Stream Sampling at Little Devil

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Imagine living in a world in which all of our bodies of water were totally polluted and it was too far gone to restore it. This terrifying future could be easily prevented with the help of stream monitoring. 
    Stream monitoring is very important as it is able to produce data on the quality of the water and help identify where a problem may be. Having this kind of information is valuable to helping protect aquatic life, aquatic resources, and reduce the risk of the water quality going down any further. Not only does stream monitoring help protect the environment, but it can also provide personal benefits for the volunteers that choose to participate. These personal benefits include a personal connection to nature and more of an appreciation to nature. Stream monitoring helps ensure all of us a future full of clean and safe water, which is easily the most important thing to sustain life. 


    There have been many groups that have popped up in order to keep our streams healthy. However, one of the more predominant stream monitoring groups is the Michigan Clean Water Corps, or MiCorps. The Michigan Clean Water Corps is, according to the MiCorps website, "...a network of volunteer water quality monitoring programs in Michigan." This network was created in order to help the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, or EGLE, in "collecting and sharing water quality data for use in water resources management and protection programs." MiCorps was created through the Michigan Executive Order #2003-15 which states that because Michigan has very high quality lakes and streams when compared to the rest of the country, it is important to protect it. So, water quality monitoring and assessment programs, like MiCorps, was established to achieve this goal.

 
        On May 18th, 2023, Paul Wiemerslage came in to class to talk to us about MiCorps. He told us all about the process MiCorps goes through every time they go out to sample a stream or a lake. To properly sample a stream, Paul told us that each sampling takes about an hour to do. There is thirty minutes of collecting specimens from the stream and then another thirty minutes of sorting through what was found in the stream. Before starting, the group of volunteers will split into two groups, one group will be in the stream collecting the samples and the other team will be on the side of the stream sorting through what was collected. Trays, buckets, and nets are heavily used during this one hour of sampling. After the hour is done, some time is spent going through some questions about the stream. These questions would include things like the depth or width of the stream and what kind of sediment covered the bottom of the stream. Soon after collecting is done, the sample will be sorted through again and the organisms collected will be identified. The data from this is then put online on the MiCorps website where anyone is able to access it. 
    


    After Paul told us about MiCorps and how to properly sample a stream, it was time for all of us to give it a shot. Half of the class went to sample Big Canon creek and the other half, the half I was in, went to sample Little Devil creek. For the first fifteen minutes of sampling, Morgan and I were in the stream collecting while Naomi, Lo, and Baylee were sorting. For the next fifteen minutes of sampling, Naomi and I switched so that now it was Morgan and Naomi collecting while Lo, Baylee, and I were sorting. Paul was also there to help guide us along. Once those thirty minutes were over, we all gathered around the tray looking for anything that was moving. Any organism that we found was put into a jar to be identified later. Soon, another thirty minutes had gone by and we had to stop our sorting. Overall, I would say that this experience was great! Besides the mosquitos attacking us, I still had a great time!



References
https://www.in.gov/idem/riverwatch/importance-and-benefits-of-stream-monitoring/#:~:text=Produce%20water%20quality%20data%20needed,watershed%20stewardship%2C%20especially%20pollution%20prevention

https://micorps.net/ 

https://www.michigan.gov/formergovernors/recent/granholm/executive-orders/2003/executive-order-no-2003-15 

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