1. Home
  2. Items
  3. Streamwalk II: Learning how to monitor our streams
PDF

Streamwalk II: Learning how to monitor our streams Item Info

This manual grew out of the "Streamwalk" program initiated by EPA Region 10 and the Idaho Water Resources Research Institute at the University of Idaho who offered support and assistance for this project. "Streamwalk" was developed as a screening tool to identify potential problem areas and provide a standardized data collection method so regional and trend comparisons can be made. It also encourages citizen commitment to protecting streams and educates people about the relationship between streams and watersheds. "Streamwalk II" is an experimental monitoring program dealing with some of the same objectives as "Streamwalk" except that it is more rigorous and demanding of the participants. My approach to monitoring is to observe the macroinvertebrate community together with selected physical and chemical conditions in and impacted stream and compare these results with those from a reference or relatively unimpacted site using standard methods that can be repeated over time. The program requires a commitment of from three to seven days in learning about the procedures performed together with going out in the field, collecting data, and late analyzing it. The three modules studied consist of Habitat Assessment, Chemical Analysis, and Biomonitoring. In the biomonitoring program most time is spent on the macroinvertebrate community in the stream and how these organisms provide indices of the relative health of the waterway. A semiquantitative approach in collecting these organisms from a number of habitats is utilized. in learning how to monitor a stream, the participant develops skills in observation, data collection, and analysis and becomes more knowledgeable about ecological principles. Also when citizens monitor a stream, useful data becomes available to the community and may be utilized by agency personnel especially if quality control is built into the program.

View on Timeline Download PDF
Title:
Streamwalk II: Learning how to monitor our streams
Authors:
Rabe, Fred W.
Date Created (ISO Standard):
1992-09
Description:
This manual grew out of the "Streamwalk" program initiated by EPA Region 10 and the Idaho Water Resources Research Institute at the University of Idaho who offered support and assistance for this project. "Streamwalk" was developed as a screening tool to identify potential problem areas and provide a standardized data collection method so regional and trend comparisons can be made. It also encourages citizen commitment to protecting streams and educates people about the relationship between streams and watersheds. "Streamwalk II" is an experimental monitoring program dealing with some of the same objectives as "Streamwalk" except that it is more rigorous and demanding of the participants. My approach to monitoring is to observe the macroinvertebrate community together with selected physical and chemical conditions in and impacted stream and compare these results with those from a reference or relatively unimpacted site using standard methods that can be repeated over time. The program requires a commitment of from three to seven days in learning about the procedures performed together with going out in the field, collecting data, and late analyzing it. The three modules studied consist of Habitat Assessment, Chemical Analysis, and Biomonitoring. In the biomonitoring program most time is spent on the macroinvertebrate community in the stream and how these organisms provide indices of the relative health of the waterway. A semiquantitative approach in collecting these organisms from a number of habitats is utilized. in learning how to monitor a stream, the participant develops skills in observation, data collection, and analysis and becomes more knowledgeable about ecological principles. Also when citizens monitor a stream, useful data becomes available to the community and may be utilized by agency personnel especially if quality control is built into the program.
Subjects:
Citizen participation Water quality Flow characteristics Substrates Riparian vegetation Macroinvertebrates
Collection:
IWRRI
Series:
Water for Idaho
IWRRI number:
199216
Rights:
Rights to the digital resource are held by the University of Idaho. http://www.uidaho.edu/
Publisher:
Idaho Water Resources Research Institute; University of Idaho
Contributing Institution:
University of Idaho
Type:
Text
Format:
application/pdf
Cataloger:
KIT
Date Digitized:
2017-09-19

Contact us about this record

Source
Preferred Citation:
"Streamwalk II: Learning how to monitor our streams", Idaho Waters Digital Library, University of Idaho Library Digital Collections, https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/iwdl/items/iwdl-199216.html
Rights
Rights:
Rights to the digital resource are held by the University of Idaho. http://www.uidaho.edu/
« Previous Back to Browse Next »