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Volunteer Stream Monitoring Program
*March 6, 2018 Sampling and Collecting
Join us for the VSMP SPRING MACROINVERTEBRATE COLLECTION. Meet at 9:00 a.m. at River Park in Lawrence, MI for orientation. Teams of 3-6 people then travel to two sites in either the Black or Paw Paw River watersheds to collect insects. You will have lots of fun doing citizen science; no experience is necessary. RSVP to VB Conservation District: 269-657-4030 x5.
Volunteer Stream Monitoring Program Macroinvertebrate Collection
Paw Paw River & Black River Watersheds
Volunteer Stream Monitoring Program Morning Training & Collection
Sunday, October 2, 2016, Lawrence River Park, Van Buren County
Volunteers gathered together at 9am to learn about the Volunteer Steam Monitoring Program and Insect Collections in the Paw Paw and Black River Watershed, Van Buren County. Two Rivers Coalition and Van Buren Conservation District introduced their board members and staff and gave a short update of their organization.
Individuals were divided into six teams, assigned a team leader and sent off to their designated locations with the proper equipment.
Volunteer Stream Monitoring Program Macroinvertebrate Identification
Monday, October 4, 2016 - Van Buren Conservation District
The following day, volunteers met at the Van Buren Conservation District office to sort and identify species from each collected site. Each Team had a table with tools and equipment to help sort, identify and assess the quantity of the species found at that specific site. Photos were taken of specimens and water quality was assessed by counting the sensitive, somewhat sensitive and toler-ant species found.
**New: October 2016 Fall VSMP Collection Report**
TRC Partner!
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Stonefly Dameselfly
VSMP October 12, 2014 Event - Kevin Haight:
One of the most exciting projects that Two Rivers Coalition {TRC} was involved in this year was the Volunteer Stream Monitoring Program {VSMP}. TRC partnered with Van Buren Conservation District {VBCD} to apply for a start-up grant through the Michigan Clean Water Corps {MiCorps}. The goal of the program, which is funded by the Department of Environmental Quality {DEQ}, is to establish benthic macro-invertebrate sampling on streams throughout the state. Benthic macro-invertebrate sampling is just a fancy way to say catching insects that live in streams and recording the data. The presence {or absence} of certain families of insects is a surprisingly good indicator of water quality. This is because some insects {like stoneflies} will not tolerate degraded conditions. Stoneflies are considered sensitive and will only live in cold, clear, clean streams. Other insects {like the side-swimming scud} can live in almost any body of water. Also, in keeping with the basic principle of biodiversity, the greater the variety of insect species in a river, the healthier the river eco-system is likely to be.
....Read more...Volunteer Stream Monitoring Article PDF
Interview: Two Rivers Coalition Collecting Insects From Paw Paw River
Resources:
Macroinvertebrates as Bioindicators of Stream Health
Development Tool for Volunteer Stream Monitoring Program
Water Safety Thoughts for Volunteer Stream Monitoring
Links:
EPA Monitoring and Assessing Water Quality
Van Buren Conservation District
TRC Partner!