Nebraska H2O Coordinates Stream Bioassessment Workshop

On May 18-19, the 10 member communities of Nebraska H2O coordinated a stream bioassessment workshop in Grand Island, Nebraska.  There were 15 attendees (MS4s, NRDs, UNL, and USGS) plus the two presenters from the Central Plains Center for BioAssessment at the University of Kansas.  Felsburg Holt & Ullevig arranged and facilitated the workshop.  The purpose of the workshop was to explore new methods to measure effectiveness of Storm Water Management Programs for MS4s. 

The CPCB has a summary and downloadable copies of the presentations available on their website - http://www.cpcb.ku.edu/workshops/html/2011_GrandIsland.htm and the first two videos on the NeFSMA YouTube Channel have been posted with small segments from the field tour portion of the workshop.









The group covered basic information about stream bioassessement concepts, methods, taxonomy, data collection, and reporting.  Half of the first day was held in the field.  The group visited a segment of the Wood River upstream of Grand Island which could be considered the reference condition where urban influences have not impacted the stream.  This is the location seen in the first video.

The group then moved to the sampling location which was near State Fair Park.  After some more introductions about field equipment and filling out the assessment forms (seen in the second video), anyone that wanted to could get into the Wood River and start trying their hand at sampling the stream. 

The workshop was successful and the feedback was great.  Nebraska H2O Communities hope to use stream bioassessment methods for algae, macro-invertebrates, and/or fish to more effectively monitor the impacts of stormwater pollution from their communities.  

Don't think there are any fish or macroinvertebrates in our urban waters?  Check out these two photos which were taken AFTER the group had tromped around in the stream channel for about an hour. 

 Submitted by

Jesse Poore