Saturday was our quarterly benthic monitoring of the Little Falls Branch. The winter monitoring always yield low numbers and this year was no exception. Visit our Macroinvertebrate page to learn about the results.
The good news is that although the quality of our stream leaves something to be desired, the quality of our public education about stream health and our environment is an A+. With our location on the walking trail below Mass Ave, dozens of park users stop by to see what we are doing. We use this opportunity to education them about the health of the stream and how they can help improve the water quality.
Now for the bad news
Planaria - 6 ; Pouch snail - 1; Aquatic sowbugs - 3; Chironomidae (midge fly larva) - 35; Simuliidae (black fly larva) - 30; Hudroyschidae (netspinning cadisfly larva) - 3; Philopotamidae (fingernet cadisfly larva) - 1; Total 79
Those of you in the stream probably noticed the extensive algae growth. The sedimentation from the water main break in the Fall was also evident. Finally our salt watch number of 4.4 or 187 ppm is extremely high considering we have had no measurable snow this year.
Always, thank you to our dedicated and enthusiastic monitoring team, to Frank Sanford, our team leader, and to our partners at Nature Forward for making it possible for us to keep track of the health of our watershed. Photos by David Kathan.
