FOCJC is partnering with the Audubon Naturalist Society (ANS) to begin monitoring water quality at one site near MacArthur Blvd. If you want to help, please send an email to monitoring@cabinjohncreek.org and we will send you guidelines and directions to the site.

Training is not required to participate. However, if you are interested in ANS training classes, please visit: https://anshome.org/water-quality-monitoring. (In particular, you may wish to attend the Introduction to Stream Science (Section B) class on the evening of Thursday, March 28.)

Our team of volunteer monitors will visit stream sites in April, July, October, and optionally during the winter to conduct habitat assessments and collect and identify “benthic macroinvertebrates” (BMI), small organisms that live in the stream bottoms. Because these organisms exhibit a range of sensitivities to pollutants and stressors, they help us determine the streams’ health. The ANS program is distinct in that monitors identify aquatic insects to the taxonomic level of family. This gives us a clearer picture of aquatic diversity and stream health than more general identification practices. The ANS program is also unique in that monitors learn to identify the organisms in the field and then release them alive, rather than preserving them in alcohol and sending them to a lab for identification.

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For details, contact monitoring@cabinjohncreek.org.

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