Stream temperature: Stream temperature is important to the ecology of the Mckenzie Watershed, native organisms health, and to determine whether planting native species is successfully shading Goose Creek. This protocol was put in place so as to monitor how the stream’s temperatures are changing throughout the project. Our monitoring entailed Goose Creek and Trout Creek in which we took measurements at 4 points along Goose Creek and 1 at Trout Creek so as to have an ideal reference for Goose Creek. At each location, we recorded water temperature, stream depth, GPS coordinates, current weather, weather in the past 48 hours, and time of day. Also so as to best evaluate the greatest potential impact of water temperature on the aquatic life, we took the measurements at the hottest part of the day which is between 12 and 3 pm. These changes in stream temperature show how viable the water is for native animals and plant survival as well the impact riparian plants have had since the project began in 2014. For example, the native animals of Goose Creek such as cutthroat trout, newts, chinook salmon, and turtles depend on a consistently cold water temperature for reproduction and basic survival.
Results:
From the two separate days of measuring stream temperature, the temperature changed from 48.9 – 59.4 degrees Fahrenheit between the headwaters and the discharge of Goose Creek into the Mckenzie River. On the first survey day, the temperature changes along the creek were pretty steady at about 1 degree and it wasn’t to far off from our ideal temperature at Trout Creek. On the second survey day, there was a huge temperature change from Goose Creek B to C which is mostly likely due to the lack of plant shading there.
Aquatic Macroinvertebrates: This protocol aimed to monitor stream health through the presence and/or absence of certain species of aquatic macroinvertebrates. Some species are more sensitive to negative environmental conditions and will not be present in streams with lower water quality. Other species are more tolerant to a wide variety of environmental conditions and will be present in degraded ecosystems. We took a survey of the aquatic macroinvertebrate community at several spots along Goose Creek. We did this by using a D-net to collect specimens, then using a dichotomous key to identify them to order, and finally using the MWC Macroinvertebrate Index to get a point value that indicates the water quality of Goose Creek. A high point value indicates high water quality and a low point value indicates poor water quality.
Results:
The types of organisms that we found include a lamprey, lung snails, and mayfly larvae. A majority of the organisms belonged to the “sensitive” class and the rest were considered “tolerant.” This could signify that the water quality of Goose Creek is good because it is able to support sensitive organisms. However, the results obtained from this survey should be used as more of an educational form of monitoring rather than an accurate gauge of the health of Goose Creek. Our methods are not comprehensive enough to do this. In order to use this survey to make decisive conclusions about the water quality of Goose Creek, we would need to identify the macroinvertebrates found to more than just order level and we do not have the resources to do this.
To return to Our Efforts, click here.