Environmental Services

Tannery Creek

Description and Background

Tannery Creek is a 5-mile long coldwater creek. This creek is the most impacted creek within the LTBB Reservation. It is perennially spring-fed and meanders through agricultural land, a golf course, and areas of dense development. All land surrounding the creek is owned privately except for a right of way located at the mouth of the creek. Impervious concrete is part of the substrate composition in the downstream areas of the creek. These concrete foundations are said to be remnants of an old tannery (hence the name of the creek). When the tannery was in operation it has been said that Tannery Creek was highly polluted due to the continuous discharge of toxic tannery waste into the creek. This historical overview is purely documented from verbal accounts.

LTBB has two monitoring sites on Tannery Creek. The upstream site, TYC2A, is located on private property and permission is sought before each field season. This site is close to the origin of the creek and experiences minimal human disturbance. The downstream site, TYC1A is located about 100 feet upstream from the mouth of the creek.

Tribal Uses and Attainment

The following Tribal uses are applied to Tannery Creek: IAW, CF, SF and PC (during May through October). The primary use at TYC2A is IAW and CF at TYC1A. All Tribal Uses with the exception of PC (no bacteria data available) are not fully supported based on exceedances indicated in the Data Summary Tables below. Subsistence fishing is deemed as needing further evaluation based on a lack of toxin data in fish and data on how much fish Tribal families eat for subsistence.

LEGEND

DO Dissolved Oxygen
Respiration for fish, other aquatic organisms

TEMP Temperature
General aquatic life support and reproduction

COND Conductivity
General aquatic life support, dissolved solids indicator

CHLOR Chlorides
General life support, salinity indicator, drinking water pollutant

PH Potential Hydrogen Ion Concentration
Acidity/alkalinity indicator, drinking water pollutant

TP Total Phosphorous
Major algae nutrient, fertilizer/manure runoff indicator

TN Total Nitrogen
Major algae nutrient, drinking water pollutant, fertilizer/manure runoff indicator

CHL-A Chlorophyll-a
Algae concentration indicator

HAB Habitat
Instream and riparian structure to support life cycles of fish and other organisms

MAC Macroinvertebrates
Indicator of water quality based on the diversity of pollution tolerant and intolerant
aquatic insects and non-insects that are visible to the naked eye and do not have a backbone

TSS Total Suspended Solids
Indicator of aquatic life support, oxygen levels

FQA Floristic Quality Assessments
Indicates quality of wetland based on the plant community present

CONDITION INDICATORS

Poor    Fair   Good   Very Good