River Watch is a stream monitoring environmental education program available to school classes and student groups in Hennepin County. The program provides students a hands-on opportunity to learn about assessing water quality and how our actions influence the health of lakes, rivers and streams.
How It Works:
We partner with watershed organizations to fund school teams and youth groups to monitor a stretch of stream that is identified by the organization, the County or the school. We provide introductory information, assistance in the field and assistance with identification in the classroom. We provide QA on 10 percent of the samples and share the data with the organizations and with the general public online. We deal mainly with high school student but we do have some middle schools involved.
A healthy stream is home to a variety of organisms, and their presence or absence can indicate a possible change in water quality. To assess water quality, students collect macroinvertebrates (bottom-dwelling spineless organisms including mayflies, stoneflies, snails, beetles, etc.) from streams during the spring and/or fall of each year. Macroinvertebrates are influenced by physical and chemical properties of the stream, so monitoring those organisms helps assess water quality.
River Watch also promotes an understanding of watersheds and how water quality is related to land use and human influences. The collected data is checked, analyzed and distributed to various watershed organizations and other program partners.
Get Involved:
If you are interested in getting your class or group involved with River Watch, please email Mary Karius at mary.karius@hennepin.us or call 612-596-9129 or visit http://www.hennepin.us/business/work-with-henn-co/riverwatch for more information.
River Watch
Posted: September 11, 2019 by zzz Data
Category: Sharing Environmental Education Knowledge (SEEK)
River Watch is a stream monitoring environmental education program available to school classes and student groups in Hennepin County. The program provides students a hands-on opportunity to learn about assessing water quality and how our actions influence the health of lakes, rivers and streams.
How It Works:
We partner with watershed organizations to fund school teams and youth groups to monitor a stretch of stream that is identified by the organization, the County or the school. We provide introductory information, assistance in the field and assistance with identification in the classroom. We provide QA on 10 percent of the samples and share the data with the organizations and with the general public online. We deal mainly with high school student but we do have some middle schools involved.
A healthy stream is home to a variety of organisms, and their presence or absence can indicate a possible change in water quality. To assess water quality, students collect macroinvertebrates (bottom-dwelling spineless organisms including mayflies, stoneflies, snails, beetles, etc.) from streams during the spring and/or fall of each year. Macroinvertebrates are influenced by physical and chemical properties of the stream, so monitoring those organisms helps assess water quality.
River Watch also promotes an understanding of watersheds and how water quality is related to land use and human influences. The collected data is checked, analyzed and distributed to various watershed organizations and other program partners.
Get Involved:
If you are interested in getting your class or group involved with River Watch, please email Mary Karius at mary.karius@hennepin.us or call 612-596-9129 or visit http://www.hennepin.us/business/work-with-henn-co/riverwatch for more information.