Adopt-A-Stream – Water Quality is Banking on Bugs

Since 1998, CRWC has gathered volunteers every spring and fall for Adopt-A-Stream, our volunteer-based initiative that empowers community members to protect local streams and rivers by monitoring water quality.  

Monitoring takes place in May and in October. “Different communities of macroinvertebrates are likely to be present depending on the season, so by sampling in the spring and the fall, we are able to get a bigger picture of the macros that live in that body of water,” Lydia Nicholas, CRWC Environmental Scientist, said. This May, more than 115 volunteers joined CRWC to take part in Adopt-A-Stream and protect local waterways. 

Aquatic macroinvertebrates spend the early stages of their life at the bottom of waterways in the streambed, dug into the sediment, or on rocks and woody debris. Monitoring consists of collecting macroinvertebrate samples from waterways using d-nets. Volunteers target ideal habitats and stir up the sediment there, causing them to drift into nets. Once brought onshore, macros are categorized, stored, and identified. 

2024’s Adopt-A-Stream had several procedural updates. Lydia said, “This year and moving forward, volunteers did not have to ID macroinvertebrates in the field, instead, all macros were sent to CRWC to be identified to the family level.” 

Mikela Dean, CRWC Watershed Ecologist, said, “ By removing the field bug ID requirement, it is our hope that the program is more accessible to volunteers without bug ID experience. By sending bugs back, we are now able to get a more accurate water quality score for each site because we can ID bugs down to the family level using a microscope and dichotomous keys. These bugs are kept indefinitely at the CRWC office as a record of water quality.” 

Adopt-A-Stream’s spring monitoring had a strong turnout. Many of the participants were returning volunteers who covered the sites that they have been sampling for years. They were joined by a moderately sized group of first-time citizen scientists.  

Lydia shared “We had several existing volunteers step up as team leaders for the first time, for which we are very grateful. This spring we also had a number of people who ran into volunteers during the event and asked to be added to our contact list for the fall!” 

While in the field, volunteers gather information on streamside habitats and physical characteristics. Thanks to the dedication of volunteers and CRWC staff, 50 sites were surveyed throughout the watershed! 

Now that data has been collected and compiled, the team will submit results to the Michigan Clean Water Corps (MiCorps). Information gathered as part of Adopt-A-Stream is utilized throughout the region to inform decision-making, habitat improvement, and stewardship efforts. The water quality data collected by CRWC volunteers has been utilized to identify and resolve soil erosion problems and to help select and fund specific locations for brook trout and coldwater stream restoration projects. 

This year, CRWC made efforts to make Adopt-A-Stream more accessible to volunteers both in terms of the procedure and data accessibility; we look forward to continuing to improve the program for the watershed’s amazing citizen scientists.  

Thank you to the site leaders and team members who helped CRWC monitor water quality in the Clinton and its tributaries! If you’d like to join us for monitoring in the fall, Adopt-A-Stream will take place Saturday, October 5, 2024. Find more information here. 

Author(s): Cole Pachucki, Lydia Nicholas, Mikela Dean