2023 Shell-ebrating Success

Each year, more than 300 volunteers work with CRWC to monitor water quality by sampling macroinvertebrate populations across the watershed through the Adopt-A-Stream program.   

During Adopt-A-Stream in the spring of 2023, former intern and long-time volunteer, Taylor Haugen, found a giant floater mussel (Pyganodon grandis) in Plumbrook Drain. 

Giant floater mussels are unionid mussels, which are unique because they require a fish host to complete their life cycle. Unionid larvae must attach to the gills or fins of a suitable fish host to survive into adulthood. 

While the Clinton River is home to 21 of the 43 native species of unionid mussels, this find is particularly interesting because in a comprehensive 2004 mussel survey, no mussel species were found in Plumbrook Drain at all. Finding mussels and other similar wildlife in areas like Plumbrook Drain, which historically have not received high water quality scores, is an excellent indicator that the health of waterways is improving.