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Human land use practices have degraded hundreds of thousands of miles
of water corridors in the U.S. Fortunately, there has been an increase in
effort to restore many of these aquatic habitats. Currently, the Deschutes
Basis Land Trust (DBLT) is proposing to reconnect a portion of Whychus
creek that flows through Camp Polk Meadow to its original flood plain in an
attempt to restore historic spawning habitat for salmon and steelhead.
The purpose of this study was to provide baseline water quality data for
the DBLT to aid in assessing the cost/benefit of various restoration
approaches as well as monitoring the success of restoration efforts.
Macroinvertebrate bioassessment was used to determine biological
integrity of Whychus Creek prior to restorative activities.
Macroinvertebrates are good indicators of water quality because they live
in the stream most of their lives, are easy to collect and identify, and differ
in their tolerance to environmental change. Samples were collected within
Camp Polk Meadow, upstream (control), and downstream. Invertebrates
were characterized using rapid bioassessment protocols. Data analysis
indicating baseline water quality is pending. |
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