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Macroinvertebrates tell the story ... Bio-Monitoring Results for '06

October 2006 marked the fifth year for ECO's biological monitoring program.  Begun by the late Dennis Honnold, the program involves nearly 50 volunteers to monitor 26 stream sites in Henderson County in April and October.  These volunteers use the kick-net method and then count and identify macroinvertebrates that reveal water quality.

Based on the Save Our Streams method of the Izaak Walton League of America, the method identifies to the order level and has three classification groups:  sensitive to pollution, somewhat sensitive to pollution, and tolerant of pollution.

The number of organisms in each classification group that volunteers find at each site are added up to get an index value; then the three index values are added up to get a total index value (TIV).  The TIV determines the water quality rating:  A TIV greater than 22 means water quality is excellent; between 17 and 22 indicates good quality; between 11 and 16 is fair; and less than 11 is considered poor.

During the five years of  monitoring, a number of sites have deteriorated, some shockingly so.  Others have maintained a good or fair rating over time. 

Two sites have actually improved.  Cane Creek at Howard Gap Rd. and Hooper's Creek at Jackson Rd. both improved in '06, moving from a consistently fair rating to a strong excellent rating in October.

A disturbing trend at the North Mills River site shows a drop in water quality  from a strong fair to poor.  The other three Mills River sites, however, are still rated fair to good.

On the Green River, the monitored site at Terry's Creek Rd. has been impacted significantly in the past year, dropping from an excellent rating in October '05 to a poor rating in April and October '06.

Complete data is available at this site.  The soon-to-be published Report on Water Quality in Henderson County, Year Fourteen from the Environmental Quality Institute will be based on data from both VWIN and bio-monitoring.

Click below if you would like to Volunteer for a Stream Monitoring Team
MS Word Doc | PDF Doc

Click below if you would like to Volunteer for a Stream Monitoring Team
MS Word Doc | PDF Doc