1. Why Should We Care About Streams?

2. Wildlife drink water out of streams.

3. We like to fish and swim in streams.

4. Fish and other aquatic animals need good water quality for their homes and for their food.
Chum salmon

6. Stream Structure
The structure of a stream is determined by the bedrock or substrate it runs over as well as the steepness or angle of the stream bed.
Left bank and right bank are determined by standing in the stream and looking down stream. By referring to left or right bank when you’re describing something (e.g. vegetation or land use), it allows everyone to know which side of the stream you’re talking about.
Pools, riffles and glides are different types of habitat for the various plants and animals that live in the stream.

7. Pool
A pool is where the water is deep and slow moving.

8. Riffle
Riffle – shallow water that’s fast moving and shows whitecaps.

9. Run or Glide
Glide – deeper than a riffle with fast moving water but no whitecaps showing.

10. Woody Debris Important for: slowing down water filtering sediment
creating habitat for fish and other animals
giving animals a place to hide from predators
We used to remove wood y debris from streams but now we know it’s important to leave it in the stream.

11. Stream Discharge - is the total amount (volume) of water flowing in the stream. It is important to know how much water is flowing in a stream because it affects many things about a stream, for example: * Salmon need slower flowing areas of a stream to lay their eggs * Other aquatic animals (like macroinvertebrates) and algae can’t live in a stream that has water moving too fast.

12. Stream Discharge – how to measure
Stream discharge is measured by multiplying the area of the stream by its velocity.
Stream discharge is measured in cubic feet per second (cfs).
Visualize cutting a stream like I’m cutting this banana to understand what a cross-section is. You measure the area of a stream at a cross-section slice of the stream.
cfs (cubic foot per second) – visualize a box 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 foot filled with water; that’s a cubic foot of water.

13. A Pretend Stream Stream Discharge = Area (A) x Velocity (V)
Depth
Area (A) = Depth x Width
Discharge is measured at one point as the water flows by.
Width

14. Stream Area = the area of box 1+box 2+box 3+
A Real Stream 1 10 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Real streams aren’t shaped like boxes
To make a cross section – take a tape measure across a stream and divide that tape into 10 equidistant points. At each point, measure the depth of the water and the width between each point – now you have the area of the box. Add up all the boxes to get the area of the cross-section.
At each point you also take the velocity or speed of the water. These values are averaged to get a number to put into the equation “stream discharge = area X velocity”.
Stream Area = the area of box 1+box 2+box 3+
box 4+box 5+box 6+box 7+box 8+box 9+box 10

15. Embeddedness
Embeddedness refers to how much the rocks (gravel, cobble, and boulders) are surrounded by, covered, or sunken into the silt, sand, or mud of the stream bottom.
This is a picture of a stream that has good embeddedness. Mostly what you see are rocks, not sand or silt. There are lots of spaces and crevices for animals to live and hide and lay their eggs.

16. Embeddedness
Generally, as rocks become embedded, fewer living spaces are available to macroinvertebrates and fish for shelter, spawning and egg incubation.
This is an example of a stream that has poor embeddedness. Mostly you see sand and silt, very few rocks. Not many spaces and crevices for animals to hide or lay their eggs in.

17. Riparian Zone
The area between the stream and the land away from the stream.
Riparian comes from the Latin word, ripa, which means river bank.
Because the riparian zone can flood, the vegetation that grows there must be able to tolerate having its roots get wet occasionally.

18. Riparian zones are important to a stream because:
They filter pollutants and prevent them from entering the stream
When you spill orange juice on the counter, what do you do to prevent it from reaching the floor? You use a sponge or something else to sop up the orange juice.
Think of a riparian zone like that sponge. The roots of all those plants living next to the stream sop up water and any pollution that’s carried by water and prevents it from reaching the stream.

19. Riparian zones are important to a stream because:
They prevent the streambank from eroding or wearing away.
The vegetation in riparian zones also prevent sediment from reaching the stream by forming a physical barrier. The roots of the plants hold the soil in place and prevent it from moving.
In this picture, there are no large trees or other vegetation to hold the soil in place.

20. Riparian zones are important to a stream because:
They supply shade to the stream

21. Riparian zones are important to a stream because:
They provide shelter and food for animals that live in or near the stream

22. Examples of Riparian Vegetation
In a healthy riparian zone, there are typically three layers of vegetation that occur:
Tall trees
Shorter trees and shrubs
Flowering plants and ferns

23. Douglas fir - Pseudotsuga menziesii
Douglas fir is an evergreen tree – it holds it leaves all year round (needles are considered leaves).
You can tell a Douglas fir cone because it is the only cone that has the forked scale on it. Think of it as the hind end of a little mouse diving into the cone to get the seed.

24. Black cottonwood - Populus trichocarpa
Very common along rivers and streams. When the leaves first come out in the spring, they are covered in a sticky substance that
has a very strong smell. When you drive on I-5 near the Nisqually River, you can smell this very easily.
Black cottonwood is called a deciduous tree because it loses its leaves every year in the fall.

25. Vine maple - Acer circinatum
Red alder is also a deciduous tree. It has an advantage over other trees in that it can make nitrogen for use as its food.
Other plants have to get nitrogen from the soil or the air for use as their food.

26. Devil’s club - Oplopanax horridus
Nasty plant - look at those thorns!

27. Slough sedge - Carex obnupta
Most common sedge in western Washington; very common along waterbodies.
You can tell sedges from grasses because the sedge stem is triangular in shape, not round like a grass.

28. Food Web
A food web (sometimes called a food chain) is a way to describe how various food sources are being used by the animals in an ecosystem; in this case a stream ecosystem.

29. Food Web
The Sun
The sun is the first level in this food web because plants need sunlight to make their own food in the photosynthesis process.

30. Food Web
In this food web the terrestrial plants are making their own food……………….

31. Food Web
And here are aquatic plants making their own food in a stream through photosynthesis.

32. Food Web
Both terrestrial and aquatic plant leaves die and decompose. This dead plant material, as well as dead insects and other animals, is called detritus. Organisms, such as bacteria or fungi, eat this detritus. These organisms are in turn eaten by terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates (next level of the food web).

33. Food Web
Terrestrial invertebrates, like this honeybee, eat the pollen that is produced by terrestrial plants.

34. Food Web Black Fly Larvae
Aquatic macroinvertebrates eat algae, bacteria and other smaller animals called zooplankton (Greek for “free floating animal”).
There are many different sizes and shapes of aquatic macroinvertebrates. Here are a few examples……………….

35. Cool photo (an electron microscope photo) of the black fly larvae showing the fans. These fans wave around in the water and collect food bits which the animal then puts into its mouth.

36. Black Fly Larvae on a Rock
The black fly larvae attach themselves at one end to a hard surface like a rock. The flowing water brings the food to them!
You can see how the speed of the water is important as to where these animals live – if it’s too fast, the larvae can’t stay attached to the rock.

37. Food Web Caddis Fly Larvae
Fly larvae is the stage of the insect before it gets its wings and flies away.
Caddis fly larvae make a protective home, a cocoon, out of silk and attach sand and sediment particles for camouflage. This protects the larvae from predators.

38. Food Web Caddis Fly Larvae
Some species of caddis fly larvae even build their own fishing nets where they catch food drifting by in the current.
Here’s what the larvae looks like outside of its protective home.
Caddis Fly Larvae

39. Food Web
Water Louse
Another example of an aquatic invertebrate. Notice the different shape and number of legs on this bug.
This bug doesn’t attach itself to a rock but hides among the rocks or free floats in the water.

40. Food Web
Some of the aquatic invertebrates live on the water, not in it.
This insect needs a slow moving stream, otherwise it has to work too hard to get anywhere!
Water Strider

41. Food Web Next level of the food web – fish; this is a rainbow trout.
Fish eat terrestrial bugs (ones that fall in the water) as well as aquatic bugs. In some cases, fish eat other fish!

42. Food Web
A Washington native bird – the belted kingfisher. Very common around creeks.
Birds in a stream ecosystem eat fish and invertebrates (e.g. insects).

43. Food Web
People are at the top of the food web – we eat fish, birds (ducks). Some people even eat invertebrates like crayfish from a stream.

44. Water Quality Parameters
Dissolved Oxygen
Oxygen in the water comes from the air/ atmosphere and the aquatic plants (through photosynthesis).
All plants (terrestrial and aquatic) make their food through the process of photosynthesis; one of the by-products is oxygen.

45. Water Quality Parameters
Dissolved Oxygen
Aquatic organisms – plants and animals – need to breathe oxygen, just like people.
Caddis fly larvae and aquatic plants on the stream bed.

46. Water Quality Parameters
Dissolved Oxygen
Dissolved oxygen levels change throughout the day based on water temperature and photosynthetic activity.
The gold line is dissolved oxygen (DO). See how it forms a 24-hour cycle with the highest DO levels during the summer typically occurring during the late afternoon/ early evening. This is because the aquatic plants have been photosynthesizing all day putting oxygen into the water.
This is a 24-hour clock; 21:00 equals 9pm

47. Water Quality Parameters
Temperature
Stream temperature controls how plants and animals live.
Warm water contains less dissolved oxygen than cool water.
Plants and animals have different ranges of temperatures that they prefer to live in. Some can only live in cool water while others can live either in warm or cool water.

48. Water Quality Parameters
Temperature
Young salmon need temperatures of around 9°Centigrade; adult salmon need water that’s 12°Centigrade.

49. Water Quality ParameterspH
A pH measurement tells us whether a stream is acidic or alkaline.
pH values range from 0 to 14; values from 0 to 7 are considered acidic, 7 is neutral and above 7 is considered alkaline or basic.
The pH of a stream is determined by what kind of rocks the stream flows over and sometimes by humans.
In Washington, the pH of water on the west side of the mountains tends to be either neutral or slightly acidic. On the east side of the mountains, the water tends to be more basic or alkaline. This is because the rocks and geology is so different on the west side versus the east side.
Human caused changes in pH can come from failing septic systems or stormwater or other types of pollution.

50. Water Quality Parameters
Nutrients
Nitrate is one of the nutrients which is used as food by plants .
Nitrates can come from decomposing plants and animals, human sewage, fertilizers and stormwater run-off.
Excessive amounts of nitrates can cause too much algae growth. This lowers the dissolved oxygen levels when the algae die and decompose.
Plants use oxygen in the decomposition process.
Low oxygen levels are bad in a stream because it can cause fish and other animals to die.

51. Water Quality Parameters
Turbidity
Turbidity is a measurement of how clear or cloudy the water looks. Water becomes cloudy when it contains solid material.
This solid material can be a combination of sediment, algae, aquatic animals - anything that can be suspended in the water.
Turbidity can affect the ability of fish to live by clogging their gills.
Turbidity is a measurement of the scattered light in a water sample (the light that bounces off of any solid material in the water sample).

52. Water Quality Parameters
Bacteria
Not all bacteria are harmful to humans but some are, like fecal coliform. These “bad” bacteria produce toxins which make people sick.
It is important to protect humans from these harmful bacteria which could occur both in our drinking water as well as in the lakes and rivers where people play and have fun.
Bad bacteria, like fecal coliform, come from the intestines of warm blooded animals and are spread to people by contact with the feces of dogs, birds, and other humans.

53. What can you do to help a stream?
Collect data as part of a student monitoring team.
Don’t litter!
Educate other people about how important streams are to people and animals.
Educate yourself about how streams work and what makes a stream healthy.
Give a presentation to local officials (city and county officials) about the stream you monitor. These are the people who make decisions that affect the health of streams.
If you have an on-site septic system at your house, make sure it is operating properly.
Pick up your pet waste.