FLOW stream quality monitoring
LOWER OLENTANGY WATERSHED REPORT CARD 2024
FLOW’s Volunteer Stream Quality Monitors sample 20 tributaries and two river locations for a total of 40 sampling sites, and assign each a CIV score. The Cumulative Index Value (CIV) is a score assigned based on the number of different organisms called macroinvertebrates (the aquatic stage of certain insects) found in these streams. The streams are rated based on the diversity of organisms found that can only live in clean water. The higher the score, the more diverse species were found. Low scores indicate poor water quality and FLOW uses that information to target areas that need improvement. Many sites could not be sampled in 2024 due to drought conditions; many of the numbers shown are two or three year averages.
For more background on why we monitor streams in this fashion, here’s an article that explains it.
More reports can be found in our Wiki site; many of the tributaries have their own pages with water quality reports attached.
To become a stream quality monitoring volunteer, contact us at info@olentangywatershed.org
For more info on stream quality monitoring in Ohio, visit the ODNR page.
MACROINVERTEBRATE PHOTOS
These are a few of the macroinvertebrates that are often found when sampling our tributaries. Group 1 macroinvertebrates are the most pollution sensitive, while Group 3 are the most tolerant of pollution.
STREAM HABITAT ASSESSMENT METHOD
This video is the online portion of the 2025 Stream Quality Monitoring training led by Jenna Roller-Knapp, MAD Scientist Associates.