Stream Leaders – Putting Students in Streams since 1992
Across the watershed, Stream Leaders students and teachers are learning about water quality issues and helping protect their community’s water resources.
Stream Leaders is CRWC’s outdoor education program that fosters experiences in citizen science, civic engagement, and environmental stewardship. Stream Leader classrooms have a chance to participate in real field research and get out into the river with scientists and mentors. CRWC Staff and volunteer mentors teach students about water quality testing, stream assessment practices, and aquatic insect identification.
Students and teachers benefit from learning more about their local water resources, identifying what conditions or activities might be contributing to pollution problems, and working with clubs, environmental groups, and state or local governments to address problem areas.
Kaleigh Snoddy, CRWC Stewardship & Education Manager, shared that “Students analyze water samples for dissolved oxygen, nutrients, pH, temperature, and a host of other chemical constituents.”
Stream Leaders groups spend time preparing in the classroom before they get boots on the ground in the watershed. “Through this program, they explore local waterways to evaluate the health of stream habitats and aquatic biological communities; inventory physical stream-side conditions and land uses that may affect water quality; and catalog and collect river, lake, and beach debris,” Kaleigh said.
Most people do not realize the impact that their everyday behaviors have on water quality and the environment. By monitoring the Clinton River and its tributaries, we are educating future generations of decision-makers and voters about the importance of the resource.
For 30 years, the mission of the Clinton River Watershed Council’s Stream Leaders program has been to raise young people’s awareness of the importance of water quality and to help cultivate a connection to a Great Lakes stewardship identity, and that mission continues in 2024.
CRWC’s Stream Leaders program took place this spring and continues in the fall. Until then, check out more information on Stream Leaders, including information on our Stream Leaders Sponsor, WM, and learn how you can get involved here.
Author(s): Cole Pachucki, Kaleigh Snoddy