Students find benthic macroinvertebrates to identify and count as part of an ongoing creek biomonitoring program.

Biomonitoring Program

The Biomonitoring Program works with high school students to study stream ecology and focus on a single creek, evaluating watershed health through physical, chemical, and biological assessments. The program builds on our Watershed Explorers Program and Suisun Marsh Watershed Education Program, but also stands alone. 

A student seeks out a Secchi disc (turbidity test). Participants leave the program understanding:

• the relationship between stream ecology and water quality;
• the extent of local water quality issues and ways to improve surface water quality;
• the value of citizen and community science and habitat restoration in watershed management;
• professional opportunities in the field of environmental science.

Offered in two sessions (March-April or April-May), this intensive, hands-on program includes three classroom presentations on stream ecology and watersheds, macroinvertebrate identification, and data interpretation. Students also participate in a field trip to a local creek, during which they collect chemical and physical data on the site, as well as collect and identify macroinvertebrates to aid in a biological assessment of the waterway.

The Biomonitoring Program is funded by the Vallejo Flood and Wastewater District, the Solano County Department of Resource Management, Solano County Water Agency, and the City of Benicia. Additional program support is provided by the Vallejo Watershed Alliance and the Greater Vallejo Recreation District.

For more information on this program, please contact Shea Kinser.

High school students carry supplies to a riffle to collect macroinvertebrate samples living in Sulphur Springs Creek, Vallejo.

A high school student pulls up a D-net used to collect macroinvertebrates from Blue Rock Springs Creek in Vallejo.

Vallejo High School students rub the creek bottom to stir up macroinvertebrates, which will be identified and counted as part of an on-going creek biomonitoring program.

Students time how long it takes a ball to float down a Vallejo creek in order to determine the creek’s flow rate.

Past Videos

Tags: solano county, biomonitoring program, water quality, citizen science, watershed science, chemistry, biology, biodiversity, macroinvertebrate, creek, community science