Proposed Reclassification of Deer Creek, North Platte River Basin, Wyoming

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1 Proposed Reclassification of Deer Creek, North Platte River Basin, Wyoming October 25, 2010 Waterbody: Location: Tributary to: Deer Creek - Mainstem from headwaters downstream to the confluence with the Laramie River Headwaters-NW¼, Section 8, Township 24 North, Range 65 West in Platte County to its confluence with the Laramie River-NE¼, Section 29, Township 26 North, Range 64 West in Goshen County. Laramie River River Basin: North Platte River, HUC Purpose The purpose of this Use Attainability Analysis is to recommend the reclassification of the main stem of Deer Creek from its headwaters downstream to the confluence with the Laramie River from 2AB (supports a coldwater fishery and drinking water) to 2C (supports non-game fisheries, does not support drinking water). The drinking water use designation is a presumptive use that is only assigned by default to waters known to support game fish, but is not presumed to be an attainable use on waters not known to support game fish. Because the use attainability analysis described in this document shows that the stream currently only supports non-game species, it is not logical to continue to designate a drinking water use. Background The Deer Creek watershed is located within the Lower Laramie Sub-basin (USGS HUC ) in the North Platte River Basin. This small and remote watershed lies within Platte and Goshen Counties in eastern Wyoming (Figure 1). Deer Creek is a perennial stream that drains this watershed, flowing approximately 16 miles from its headwaters at 5,060 ft. elevation to its confluence with the Laramie River within the boundary of the Fort Laramie National Historic Site near Fort Laramie, at 4,242 ft. elevation. Land uses include irrigated agriculture, grazing, dryland farming, and some logging in the Laramie Range. Deer Creek is currently classified by the state of Wyoming as 2AB, and is protected as a cold water fishery, for aquatic life other than fish, agricultural, industrial, primary recreational, wildlife and scenic value uses. Justification for Reclassification Section 33 (a) of Chapter 1 of the Wyoming Water Quality Rules and Regulations states that any person at any time may petition the Department of Environmental Quality or the Environmental Quality Council 1

2 Figure 1. Map showing the location of the Lower North Platte Sub-basin within Wyoming (inset map) and the location of Deer Creek (gray shaded area). 2

3 to change the classification, add or remove a designated use or establish site specific criteria on any surface water. This reclassification is based upon Section 33 (b) of Chapter 1 of the Wyoming Water Quality Rules and Regulations which allows that the Water Quality Administrator may lower a classification, remove a designated use which is not an existing use or an attainable use, establish ambient-based criteria on effluent dependent waters, or make a recommendation to the Environmental Quality Council to establish sub-categories of a use, or establish site-specific criteria if it can be demonstrated through a Use Attainability Analysis (UAA) that the original classification and/or designated use or water quality criteria are not feasible because: (v) Physical conditions related to the natural features of the water body, such as the lack of a proper substrate, cover, depth, pools, riffles, and the like, unrelated to water quality, preclude attainment of the classification or use The Use Attainability Analysis (UAA) developed by the Goshen County Conservation Districts (see Appendix A) for Deer Creek and the Letter of Support from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (see Appendix B) satisfactorily demonstrate, by citing both physical and biological evidence, that the main stem of Deer Creek from its headwaters downstream to its confluence with the Laramie River should be reclassified from a coldwater fishery (2AB) to a non-game fishery (2C). The Goshen County Conservation District UAA identifies natural habitat features in Deer Creek as not suitable for a lotic coldwater game fishery. Specifically, the homogenous silt-sand streambed and high water temperatures restrict the establishment of a coldwater fishery. Indeed, streambeds composed of silt and sand are provide unsuitable refuge and spawning substrates for these fishes, and limit algal and macroinvertebrate production. Lastly, Rahel and Hubert (1991) found that the fish communities in the nearby Horse Creek watershed are naturally stratified; with coldwater fish occurring above 6500 ft. elevation, and warm water assemblages below. The requirements for reclassification outlined in Section 33 (b)(v) are satisfied by the above description of the habitat and fish community within Deer Creek. Section 2 (viii) of Chapter 1 of the Wyoming Water Quality Rules and Regulations defines cold water game fishes as either burbot (Genus Lota), grayling (Genus Thymallus), trout, salmon and char (Genus Salmo, Oncorhynchus and Salvelinus), and whitefish (Genus Prosopium); whereas in Section 2 (lv), warm water game fishes are defined as bass (Genus Micropterus and Ambloplites), catfish and bullheads (Genus Ameiurus, Ictalurus, Noturus and Pylodictus), crappie (Genus Pomoxis), yellow perch (Genus Perca ), sunfish (Genus Lepomis), walleye and sauger (Genus Stizostedion), pike (Genus Esox), sturgeon (Genus Scaphirhynchus) and freshwater drum (Genus Aplodinotus). There are currently no Wyoming Game and Fish Department records of either coldwater or warm water game fish collections in Deer Creek; however, WGFD recently (2006) collected non-game species, including fathead minnow, brassy minnow, central stoneroller, common carp, white sucker, and creek chub. WDEQ agrees with this proposed reclassification based on the Goshen County UAA and the recommendations of the WGFD (see Appendix B). Implementation This document represents a preliminary determination by the administrator of the Water Quality Division to change the classification of Deer Creek. After consideration of public comments, the Administrator shall publish a final determination which will be submitted to EPA for approval under the Federal Clean Water Act. The revised classification shall become effective upon EPA approval or 90 days after submittal, whichever comes first. 3

4 Public Participation Persons wishing to comment on these findings or planned implementation may submit written comments to Richard Thorp, Water Quality Division, Department of Environmental Quality, Herschler Bldg. 4W, Cheyenne, WY 82002, on or before November 30, Copies of the Use Attainability Analysis are available from the Department of Environmental Quality, 122 West 25th Street, Herschler Building-4W, Cheyenne, WY or can be downloaded from the agency s website ( Persons may request a hard copy of the document by contacting Richard Thorp at , fax at , rthorp@wyo.gov. RT/LP/rm/

5 Appendix A UAA Submitted by Goshen County Conservation Districts for Deer Creek 5

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27 Appendix B Wyoming Game and Fish Department Letter of Support 27

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