Water Quality Monitors Serve Important Role
Photo credit Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
Stoneflies and
other macroinvertebrates are a sure sign of water quality at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. Year over year, monitors are noticing increases in
stoneflies, damselflies, dragonflies, mayflies and more. Volunteers and staff
members work in tandem with the Illinois RiverWatch Network to collect water
samples.
“The water quality
monitoring that is happening at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie with the Illinois RiverWatch Network is essential to prairie restoration,” says Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie Hydrologic Technician Rob Lorens.
“Macroinvertebrates are important biological indicators of water quality and
ecosystem health. From macroinvertebrates and fish near the pebbles and
vegetation at the bottom of creeks to beavers, turtles, birds and other
wildlife that depend on water quality, monitoring is the first step to ensure
that these species continue to exist on the tallgrass prairie and elsewhere.”
Water quality
monitors work directly in the waterways wearing rubber waders. Monitors shuffle
their feet to stir up macroinvertebrates and then collect them in water sample
containers from nine sites: Grant Creek (two sites); Jackson Creek (two sites);
Jordan Creek (one site); and Prairie Creek (four sites).
Later, specimen
samples are observed by trained eyes through a microscope, which allows
volunteers to determine the number and type of macroinvertebrates in the water.
Teams also measure width, velocity, temperature and dissolved oxygen of
waterways. Volunteers with Illinois RiverWatch Network have been collecting
valuable water quality information at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie since
1998. “This kind of long-term record helps us understand how streams respond to
natural and human-caused changes like climate change, land-use alteration or
habitat restoration,” said Illinois RiverWatch Director and stream ecologist Danelle
Haake.
For more information, visit www.ngrrec.org/RiverWatch.
