The three-year Two Streams Project has been successfully completed in the fall of 2009. Kudos to Catherine Deininger for her excellent project leadership! The awesome Two Streams team, made up of HRA staff and dedicated volunteers, have all learned and accomplished a lot. We hope that the monitoring of Pokeberry and Dry Creeks will be continued in the future.
We are planning a River Watch social on February 27, 2010, from 9 to 11 am at the General Store Cafe in downtown Pittsboro, where we will summarize the overall project, share what we have learned about macroinvertebrate identification, and show some very cool bug photos to our riverwatchers.
We also hope to make our photo reference macroinvertebrate library available on the web. Check this site for updates!
View this Two Streams Presentation (18,091 KB--very large file!) created by Catherine Deininger for the Haw River Assembly Board of Directors in September 2008.
Posted on: Thursday February 04, 2010 EST
The Two Threatened Streams Project
The Two Threatened Streams project, begun by the Haw River Assembly's Stream Stewardship Project in 2006, is a three year endeavor to study impacts to Dry Creek and Pokeberry Creeks in Chatham County, and to maintain or improve water quality in these creeks through stream stewardship education and best management practices. In 2005, the Haw River Assembly “Stream Steward” campaign was awarded a three year Section 319 grant from NC DENR that gives us the resources to carry out this work.
The “Two Threatened Creeks” project is being carried out by a team effort at HRA, led by project manager Catherine Deininger. Team members in water quality monitoring and lab identification of macroinvertebrates are: Cynthia Crossen (HRA's River Watch Coordinator), Betsy Kraus, John Wagner, Jeannie Ambrose, and Neville Handel. Dave Penrose, expert entomologist with NCSU, is a key advisor to the project.
Since April 2007, we have been sampling Dry Creek, Pokeberry Creek, and our reference stream Terrells Creek. This Two Streams Sampling VoiceThread shows commented photos of our water quality monitoring.
NCSU Water Quality Group's Dan Line and Jamie Blackwell are partnering with us to monitor stormwater at sites on Dry Creek and Pokeberry Creek. On Dry Creek, there is one site upstream and one downstream of the Chapel Ridge development; on Pokeberry, there is one site upstream and one downstream of the Briar Chapel development. Nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment, and stream flow are being measured.
In addition to the stormwater monitoring and our monitoring of sites on these two creeks, we are conducting visual stream assessments with landowners along both creeks, and documenting macroinvertebrate counts throughout their stream length. This provides us with the opportunity to educate landowners on stream stewardship practices as well as identify potential sites for restoration, installation of best management practices, and preservation. Catherine Deininger, Kathy Buck, and Neville Handel make up our visual stream assessment team. Read more...
Posted on: Tuesday February 19, 2008 EST
Two Threatened Streams Quality Assurance Project Plans and Information
Lab Notes Dry2 20070505 VoiceThread: Commented Lab Notes from the Macroinvertebrate Identification sessions on August 31, 2007 and October 3, 2007; of our Two Streams Sampling of Dry Creek at the Hwy 87 bridge on May 5, 2007. Dry2 20070505 Lab Notes.pdf: downloadable .PDF format.
Lab Notes Dry3 20070428 VoiceThread: Commented Lab Notes from the Macroinvertebrate Identification session on July 2, 2007; of our Two Streams Sampling of Dry Creek at the Old Graham bridge on April 28, 2007. Dry3 20070428 Lab Notes.pdf: downloadable .PDF format.
Lab Notes Dry4 20070422 VoiceThread: Commented Lab Notes from the Macroinvertebrate Identification session July 12, 2007; of our Two Streams Sampling of Dry Creek upstream of the confluence with the Haw on April 22, 2007. Dry4 20070422 Lab Notes.pdf: downloadable .PDF format.
Dry Creek, September 2007:
Lab Notes Dry4 20070920 VoiceThread: Commented Lab Notes from the Macroinvertebrate Identification session October 3, 2007; of our Two Streams Sampling of Dry Creek upstream of the confluence with the Haw on September 20, 2007. Dry4 20070920 Lab Notes.pdf: downloadable .PDF format.
Dry Creek, November 2007:
Dry1 too dry to sample in November.
Lab Notes Dry2 20071128 VoiceThread: Commented Lab Notes from the Macroinvertebrate Identification sessions on March 5, 2008; of our Two Streams Sampling of Dry Creek at the Hwy 87 bridge on November 28, 2007. Dry2 20071128 Lab Notes.pdf: downloadable .PDF format.
Lab Notes Dry3 20071120 VoiceThread: Commented Lab Notes from the Macroinvertebrate Identification session on March 19, 2008; of our Two Streams Sampling of Dry Creek at the Old Graham Road bridge on November 20, 2007. Dry3 20071120 Lab Notes.pdf: downloadable .PDF format.
Lab Notes Dry4 20071116 VoiceThread: Commented Lab Notes from the Macroinvertebrate Identification session March 26, 2008; of our Two Streams Sampling of Dry Creek upstream of the confluence with the Haw on November 16, 2007. Dry4 20071116 Lab Notes.pdf: downloadable .PDF format.
Poke2 20071102 Lab Notes VoiceThread Commented Notes from the ID sessions on January 16 & 30, 2007; of our Two Streams Sampling of Pokeberry Creek on Fearrington property off Morris Road on November 2, 2007. Poke2 20071102 Lab Notes.pdf: downloadable .PDF format.
As we identify macroinvertebrates to family level for our Two Streams project, we want to create tutorials for river watchers and others. The following demos show the kinds of tutorials we'll be making.
When you click on the commented Lab Notes, you will go to VoiceThread, a site that allows you to read documents and comment (if authorized).
These tips are handy when using VoiceThread:
--To get a closer view, click on the page. You can move your mouse to move around on the page.
--Move to the bottom of the page to access the menu.
--Below the Play/Pause icon is a bar which indicates the comments--you can click on this bar to go to a comment again.
--To stay on a page, click the Pause icon. To continue, click Play again, or click on a commenter's photo.
--To reread a comment, click on the commenter's photo.
--If you are authorized, you may make a comment. To type in a comment, click on "Comment", then click on "Type". Enter your comment. Then, you can select a color from the color wheel and draw with your mouse. When done, click on Save.
The Two Threatened Streams project, begun by the Haw River Assembly's Stream Stewardship Project in 2006, is a three year endeavor to study impacts to Dry Creek and Pokeberry Creeks in Chatham County, and to maintain or improve water quality in these creeks through stream stewardship education and best management practices. In 2005, the Haw River Assembly “Stream Steward” campaign was awarded a three year Section 319 grant from NC DENR that gives us the resources to carry out this work.
NOTE: See tips below for Reading Commented Lab Notes in VoiceThread.
As we identify macroinvertebrates to family level for our Two Streams project, we want to create tutorials for river watchers and others. The following demos show the kinds of tutorials we'll be making.