Stream Health Research Articles

Predicting biological conditions for small headwater streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed

A primary goal for Chesapeake Bay watershed restoration is to improve stream health and function in 10% of stream miles by 2025. Predictive spatial modeling of stream conditions, when accurate, is one method to fill gaps in monitoring coverage and estimate baseline conditions for restoration goals. Predictive modeling can also monitor progress as additional data become available. We developed a random forests model to predict biological condition of small streams (<200 km2 in drainage) in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Biological condition was measured with the Chesapeake Bay Basin-wide Index of Biotic Integrity (Chessie BIBI), a stream macroinvertebrate index. Our goal was to predict biological condition in all unsurveyed small streams present in a 1:24,000 scale catchment layer as a 2004–2008 baseline. We reclassified the 5-category Chessie BIBI ratings into two categories, poor and fair/good, to align with management goals of the Chesapeake Bay Program. The model included 12 geospatial predictor variables including measures on spatial location, bioregion, land cover, soil, precipitation, and number of dams in local catchments. We trained the model with a random 75% subset of Chessie BIBI data (n = 1449), and used the remaining 25% of Chessie BIBI data (n = 484) as test data. The model performed well, correctly predicting 72% of samples in training data and 73% of samples in test data, but model accuracy varied among bioregions. We performed uncertainty analyses by adding bands of either ±0.05 or ±0.10 BIBI units to the cutoff between poor and fair/good. These uncertainty analyses resulted in 14.5% (±0.05 band) and 24.8% (±0.10 band) of samples in test data being classified as in uncertain condition. For 95,877 small stream reaches in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the model predicted 64% in fair/good condition, the ±0.05 uncertainty analyses predicted 57% in fair/good condition, and the ±0.10 uncertainty analysis predicted 50% in fair/good condition. These reported values have different implications for the number of improved stream miles required to meet the goal of improving 10%. Incorporating uncertainty provides an assessment of model strength as well as confidence in predictions. We, therefore, suggest increased reporting of uncertainty in studies that spatially predict stream conditions.

Multi-scale assessment of forest cover in an agricultural landscape of Southeastern Brazil: Implications for management and conservation of stream habitat and water quality

Forest cover has important functions for streams. Consequently, deforestation and forest degradation due to agricultural activities tend to have negative impacts on stream ecosystems. We related forest cover to stream variables, expecting to find better habitat and water quality conditions in catchments with better forest cover conditions in order to evaluate forest cover as indicator of stream health in agricultural landscapes. We sampled stream variables and quantified forest cover and physical variables in 60 small agricultural catchments in Southeast Brazil. We used redundancy and regression analysis to relate the landscape predictors to the channel responses. Percent forest cover had low to intermediate values in the spatial scales evaluated. Forest cover was fragmented and mostly located in riparian and steep slope areas. Redundancy analysis showed little influence of forest cover on the response variables, which were more influenced by catchment physical variables. Regression analysis showed that forest cover in the reach and forests located closer to the sampled reach are positively related to wood, habitat diversity, and dissolved oxygen, and negatively related to channel depth, volume, and temperature. We also found that forest cover fragmentation is negatively related to pH, potassium, water acidity, and temperature. Although many of these relationships were fairly weak, it appears that naturally regenerated forest cover is at least moderately effective in protecting streams in agricultural landscapes in the region.

Interactive effects of water quality, physical habitat, and watershed anthropogenic activities on stream ecosystem health

Ecological degradation of streams remains a major environmental concern worldwide. While stream restoration has received considerable attention, mitigation efforts focused on the improvement of physical habitat have not proven completely effective. Several small-scale studies have emphasized that effective restoration strategies require a more holistic understanding of the variables at play, although the generalization of the findings based on the small-scale studies remains unclear. Using a comprehensive statewide stream monitoring database from West Virginia (WV), a detailed landscape dataset, and a machine learning algorithm, this study explores the interactive impacts of water quality and physical habitat on stream ecosystem health as indicated by benthic macroinvertebrate scores. Given the long history of energy extraction in this region (i.e., coal mining and oil/gas production), investigation of energy extraction influences is highlighted. Our results demonstrate that a combination of good habitat and low specific conductance is generally associated with favorable benthic macroinvertebrate scores, whereas poor habitat combined with water quality conditions typically indicative of high ionic strength are associated with impaired stream status. In addition, streams impacted by both energy extraction and residential development had a higher percentage of impairment compared to those impacted predominantly by energy extraction or residential development alone. While water quality played a more important role in the ecosystem health of streams impacted primarily by energy extraction activities, habitat seems to be more influential in streams impacted by residential development. Together, these findings emphasize that stream restoration strategies should consider interactive effects of multiple environmental stressors tailored to specific sites or site types – as opposed to considering a single stressor or multiple stressors separately.

Relative performance of three stream bed stability indices as indicators of stream health.

Bed stability is an important stream habitat attribute because it affects geomorphology and biotic communities. Natural resource managers desire indices of bed stability that can be used under a wide range of geomorphic conditions, are biologically meaningful, and are easily incorporated into sampling protocols. To eliminate potential bias due to presence of instream wood and increase precision of stability values, we modified a stream bed instability index (ISI) to include measurements of bankfull depth (d bf) and median particle diameter (D 50) only in riffles and increased the pebble count to decrease variability (i.e., increase precision) in D 50 . The new riffle-based instability index (RISI) was compared to two established indices: ISI and the riffle stability index (RSI). RISI and ISI were strongly associated with each other but neither was closely associated with RSI. RISI and ISI were closely associated with both a diatom- and two macrovertebrate-based stream health indices, but RSI was only weakly associated with the macroinvertebrate indices. Unexpectedly, precision of D 50 did not differ between RISI and ISI. Results suggest that RISI is a viable alternative to both ISI and RSI for evaluating bed stability in multiple stream types. With few data requirements and a simple protocol, RISI may also better conform to riffle-based sampling methods used by some water quality practitioners.

Assessing the chemical contamination dynamics in a mixed land use stream system

Traditionally, the monitoring of streams for chemical and ecological status has been limited to surface water concentrations, where the dominant focus has been on general water quality and the risk for eutrophication. Mixed land use stream systems, comprising urban areas and agricultural production, are challenging to assess with multiple chemical stressors impacting stream corridors. New approaches are urgently needed for identifying relevant sources, pathways and potential impacts for implementation of suitable source management and remedial measures. We developed a method for risk assessing chemical stressors in these systems and applied the approach to a 16-km groundwater-fed stream corridor (Grindsted, Denmark). Three methods were combined: (i) in-stream contaminant mass discharge for source quantification, (ii) Toxic Units and (iii) environmental standards. An evaluation of the chemical quality of all three stream compartments – stream water, hyporheic zone, streambed sediment – made it possible to link chemical stressors to their respective sources and obtain new knowledge about source composition and origin. Moreover, toxic unit estimation and comparison to environmental standards revealed the stream water quality was substantially impaired by both geogenic and diffuse anthropogenic sources of metals along the entire corridor, while the streambed was less impacted. Quantification of the contaminant mass discharge originating from a former pharmaceutical factory revealed that several 100 kgs of chlorinated ethenes and pharmaceutical compounds discharge into the stream every year. The strongly reduced redox conditions in the plume result in high concentrations of dissolved iron and additionally release arsenic, generating the complex contaminant mixture found in the narrow discharge zone. The fingerprint of the plume was observed in the stream several km downgradient, while nutrients, inorganics and pesticides played a minor role for the stream health. The results emphasize that future investigations should include multiple compounds and stream compartments, and highlight the need for holistic approaches when risk assessing these dynamic systems.

Application of regional flow‐ecology relationships to inform watershed management decisions: Application of the ELOHA framework in the San Diego River watershed, California, USA

AbstractRelationships between changes in streamflow and changes in biological condition are important considerations for water resources management decisions. The Ecological Limits of Hydrologic Alteration (ELOHA) framework offers a way to protect stream health by managing flow conditions. We demonstrate application of a regionally derived ELOHA framework to inform stakeholder defined management challenges in the San Diego River Watershed in southern California, USA—a large semi‐urbanized watershed that is undergoing land use changes. Using previously defined flow‐ecology relationships based on benthic invertebrate community composition, we: (1) assess how future land use changes will affect flow conditions and impact biological endpoints in the watershed; (2) demonstrate how flow–ecology relationships can be used to prioritize regions of the watershed into various flow management classes that can inform future planning decisions; and (3) evaluate how two future management decisions (specifically, modification of reservoir operations and implementation of low impact development strategies to reduce stormwater runoff) will affect in‐stream flow conditions in the watershed. Our study shows a successful transition of regionally derived flow targets to inform local decisions at a catchment or watershed scale, thereby avoiding the need to develop local flow–ecology relationships for every stream of interest (as would be required by other instream flow methods). Case studies are a critical bridge between the science of flow‐ecology and real‐world implementation, and this work illuminates an example of how to navigate technical and management challenges and provide road maps for broader applications by including local stakeholders in defining, interpreting, and implementing products of flow‐ecology analyses.

Invertebrate-Based Water Quality Impairments and Associated Stressors Identified through the US Clean Water Act.

Macroinvertebrate community assessment is used in most US states to evaluate stream health under the Clean Water Act. While water quality assessment and impairment determinations are reported to the US Environmental Protection Agency, there is no national summary of biological assessment findings. The objective of this work was to determine the national extent of invertebrate-based impairments and to identify pollutants primarily responsible for those impairments. Evaluation of state data in the US Environmental Protection Agency's Assessment and Total Maximum Daily Load Tracking and Implementation System database revealed considerable differences in reporting approaches and terminologies including differences in if and how states report specific biological assessment findings. Only 15% of waters impaired for aquatic life could be identified as having impairments determined by biological assessments (e.g., invertebrates, fish, periphyton); approximately one-third of these were associated with macroinvertebrate bioassessment. Nearly 650 invertebrate-impaired waters were identified nationwide, and sediment was the most common pollutant in bedded (63%) and suspended (9%) forms. This finding is not unexpected, given previous work on the negative impacts of sediment on aquatic life, and highlights the need to more specifically identify the mechanisms driving sediment impairments in order to design effective remediation plans. It also reinforces the importance of efforts to derive sediment-specific biological indices and numerical sediment quality guidelines. Standardization of state reporting approaches and terminology would significantly increase the potential application of water quality assessment data, reveal national trends, and encourage sharing of best practices to facilitate the attainment of water quality goals.

Trophic gradients of two minnow species with similar eco-type and their relations to water chemistry and multimetric biological integrity

The objectives of this study were to determine tolerance ranges and trophic gradients of two fish populations of Zacco koreanus (Zk) and Zacco platypus (Zp) in relation to chemical water quality and ecological stream health, based on the biological integrity metric (BIM) model. Seventy-six streams and rivers were sampled for the analysis. The population of Zk had a narrow chemical tolerance with a low phosphorus limit (< 300 μg/L as total phosphorus), whereas the Zp population occurred within a high limit (up to 1,100 μg/L). Similar patterns in the two populations were shown in nitrogen, biological oxygen demand, suspended solids, and other parameters. The population of Zp had significantly (t=5.25, p<0.001) greater chemical tolerance than the population of Zk. The population of Zk had a positive functional relation (R2=0.43, p<0.001) with insectivore species, but the Zp population had negative linear function (R2=0.50, p<0.001), indicating a trophic difference in the food chain of two populations. Application of the biological integrity model indicated that the values of BIM, as an index of ecological health, were significantly greater (t=13.67, p<0.001) in the population of Zk than the population of Zp.

Valuing environmental services provided by local stormwater management

AbstractThe management of stormwater runoff via distributed green infrastructures delivers a number of environmental services that go beyond the reduction of flood risk, which has been the focus of conventional stormwater systems. Not all of these services may be equally valued by the public, however. This paper estimates households' willingness to pay (WTP) for improvements in water security, stream health, recreational and amenity values, as well as reduction in flood risk and urban heat island effect. We use data from nearly 1000 personal interviews with residential homeowners in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. Our results suggest that the WTP for the highest levels of all environmental services is A$799 per household per year. WTP is mainly driven by residents valuing improvements in local stream health, exemptions in water restrictions, the prevention of flash flooding, and decreased peak urban temperatures respectively at A$297, A$244, A$104 and A$65 per year. We further conduct a benefit transfer analysis and find that the WTP and compensating surplus are not significantly different between the study areas. Our findings provide additional support that stormwater management via green infrastructures have large nonmarket benefits and that, under certain conditions, benefit values can be transferred to different locations.

Evaluation of riparian condition of Songhua River by integration of remote sensing and field measurements

Riparian zone is crucial to the health of streams and their surrounding environment. Evaluation of riparian condition is essential to achieve and maintain good stream health, as well as to sustain ecological functions that riparian areas provide. This manuscript is aimed to evaluate riparian conditions of Songhua River, the fifth longest river in China, using physical structural integrality (PSI) values derived from remote sensing and validated by field measurements. The variation and clusters of PSI values were discriminated by the spatial statistics to quantify variation of riparian condition in each measurement section. Evaluation results derived from 13 measurement sections indicated that over 60% of the riparian zones have been disturbed by human activities. Analysis of land use patterns of riparian zone in the cold and hot spots found that land-use patterns had an important effect on riparian condition. The build-up and farmland areas had been the main human disturbances to the riparian condition, which were increased from 1976 to 2013. The low-low clusters (low PSI values with low neighbors) of PSI values can be implemented to identify the vulnerability of the riparian zone.

Developing a regional diatom index for assessment and monitoring of freshwater streams in sub-tropical Australia

The use of borrowed indices to assess stream health has limitations and research suggests a need to develop more reliable regionally based indices that are sensitive to the relationship between taxa and environmental conditions. Implementing this is challenging in the Southern Hemisphere given the scarcity of diatom indices, specifically in sub-tropical areas. The purpose of this study was to develop a regionally based diatom index to assess freshwater lotic systems in sub-tropical eastern Australia and compare the results with borrowed indices to derive meaningful inferences on river health. A total of 119 epilithic diatom and water samples were collected during 2014–2015 from the Richmond River Catchment in Northern NSW Australia. Statistical analysis indicated that total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) were strong variables influencing the data set and subsequently TP was chosen as a nutrient proxy for the index. Analysis of diatoms resulted in TP sensitivity values (1–5) being assigned to 105 species with relative abundance of >1% in the data set. These species were used to calculate the Richmond River Diatom Index (RRDI) for 45 sites within the Catchment. The index effectively scored sites along the environmental gradient with sites in the upper catchment generally scoring lower (healthier) than the mid and lower catchment sites. The index compared positively with both the Diatom Species Index for Australian Rivers (DSIAR) (r=0.76) and the Trophic Diatom Index (TDI) (r=0.65). Further research is suggested to test the RRDI on independent sites in neighbouring catchments and develop class boundaries from the RRDI so that the index can be readily used by water managers to assess and monitor freshwater systems in sub-tropical Australia.

Response of macroinvertebrate communities to seasonal hydrologic changes in three sub-tropical Australian streams

In the Australian sub-tropics, seasonal changes in hydrology can influence abiotic conditions, and consequently, the biota. Several methods of macroinvertebrate analyses, including the use of taxonomic groupings, are used to ascertain information regarding stream biodiversity and health. The use of biological traits to group and analyse macroinvertebrate communities, however, may provide a better picture of stream health, particularly in ephemeral streams. To address whether this is the case, three ephemeral systems in the lower Fitzroy catchment, Central Queensland, Australia, were studied over an 18-month period. A total of 69 macroinvertebrate families from 14 orders were collected in 128 samples. Taxonomic analysis indicated there was a range of habitat preferences within groups characterized by a large proportion of tolerant and generalist taxa. The macroinvertebrate communities were categorised into biological trait groups, with a number of predator families found during all flow regimes. A general pattern of Gatherer > Predator > Grazer > Shredder > Filterer was observed. This study provides a clear pattern of the biological traits present during variable flow and could be used as a framework for future stream health modelling. A trait-specific management tool for assessing freshwaters has not yet been adopted in global management protocols and would require both a more definitive understanding of patterns during different flow periods and an internationally recognised set of trait nomenclature.

Development of a multimetric index based on benthic macroinvertebrates for the assessment of urban stream health in Jinan City, China.

Assessment of the health of urban streams is an important theoretical and practical topic, which is related to the impacts of physiochemical processes, hydrological modifications, and the biological community. However, previous assessments of the urban water quality were predominantly conducted by measuring physical and chemical factors rather than biological monitoring. The purpose of this study was to develop an urban stream multimetric index (USMI) based on benthic macroinvertebrates to assess the health of aquatic ecosystem in Jinan City. Two hundred and eighty-eight samples were collected during two consecutive years (2014-2015) from 48 sites located within the city. Metrics related to the benthic macroinvertebrate richness, diversity, composition and abundance, and functional feeding groups were selected by using box-plots and the Kruskal-Wallis test. The final index derived from selected metrics was divided into five river quality classes (excellent, good, moderate, poor, and bad). A validation procedure using box-plots and the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test showed that the USMI was useful to assess the health of urban streams.

Insect Community Diversity Tracks Degradation and Recovery of a Wastewater Assimilation Marsh in Southeast Louisiana

The assimilation of wastewater effluent into wetlands is used to combat land loss in Southeast Louisiana. This study reports on changes in benthic insect diversity at a wetland assimilation site over the course of multiple years of sampling, during which time an initially healthy marsh degraded to open water and subsequently partially-revegetated. Insects are commonly used to monitor the health of streams and rivers, but have rarely been used to study wetlands. Three year-long sampling bouts resulted in a collection of 3984 individuals, representing 33 families and 86 species. Insect diversity tracked the overall condition of the marsh over time. Simpson’s diversity was highest before degradation occurred, lowest at the height of degradation, and intermediate during the period of partial recovery. Species richness, however, was highest in the partially revegetated marsh community. Although this community included species characteristic of both the intact and degraded communities, it shared greatest affinity with the intact marsh. The dominant taxa present in these communities shifted from various beetles to chironomid flies and then back to beetles. Our finding that insect families readily track wetland condition will be a valuable management tool given the dramatically decreased time and expertise needed to identify specimens to family versus species.

URBAN STREAM RESTORATION AND APPLIED PRACTICES IN NORTHEAST ILLINOIS

INTRODUCTION: In-stream and watershed dynamics in urban and urbanizing areas have significant impacts on local property and infrastructure, as well as the quality of the stream itself including: water quality, habitat, physical characteristics, and biodiversity. As land development occurs, natural vegetation and exposed soils are converted to buildings, pavement and other impervious surfaces. This leads to increased runoff during storm events as well as decreasing the time that it takes that stormwater to reach streams, wetlands, and other stormwater storage and conveyance systems. These hydrologic changes in a watershed often occur at a rapid pace which results in rapid destabilization and degradation of streams and rivers. Rivers and streams are naturally dynamic systems. They naturally erode and reshape themselves based on changes to the watershed or the stream itself. Erosion and deposition are natural processes that have always been important components of stream systems and in and of themselves are not undesirable. When natural stream dynamics are rapidly accelerated, however, an entire series of negative impacts to the stream and the biological systems that are depended on the stream occur. Rapid destabilization of streams often leads to significant bank and bed erosion that negatively impact stream health and frequently leads to negative impact to property, buildings and structures, as well as public infrastructure. Past approaches to stream bank and bed stabilization often involved channelization, armoring, and other gray infrastructure techniques to protect public and private property in the effected reaches of streams and rivers without taking into account the overall stream system dynamics. Early stabilization efforts frequently led to other unintended consequences by accelerating the rate of bank and bed erosion in untreated reaches, inadvertent flooding, and other infrastructure impacts. The complex nature of stream dynamics and fluvial geomorphology when applied to urban stream systems and significantly modified watersheds require the need for detailed analysis of the morphology of the stream. Consideration of the complex factors and processes that make up fluvial morphology are critical when selecting practices or methods of stream restoration. Many agencies and cooperative partners work to accumulate and analyze case studies and detailed research in order to develop a method of evaluating and prescribing different stream restoration techniques based on the morphologic conditions in the stream reach (Lyn D.A., and Newton J.F., 2015). An accumulation of case studies, research, and scholarly work on stream restoration techniques and practices helps shape and inform designers across multiple agencies in order to effectively select and design restoration practices. Ultimately, in urban streams, the designer is working to establish a condition of dynamic equilibrium in the treated stream reach. Dynamic equilibrium is defined as a stream reach that is in balance with sediment transport, aggradation, degradation, and bank and bed erosion. When those characteristics are in balance based on the inputs of sediment within the watershed, the bed load and sediments the stream transports, and discharge rate and volume, then the stream is considered to be in a relatively stable state (FISRWG, 1998). The selection then of stream restoration and stabilization practices in urban areas is dependent on not only the reach being treated, but also on the overall watershed dynamics. In addition to the physics of the actual practices implemented, including resistance to shear stresses and velocity of the water flow within the stream channel being treated, the practices must also take into account the larger picture of stream dynamics including sediment delivery and transport, within the watershed and not just within the treated reach. Successful urban stream restoration and stabilization techniques mimic the structures found in more undisturbed systems through the utilization of similar materials in an engineered configuration. In many streams the use of a combination of hard and soft armorment and stabilization solutions including stone, woody debris materials, modern geosynthetic reinforcement devices and native vegetation to stabilize and naturalize stream channels, thereby provided enhanced habitat, better water quality, and protecting property and infrastructure.

Potential Role of Mosquito Larvae &lt;i&gt;Culex Pipiens&lt;/i&gt; as a Biological Indicator of Environmental Water Pollution in Egypt

River Nile represents the most important source of freshwater in Egypt. There are several factors lead to the water pollution in the River Nile System (main stream Nile, drains and canals). The water quality of River Nile was good despite high organic loads discharged from some of the drains and industrial activities. These were harmful both to human and stream ecosystem health. A biological approach to monitoring water quality incorporates use of stream organisms themselves as a basis for pollution detection. Fish and aquatic insects considered as bio-indicators of pollutant effects and help to investigate possible environmental problems. One of the recent biochemical techniques for detecting DNA damage as a result of DNA single strand breaks, alkali-labile sites, and cross-linking is the alkaline (pH>13) single cell gel SCG assay. In this study the comet assay measure the DNA damage in various stages of the mosquito Culex pipiens collected from two different polluted water streams (Nikla and Elmansoreyh). The DNA damage measured in 3 rd , 4 th larval instars, pupa, male and female adults. It is clear from the results obtained in this study that the genotoxicity of water pollution of two different polluted water streams (Nikla and Elmansoreyh) in C. pipiens was high in larval and pupal stages and this study affirmed the appropriateness of the comet assay as a sensitive tool for environmental monitoring. Additionally, it can be proposed that C. pipiens is a strong aquatic bioindicator of genotoxicity.

Biological relevance of streamflow metrics: regional and national perspectives

AbstractProtecting the health of streams and rivers requires identifying ecologically significant attributes of the natural flow regime. Streamflow regimes are routinely quantified using a plethora of hydrologic metrics (HMs), most of which have unknown relevance to biological communities. At regional and national scales, we evaluated which of 509 commonly used HMs were associated with biological indicators of fish and invertebrate community integrity. We quantified alteration of each HM by using statistical models to predict site-specific natural baseline values for each of 728 sites across the USA where streamflow monitoring data were available concurrent with assessments of invertebrate or fish community integrity. We then ranked HMs according to their individual association with biological integrity based on random forest models that included HMs and other relevant covariates, such as land cover and stream chemistry. HMs were generally the most important predictors of biological integrity relative to ...

Degradation Rates of Native versus Exotic Leaves in a Tributary of the Yellow River in Georgia

Forested aquatic streams depend heavily on forest canopy input. This input is a primary resource for the macroinvertebrate fauna. As a result, changes in the canopy impact the aquatic ecosystem. The focus of this study was to identify leaf degradation rates to determine resource availability for invertebrate communities. Specifically, leaf degradation rates were determined for oak, poplar, maple and kudzu. Oak, poplar, and maple are established stream canopy vegetation while kudzu is an invasive species. By comparing leaf degradation rates of native vs. exotic leaves, it provides an insight to changes in community structure. Furthermore, these changes in the plant canopy biodiversity have long-term implications for stream health.

Distributions of Endangered Fish Species and Their Relations to Chemical Water Quality-Ecological Stream Health in Geum-River Watershed

Distributions of Endangered Fish Species and Their Relations to Chemical Water Quality-Ecological Stream Health in Geum-River Watershed

Response of benthic macroinvertebrate communities to climate change

Aquatic ecosystems are impacted by climate change. However, the level of impacts, especially on macroinvertebrates, are not well known, which is the goal of this study. Here, three biotic indices were used. The Saginaw River Basin, the largest watershed in Michigan was selected for this study. Since no know modeling package exists to evaluate the impacts of climate change on these biotic indices, a coupled modeling approach was proposed. First, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was setup to estimate streamflow and water quality for all stream segments. Next, the results from the SWAT model in combination with long-term biological monitoring data were used to develop biotic indices predictive models using a two-phase approach. An assemblage of 42 climate scenarios (2040–2060) were obtained from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which are biased corrected and statistically downscaled. The dataset provides two extreme Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) to account for best (RCP 4.5) and worst (RCP 8.5) case scenarios. The climate data were incorporated in SWAT and biotic indices predictive models to understand stream health conditions in the watershed. Results showed that the majority of streams have a probability of declining in values of biotic indices while streams that currently have excellent conditions are the most vulnerable streams to the climate change. This modeling approach provides a new mean to link more strongly biota indicators with flow regime indicators, which is of prime interest for the implementation of ecohydrology principles.