Monitoring and Research:

There are too many questions about freshwater streams for one monitoring program to answer all the questions. How is the "stream in my backyard" doing? Where does the pollution come from? What IS the pollution? How did it get that way? How long have things been this way? What lives in the water? Where did all the migratory fish go? Why? Whodunnit? What can I do to help?

The links in the "More Info" table lead to some of the ways we are looking to answer these questions, and many more.

• MBSS: The Maryland Biological Stream Survey looks at many streams each year in order to answer questions about "the stream in my backyard".
• Acid Deposition: explore one of many problem pollutants in our streams.
• Trace metals and Nutrients: a look at still more pollutants.
• Geomorphic Assessments: determining how the shape of streams affects things.
• Volunteer Monitoring: how volunteers help
• Synoptic Surveys: a way to look at everything in the area that feeds a stream (the watershed)
• Long-term Water Quality: Since the Clean Water Act, we have kept track of many things at fixed locations in order to answer the question "Is it getting better?"
• Stream Corridor Assessment: see how what is on the land next to a stream makes a difference.
• Freshwater Fisheries: Salmon aren't the only fish that migrate to fresh water to breed. See what fish migrate and what we are doing to help them.

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This page was updated on 4/8/04