Putah Creek Stream Biomonitoring

The Putah Creek Council Stream Biomonitoring Group is a dedicated group of “bug samplers” that are tracking the spread of the New Zealand Mudsnail and continuing baseline monitoring of which insects currently call Putah Creek home.  This core group of dedicated, trained volunteers have been willingly giving up Saturday mornings once a month for the past two years to help establish baseline data on the insects that are found in Putah Creek.  Establishing this baseline data will give us an idea of how Putah Creek is functioning and will provide information on how the New Zealand mudsnail impacts the Putah Creek ecosystem and food chain. 

The group is working with Ken Davis, Independent Aquatic Biologist, who is overseeing the Putah Creek sampling efforts and monitoring of the NZMS and Dawn Calciano, Program Director, who has experience in stream biomonitoring.

A typical sampling day is as follows: arrive at the site by 9:00 AM and partake in donuts and other breakfast treats, help to clear the rock sampling traps and do D-net samples of the area, sort and identify the macroinvertebrates in the sample and wrap-up by noon.  We ask that you be willing to attend 2-3 sampling days each year.  We typically sample once a month from April to November in the field and this year hope to sample year round with some sorting taking place indoors (this all depends on the rain and water level). 

If you are interested in more information or in joining the biomonitoring group, please contact Dawn Calciano at (530) 795-3006 or dawn@putahcreekcouncil.org.