Northern CA PPSR Projects 1

Contra Costa Volunteer Creek Monitoring Program

• Organization Name

  Contra Costa Watershed Forum
• Project Website

  http://cocowaterweb.org/get-involved/monitoring/
• Organization Website

  http://cocowaterweb.org/
• Partners

  Contra Costa Clean Water Program (http://www.cccleanwater.org/)
• Contact Name

  Michelle Luebke, Watershed Monitoring Coordinator
• Contact Email

  mlueb@cd.cccounty.us
• Contact Phone

  (925)335-1315
• Other Contact Information

  N / A
• Project Purpose (taken from project materials)

  The information gathered by volunteers is used for a variety of purposes:

  • to assess the current conditions of Contra Costa County streams
  • to compare stream health to state water quality standards
  • to calculate water quality and biological integrity indices
  • to serve as a baseline for comparison in future studies
• Participant Activities

  1. Bioassessment: Using aquatic insects as indicators of water quality, volunteers learn more about the health of their neighborhood creeks and identify potential problem areas. Community members, local college students, and volunteer groups can help collect specimens for identification.

  2. GPS Creek Surveys: Using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, volunteers monitor the current conditions of their neighborhood creeks. In the summer and fall adventurous volunteers wade into local creeks, mapping the physical attributes of the stream channel (substrate, canopy cover, bank characteristics, etc.), extent and type of native and invasive vegetation, and human influences (outfalls, dams, etc.).

  
  

• Data Entry

  • Collection Kits
  • Other
• Other Participant Activities

  A third component of the CCFF program is the Assistance and Resource Center: The Watershed Monitoring Coordinator can provide assistance to groups in Contra Costa County who are involved in creek monitoring activities.  Equipment can be borrowed from the program (when it isn't being used by the program) and technical assistance is availiable to provide help with data collection activities.

• System Studied

  • Water Quality
  • Invertebrates
  • Wetlands - Freshwater Streams and Marshes
• Geographic Scope

  Local
• Region

  Contra Costa
• Location

  Watersheds and creeks in Contra Costa County
• Location - Map

  30 Muir Road, Martinez, CA 94553
• Time Commitment

  • Specific dates (see Other Information below)
• Volunteer Qualifications

  N / A
• Volunteer Training

  N / A
• Cost to Participant

  N / A
• How will the findings be used?

  The data gathered through the program are available for use in various projects, and is useful to many parties, from resources managers to community organizations:

  • GIS-based studies of biological condition of local creeks and watersheds
  • research based on comparing GIS and biological data
  • maps integrating spatial and biological data
  • individual research studies
  • link to all GIS data, invertebrate data, charts, and photos produced by the program [please insert link when available]
• Other Information

  N / A
• Photo

  
• last update:

  N / A