The Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council is searching for some volunteers to help monitor streams this weekend.
Volunteers are grouped into teams and are sent to various locations to monitor water quality by collecting aquatic macroinvertebrates (mayflies, crustaceans, etc.) and noting general stream conditions. Non-experienced volunteers will be teamed with veteran monitors making this a great opportunity to learn about the life contained within our local rivers and streams. Each team monitors two sites on the same river or stream.
Volunteers are needed to participate in the Volunteer Stream Monitoring program this Saturday, September 18 from 9:00am – 2:00pm.
“The key to our water quality monitoring programs in the hundreds of lakes and thousands of miles of stream in our service area are volunteers. Although Watershed Council staff work relentlessly to monitor water quality, volunteers allow us to monitor many more water bodied than otherwise possible and with much greater frequency” said Kevin Cronk, Monitoring and Research Coordinator for Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council.
Volunteers will be invited back for the Indoor Identification Day scheduled for Sunday, October 3rd from noon to 3:00pm at North Central Michigan College to help sort and identify the samples collected in the field. Attendance at both events is not required, although most volunteers enjoy both equally.
For more information about the Volunteer Stream Monitoring events or to register for this weekend’s stream monitoring event or the Indoor Identification Day, please contact Kevin Cronk at 231-347-1181 or e-mail kevin@watershedcouncil.org.
