Stream Monitoring

WATER CHEMISTRY

Watershed Watch samplers learn how to test the physical and chemical quality of the water at their chosen stream location using loaned sampling kits.  These characteristics help us understand the general health of the waterway and can indicate potential pollution issues, especially if collected consistently over longer periods of time.  

Four main water quality indicators are measured, recorded, and entered into the Watershed Watch database.  These include temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and conductivity.  Results can be compared to water quality standards or benchmarks that help samplers understand how their findings compare to healthy water conditions.

BACTERIOLOGICAL

Watershed Watch uses methods to determine the concentration of E. coli bacteria in waterways as an indicator of possible fecal contamination and the waterways safety for recreational use.  A water sample is placed on a special card prepared with bacteria "food" that encourages bacterial growth. These cards are placed in an incubator for 20-24 hours, then the number of E. coli bacteria colonies are counted, recorded, and entered into the database.  The E. coli concentrations in the water are compared to a rating scale to help samplers understand water quality safety for recreational activities, such as wading or swimming.

NOTE: Some areas of the state support lab analyses for E. coli, which is more scientifically accurate.  If you are interested in requesting this service, please contact a Watershed Watch representative in your river basin area. You can also make this request when you register to sample during one of the three annual sampling events.

HABITAT

A stream habitat assessment is a method used to measure the ability of a stream corridor's physical conditions to support aquatic life. If your habitat rates well, but you don’t find much living in your stream, there is a pretty good chance that the water quality conditions may be harming instream organisms. Or, if you have found good water quality results from your sampling, but you now find that the habitat values are poor, you may want to consider ways to improve or restore the stream's habitat qualities.

A habitat assessment is typically performed once each year to evaluate specific features in a stream segment and determine their presence/absence and how well each feature is functioning. These feature ratings are then combined into one overall score that indicates how livable the stream is for aquatic animals. 

BIOLOGICAL

While a habitat assessment will help us understand if conditions are ideal for aquatic life. the verification of their presence through a biological assessment can confirm that both habitat and water quality conditions are hospitable. 

Samplers learn how to collect and identify tiny creatures called aquatic macroinvertebrates.  The presence or absence and numbers of macroinvertebrates found serve as indicators of prevailing stream health and possible pollution impacts.