Prepared for: NDEP
Prepared by: Tetra Tech. September 2007
Executive Summary
The objective of this project is two-fold; to develop a benthic macroinvertebrate multimetric index using existing data to apply to the main stems of the rivers of west central Nevada (the Truckee River, the Carson River, and the Walker River) and to evaluate physical habitat measurements for the main stem of the Truckee River as a potential assessment tool.
A multimetric benthic macroinvertebrate index was developed for the area of interest that integrated data from three river systems and two agencies (Nevada Division of Environmental Protection and Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe). Data used for the index were collected during low flow periods (late June to early November) to minimize the effects of flow on the calibration of the index. Samples were collected from riffles and were subsampled to 500 organisms, identified to genus level.
