SOUTH BRANCH WATERSHED ASSOCIATION Event Highlights

2005 Volunteer Biological Monitoring Workshop
See Also: Event Photos

On Saturday, November 12, 2005, South Branch Watershed Association (Association) presented the results of the 2005 river monitoring season.

A presentation about "An Overview of Black Fly Biology, Surveillance, and Control" was the highlight of the event, presented by Tadhgh Rainey, Director of the Mosquito and Vector Control Program for the Hunterdon County Department of Health in Flemington, NJ. He shared many interesting facts about blackflies. One fact surprised a lot of people - there are many different species of blackflies in New Jersey, but only a few of them actually bite humans, and even then it’s only the females. Also, despite the itchy bumps some can leave behind, blackflies are an important food source for other animals such as fish and birds.

This is the twelfth year of collecting data at 18 sites along the South Branch Raritan River and its tributaries for the Association’s volunteer biological monitoring program. Every June, trained volunteer “water stewards” collect a “bug” sample at an assigned site within the South Branch Raritan River watershed. Volunteers follow an EPA approved protocol to ensure accuracy and precision in collection of data. The sample is then sent to a certified lab for complete analysis. Different species of juvenile “bugs” that live on the bottom of river can tell us much about the quality of the water. Through the analysis of these “bugs,” each site is assigned a New Jersey Impairment Score of non-impaired, moderately impaired, or severely impaired. Of the 18 sites monitored this year, 15 were non-impaired, 3 were moderately impaired, and none were severely impaired. This is an improvement from the 8 moderately impaired sites two years ago, and the four sites last year. "It will be interesting to see if this upward trend continues next year," said Nicole Rahman, the Director of the Association's monitoring program. According to Ms. Rahman, "wide fluctuations in precipitation levels over the past several years have potentially impacted results." Ms. Rahman indicated that the past two year's monitoring was done under more normal conditions.

Now that the Association has 12 years of data, it’s time to analyze it further and document any trends that are revealed in a comprehensive report. They have received a $10,000 grant from the EPA to use towards this analysis. This way the data can be used to help improve and protect the water quality within the watershed. A comprehensive analysis can tell us what streams may be showing signs of stress. It's not unlike having your pulse and blood pressure checked during an annual physical. If one is off it usually means something is going on. These bugs are the pulse of the watershed system, they tell us if we need to look further to determine what is causing problems. This information can then be used to properly plan for how development is accommodated or curtailed and where restoration efforts need to be focused.

Thanks to all of the volunteers, monitoring advisory committee members, spring workshop trainers, and sponsors. Without all of these dedicated people, this monitoring program wouldn’t be possible.

Select the thumbnail print to see the enlarged photo...

Participants learning how to identify macroinvertebrates:

(L-to-R) Wayne Sarrow, Shafeek Mohammed, Jennifer Malavasi

(L-to-R) Tricia and Wayne Sarrow, Shafeek Mohammed

Erik Silldorff teaching macroinvertebrate identification:

Jennifer Malavasi (on left)

Wayne and Tricia Sarrow (on left)

Quinn Cleverley identifying macroinvertebrates:

Bill Rawlyk searching for macroinvertebrates: