mio Pond) 22. M33(M-72) 23. Loud Rest 24. River Dune 25. Meadow Springs 26. Comins Flats 27. Cathedral Pines 28. Davis Landing 29. McKinley Trail Camp 30. McKinley Bridge 31. Butter Cup 32. Bear Island 33. Alcona Rest Stop 34. Gabions Road Bridge 36. Alcona Pond Primitive Campsites 37. Alcona County Park 38. Bamfield Road 39. Au Sable River Semi-Primitive Area South Alcona to Loud Campsites 40. Loud Pond Primitive Campsites 41. Loud Dam 42. Five Channel Pond Primitive Campsites 43. Five Channels Pond 44. Cooke Pond Semi-Primitive Campsites 45. Foote Pond Primitive Campsites 46. Old Orchard Park 47. Foote Dam 48. Rea Road Bridge 49. Lower Au Sable River Primitive Sites-Foote to Whirlpool 50. Whirlpool 51. Au Sable Township Ramp 52. Oscoda Public Access North Branch Au Sable River 53. Sheep Ranch 54. Twin Bridges 55. State Access State Access Lovells Bridge (County Road 612) 58. Dam Sheep Pasture 60. Kellogg s Bridge 61. Morley Road South Branch Au Sable River 62. Mead s Landing 63. Dearheart Valley Road 64. Chase Bridge 65. Durant s Castle 66. Lower High Banks 67. Chapel 68. Canoe Harbor State Forest Campground 69. Smith Bridge Pine River 70. Pine River Campground 233

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Au Sable River Assessment

Michigan DNR STATE OF MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES Number 26 March 2001 Au Sable River Assessment Troy G. Zorn and Steven P. Sendek www.dnr.state.mi.us FISHERIES DIVISION SPECIAL REPORT MICHIGAN