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A Total Forest Management Plan and Wildland Management Decision Support System
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The Stream Fishery: Silver Waters

Stream improvement for trout. Gabians in back center; constructing up-stream V.

The interactions of ponds and streams are important. May (1976:5) said "How can waters from active mines be treated to abate pollution when the waters return to local streams and rivers [causing problems described by Curtis 1973 and Kinney 1964]? Catchment areas, sediment basins, and ponds must play an important role in the management of surface water on surface mined areas," and other regional restoration and development efforts.

Early work has been done by the Virginia Cooperative Fisheries Research Unit, but it only suggests the potentials for aids in watershed analyses, comparative studies, and optimum allocation of stocking and managerial efforts. The system will include interactions with watershed, wildlife, trails, reclamation, and other subunits of The Trevey.

Streams may be stocked once reclamation is completed. Tables are presented on the number of fish that should be stocked, based on the width of the stream (VV) and the type stock available. Stock varies in availability due to hatchery production, location, and season of the year. The equation is

S = X (0.5 N W + 8.0 N)

where S is the number of fish to be stocked per mile of stream (km), X is the coefficient relating fish size
1-inch fry = 12;
3-inch fingerlings = 1 .0;
4-inch fingerlings = 0.75;
6-inch young = 0.60;
10-inch adults = 0.30.

N is the number of 3-inch fingerlings to be stocked in a 1-mile stream, 1- foot wide. W is the average width of the stream in feet (based on Weatherley (1972)).

There are many reasons why a complete water analysis will rarely be done on a stream sample. In a typical case, a probability Q, is computed for whether a stream has acid mine drainage [or other problem condition] in some form. In some areas, deep mines cause the stream problem even though they may be closed or inconspicuous. The probability of acid drainage is based on a summative probability of each observation reflecting such drainage, based on pre-stated criteria. The computation is made by computer. If a criterion is exceeded, it is assigned the value of 1, otherwise zero. D = 1/n where n is the total number of criteria for which an observation is made. In a situation where there are 11 total criteria, then if only four are recorded as present, then D = 0.25. Then where K is the number of observations exceeding the criteria, Q is computed as the product KD. As an example, if 3 out of 4 criteria are exceeded, Q = 0.75.

under development

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This Web site is maintained by R. H. Giles, Jr.
Last revision July 13, 2001.