Tri-County/City Soil and Water Conservation District

Wildlife and birds find shelter and food near and in its waters. Vegetation grows along its banks, shading the stream, slowing its flow in rainstorms, filtering pollutants before they enter the stream, and sheltering animals. Within the stream itself are fish and a myriad of insects and other tiny creatures with very particular needs. For example, stream dwellers need dissolved oxygen to breathe; rocks, overhanging tree limbs, logs, and roots for shelter; vegetation, and other tiny animals to eat; and special places to breed and hatch their young. For many of these activities, they might also need water of specific velocity, depth, and temperature.

Human activities shape and alter many of these stream characteristics. We dam up, straighten, divert, dredge, dewater, and discharge to streams. We build roads, parking lots, homes, offices, golf courses, and factories in the watershed. We farm, mine, cut down trees, and graze our livestock in and along stream edges. We also swim, fish, and canoe in the streams themselves.

These activities can dramatically affect the many components of the living stream environment. Since our streams are important for recreation, transportation, and as a source of clean water for many plants and animals...including humans, interested citizens with the technical expertise and the proper tools can monitor our state's streams. Any person or group willing to devote a small amount of time and energy to conduct simple stream checks on a regular basis can become a volunteer monitor.

Streams and rivers are monitored by more volunteer programs than any other water-body type. According to the fourth edition of the National Directory of Volunteer Environmental Monitoring Programs (January 1994), three-quarters of the more than 500 programs listed conduct some sort of stream assessment as part, or all, of their monitoring project.

As the interest in monitoring streams grows, so too does the desire of groups to apply an integrated approach to the design and implementation of programs. More and more, volunteer monitors are interested in taking a combination of physical, chemical, and biological measurements and are beginning to understand how land uses in a watershed influence the health of its waterways.

Stream monitoring can be in-stream physical, chemical, and biological assessments, as well as landuse or watershed assessments.

Interested in becoming a Volunteer Stream Monitor? Contact Patricia Kurpiel.