The Illinois RiverWatch Network is a volunteer monitoring initiative coordinated by the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC℠). RiverWatch is the only statewide biological monitoring program that provides volunteers a hands-on opportunity to become stewards of our local waterways by monitoring stream habitat and water quality. The program was originally established in 1995 and has since expanded to the statewide level, with over 200 participants monitoring streams annually.
Illinois RiverWatch Network safeguards the future of Illinois rivers and streams through stewardship, education, and sound science. RiverWatch utilizes trained volunteers to collect quality assured data on wadeable streams and fosters coordination among groups involved in similar monitoring efforts.
Illinois RiverWatch’s primary goals are:
This map includes site data collected by volunteers from 1995-Present.
RiverWatch sites are 200ft stretches of stream that are monitored mostly during May-June but there is also an optional monitoring period in September-October. During each monitoring trip, community scientists conduct habitat and biological surveys following the methods outlined below. More details about the survey methods can be found in the Illinois RiverWatch Stream Monitoring Manual.
The habitat survey involves estimating percent cover of habitat features such as stream bottom embeddedness, stream substrate composition, and canopy cover over the stream reach. Volunteers also provide information on the past and present weather conditions, water odor, presence of submerged aquatic plants, presence of riparian vegetation, types of watershed land uses, and the amount of channelization. Additionally, stream discharge, velocity, depth, and width are estimated.
Volunteers sample two of five habitat types typically containing the highest
abundance and diversity of benthic macroinvertebrates. The potential habitats
from which volunteers may sample are listed here from most diverse to least
diverse: riffles, leaf packs, snag areas, undercut banks, and sediments. Sampling
is conducted using a D-frame kicknet.
The two habitats selected are combined in a bucket to make one composite
sample for the entire study reach. Subsequently, volunteers transfer sampling
debris from the bucket to the sub-sampling pan. All large rocks, sticks, bark,
and leaves are inspected for organisms and placed back in the stream. If the
sample appears to have more than 100 organisms, community scientists can choose to
sub-sample their sample. All macroinvertebrates collected are stored in 90% isopropyl alcohol until they
can be identified in a lab. Volunteers use a dissecting microscope with a magnification
range of at least 10X-30X to identify macroinvertebrates to the appropriate taxonomic
level outlined in the Stream Monitoring Manual.
After community scientists finish identifying their samples, all of the datasheet and macroinvertebrate samples are sent to the RiverWatch office by September 30th each year. As part of our quality assurance project plan (QAPP), one-third of the samples are selected and identified by professionals from the Illinois Natural History Survey. The identification from the community scientists is compared to that of the professionals. RiverWatch staff does a similar procedure with the data from all first-year volunteers as well. This, plus several other QA measures, allows us to test the validity of the RiverWatch program and helps provide good data that can be used by scientists.
© The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center
