CRWP provides support
to watershed and community groups within the Connecticut River Watershed
interested in initiating river monitoring and assessment programs. Staff
work with local stakeholders to identify water quality concerns and develop
program goals; design water quality studies; recruit and train volunteers;
carry out monitoring activities; compile and analyze data; write reports;
and use the information generated about water quality and stream health
to plan and direct river and watershed protection and improvement efforts.
CRWP supports three types of monitoring activities: Stream
Walk Surveys, Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assessments,
and Water Sampling.
Stream Walk Surveys
Background: A Stream Walk
Survey is a survey of the physical characteristics of a river corridor.
The survey is a systematic way to observe and record information about
the river channel (water and stream bottom), streambanks, and adjacent
land. The physical characteristics of a stream are important to the plants
and animals that live in there; changes that degrade the physical habitat
can make streams uninhabitable for aquatic life.
Protocol: The CRWP Stream
Walk Survey protocol is an adaptation of one developed by the CT Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Volunteers walk or boat stretches
of rivers and record information about physical characteristics on survey
sheets. They document characteristics such as water depth, stream width,
vegetation along the banks and composition of the riverbed, and describe
degraded areas.
Stream Walk Surveys take place in late summer and early fall, when water
flows are lower and slower, making it both possible and safe for volunteers
to walk through streams to record observations. Water temperatures tend
to be warmer; aquatic plant growth is at its most abundant; and emergent
plants are tall and trees and shrubs have their leaves, important for
identifying streamside vegetation.
Data Use: Information collected
provides a baseline to measure possible future changes against, and is
used to identify areas of concern and promote conservation of valuable
river resources.
Benthic
Macroinvertebrate Assessments
Background: Benthic macroinvertebrates
are bottom dwelling aquatic organisms such as stonefly, mayfly and caddisfly
nymphs that can be seen with the unaided eye. They are good indicators
of water quality for several reasons: many are sensitive to pollution,
the composition of the community is a good reflection of long-term water
quality, they cannot easily escape pollution, and they are relatively
easy to collect. In addition, there are many established methods for using
macroinvertebrate data to assess water quality and stream health. Benthic
macroinvertebrates are collected from shallow riffle areas by disturbing
the stream bottom and catching the dislodged organisms in a net.
Protocol: CRWP support two
types of benthic macroinvertebrate assessments: rapid bioassessments,
and more detailed, quantitative assessments. Both take place in October
or November. For rapid bioassessments, samples are collected and analyzed
in the field following the CT Department of Environmental Protection’s
(DEP) Rapid Bioassessment for Volunteers (RBV) protocol. The RBV protocol
is not a quantitative assessment procedure; it is designed to identify
streams with pollution sensitive benthic macroinvertebrate communities.
More detailed quantitative assessments involve collecting and preserving
samples for analysis later in a lab following a River Network protocol.
Analysis of preserved samples using this more detailed method results
in standard numerical indices that quantify and better describe the health
of the stream.
Data Use: Information collected
provides a baseline to measure possible future changes against; is used
to evaluate whether a stream’s benthic macroinvertebrate community
meets the criterion in the state water quality standards; and, using the
RBV protocol, is used primarily for screening purposes, to identify streams
with either very high or very poor water quality.
Water
Sampling
Background: Water samples
are collected by volunteers and analyzed professionally for a selection
of water quality indicators. Indicators typically tested for include E.
coli bacteria, nutrients (phosphates and nitrogen), turbidity, total suspended
solids, pH and alkalinity. Working with local Health Directors, samples
are submitted to the State Public Health Lab for analysis of biological
parameters. Arrangements are often made with local university professors
to assist with conducting chemical analyses.
Protocol: Water sampling
generally takes place in the summertime—a high stress time for streams
due to low flows and higher water temperatures—to assess worst-case
conditions. Volunteers sign up to take samples at pre-determined sites
and specific dates (usually bi-weekly in July and August), and are trained
and provided with sampling supplies. Samples are collected early in the
morning before 8 am, dropped off at specified central locations, and delivered
to the lab. Volunteers also take air and water temperature, and make visual
observations of water level, color and smell.
Data Use: Information collected
provides a baseline to measure possible future changes against, and it
used to evaluate whether streams meets the criterion in the state water
quality standards for certain indicators; assess the impacts of nonpoint
source pollution on streams; evaluate the effectiveness of improvement
actions, such as implementation of best management practices; determine
whether streams are safe for water contact recreation; and in developing
Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs).
