Benthic Macroinvertebrate Sampling
Fall is here and it’s time to get in the Water!!!
We held Monitor training on Thursday, September 22nd, from 1:30-4:00 or 5:30-8:00 at Jack Abernathy Park (Davison Park) in Davison and had over 16 people attend. Thank you to everyone who came out to learn more about monitoring!
Water Quality Labs are held at the following locations:
| Genesee: | |
| GCCard Building | |
| 605 N. Saginaw | |
| Flint, Mi 48507 |
| Lapeer Lab 1 | Lapeer Lab 2 |
| USDA Building | The Willows, Chatfield School |
| 1739 N. Saginaw | 231 Lake Drive |
| Lapeer, Mi 48446 | Lapeer, Mi 48446 |
What is benthic monitoring?
Freshwater benthic macroinvertebrates, or more simply “benthos”, are animals without backbones that are larger than ½ millimeter (the size of a pencil dot). These animals live on rocks, logs, sediment, debris and aquatic plants during some period in their life. The benthos include crustaceans such as crayfish, mollusks such as clams and snails, aquatic worms and the immature forms of aquatic insects such as stonefly and mayfly nymphs.
Monitoring is the collection of these animals from the bottom of a river or stream. To participate, contact Jaime Welch at jwelch@flintriver.orgor Sue Lossing at slossing@flintriver.org.
Why do we monitor benthic life?
These animals in the bottom of the stream are more or less sensitive to pollution. By collecting them and noting how many of what kinds are living in the stream, we can get an idea of how healthy the river is.
- Cumulative Bethic Monitoring Results
- DEQ Monitoring Program Presentation
- Volunteer for the Flint River Monitoring Program
Forms and procedures used for monitoring
- Volunteer Monitoring In Stream Procedure Guidelines
- Stream Assessment & Collection Standard Operating Procedure
- Laboratory Standard Operating Procedure
- FRWC Stream Assessment Form
- Macroinvertebrate Key
- FRWC Monitoring Quality Assurance Project Plan
This interactive map shows sites, scores, directions, and photos.
(The map is best viewed in Firefox or Google Chrome. If using Internet Explorer, use the links on the side of the page.)
Monitoring Gilkey Creek
The restored Gilkey Creek easily holds high flows after a heavy rain.
The FRWC has contracted with the Applewood Estate to conduct chemical and biological monitoring of the Gilkey Creek to assess the
impact of stream restoration activities. We are pleased to note that no significant impact was found during the construction season, and the health of the creek continues to improve as the creek reestablishes in its new course. The reports on our work are below.
2010
2009
2008
2007
Stream Profiling on the Gilkey Creek
The FRWC contracted with the UM-Flint Center for Applied Environmental Research to conduct stream profiling, an assessment of stream bank stability on the Gilkey Creek. Check back here soon to access copies of those reports.
