Thirteen participants joined Callie Sams from the WV Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP) on June 11, 2024 to learn stream monitoring and build better understanding of stream ecology. Using the Save Our Streams (SOS) protocols, volunteer stream monitors put on their waders to learn more about the biological, chemical, and physical characteristics of Town Run.
Through hands-on experiences and discussion, participantes learned how to assess the chemistry of the stream – temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, nitrates, turbidity, alkalinity, and iron) and its physical conditions water clarity, watercolor, odors, algae color, abundance, growth habit, streambed color). Habitat conditions including embeddedness, sediment deposition, bank stability, and riparian buffer width were also assesed. After lunch in the pavilion at Morgan’s Grove Park, participants collected benthic macroinvertebrates (stream bugs) and identified them, learning what they show about the health of the stream.
Three members of the Town Run Steering Committee plan to continue their Save Our Stream Program certification process to enable us to use this assessment method (requiring sampling and study three times a year) to discern the health of the stream.
