Since 2005, the MiCorps Volunteer Stream Monitoring Grant Program has awarded funding to Michigan organizations to develop volunteer programs to monitor the quality and health of their wadable streams and rivers. With funding from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) under the Clean Michigan Initiative, this program supports the monitoring of benthic invertebrate communities and stream habitat and provides technical assistance and training for grantees. Data collected with support from this program are used by the DEQ to identify areas requiring a more detailed assessment and as supplemental data for DEQ water resources management programs.

Matt Herbert, Aquatic Ecologist for The Nature Conservancy, and Debbie Thor, a Stream Team volunteer in Bancroft. Photo courtesy of The Nature Conservancy.

The MiCorps program is pleased to announce its support of four organizations under the 2008 Volunteer Stream Monitoring Grant Program, totaling nearly $50,000 in grant funds. Funds awarded to these organizations will support volunteer stream monitoring programs, training and outreach over the next two years.

Friends of the St. Clair River Watershed
Project Title: Friends of the St. Clair River Watershed Stream Leaders
Watershed: St. Clair River Watershed
Funding Amount: $13,297
Contact: Kristen O. Jurs, Ph: 810-987-5306, kojurs@stclaircounty.org

The Friends of the St. Clair River Watershed (FOSCRW) have proposed to assess habitat and conduct macroinvertebrate monitoring in the St. Clair River watershed. Additionally, FOSCRW plans to engage the public in monitoring St. Clair River watershed tributaries to support habitat restoration and protection efforts of St. Clair County Watershed Advisory Groups (WAG) and the St. Clair River Area of Concern.

Huron Pines
Project Title:
Pine River/Van Etten Lake Monitoring
Watershed:
Pine River/Van Etten Lake Watershed
Funding Amount: $7,420
Contact: Patrick Ertel, patrick@huronpines.org

Huron Pines, in partnership with the Pine River/Van Etten Lake Watershed Coalition, plans to establish baseline benthic macroinvertebrate data on the Pine River and Van Etten Creek and to monitor the health of the watershed to ensure that the river and associated feeder streams do not significantly degrade in their ability to sustain a cold water fishery. This project will also help to show any changes in the stream condition over time, as told through the macroinvertebrate populations.

Marguerite Gahagan Nature Preserve
Project Title: Upper AuSable River Watershed Water Quality Monitoring Project
Watershed: Upper AuSable River Watershed
Funding Amount: $13,297
Contact: Irene Borak, boraki@kirtland.edu

The primary goal of this project is to produce quality-assured data on the water quality of the watershed to establish baseline data for the AuSable River. Specifically, site monitoring will include benthic macroinvertebrate specimen collection and identification to the family level, habitat assessment, and the monitoring of dissolved oxygen and pH levels. Success of this project will be measured by the production of verifiable data that is of use to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and others who make stewardship decisions within the AuSable River watershed.

The Nature Conservancy
Project Title: Shiawassee River Watershed Benthic Macroinvertebrate Monitoring Program
Watershed: Shiawassee River watershed
Funding Amount: $13,297
Contact: Heidi Frei, Ph: 989-723-9062, hfrei@tnc.org

The Nature Conservancy in Michigan is working in partnership with the Livingston County Drain Commissioner’s Office and the Friends of the Shiawassee River – a volunteer-based organization – to assess habitat and conduct macroinvertebrate monitoring in the Shiawassee River watershed in Shiawassee and Livingston Counties. With the assistance of aquatic ecologists, all samples will be identified to family level. Additional parameters, such as chemical analysis, habitat assessment, and sampling sites will be added as interest and volunteer numbers grow with the program.

Notably, two of the four 2008 grantees – Marguerite Gahagan Nature Preserve and the Pine River/Van Etten Lake Coalition – were also previously awarded funds during the first year of the Volunteer Stream Monitoring Start-Up Grant Program in 2007. The start-up program provides “seed money” for newly forming volunteer monitoring groups as well as access to MiCorps resources and training to enable them to conduct research on a monitoring project and develop a volunteer monitoring strategy. These smaller grants can be a good first step for individuals and communities to establish a solid foundation for a robust, high-quality volunteer monitoring program and can support these groups in developing a full proposal for the Volunteer Stream Monitoring Grant Program in future years.

The Michigan DEQ and the Great Lakes Commission, in partnership with the Huron River Watershed Council, look forward to announcing the Fiscal Year 2009 MiCorps Volunteer Stream Monitoring Grant Program awards for both full and start-up grants. Applications are currently being reviewed and recipients will be notified in April. For more information, visit www.micorps.net/streamgrants.html or contact Paul Steen, MiCorps Program Manager, at the Huron River Watershed Council at (734) 769-5123 x.14 or psteen@hrwc.org.

Paul Steen, of the Huron River Watershed Council, instructs volunteer stream monitoring grantees at the MiCorps summer 2008 training workshop. Photo courtesy of the Huron River Watershed Council.