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by Jim Sauter Welcome to the 2024 TCTU Streamkeeper monitoring season. The good news is that our recent April and May showers have been very beneficial to our water levels in area streams. This year we are transitioning to the Save Our Stream protocol from the Izaak Walton League, and the chemical monitoring season began in April and concludes in late September or early October. We may also conduct one or more macroinvertebrate surveys in October. As a sidenote, several representatives from Minnesota TU participated in the Rush River (Wisconsin) Macroinvertebrate Monitoring project last October. Kudos to Carl and Cindy Nelson, Mitch Abbett, and Mark Perrenboom for their help with this project. In April the team received the Outstanding Volunteer Group Award at the Wisconsin Lakes and Rivers Convention. Very cool. If interested in the report, click here to download it: 
We expanded our metro "targeted" streams from seven to eight streams this spring by adding Brown's Creek near Stillwater. Our targeted streams now include:
Thank you to the 30 volunteers that have volunteered to monitor these streams. We also invite other members to submit readings from other streams on a more random basis. Simply take one or more readings and use the using the TCTU Streamkeeper Data Reporting Short Form (click below to download). Please note that you do not need to fill in all the categories. For example, if you take the stream temperature in degrees C, you can enter just this data. The google form can be installed on your phone or computer for data entry and submission. The TCTU Streamkeeper Data Reporting form can also be accessed here: https://www.twincitiestu.org/h2o
NEED TEST STRIPS? Nitrate strips and salt strips are available free of charge from the Izaak Walton League.
As mentioned earlier, we may offer Save Our Stream chemical and macroinvertebrate training on a Saturday this summer if there is enough interest. Check your inbox to find the survey (sent 5/13) intended to gauge interest level. STREAMKEEPER REPORTS Summary: Streams were generally in the very healthy ranges. One concern is the consistent high chloride levels at the Mall of America Creek. We are exploring this more closely. Nitrates were a bit high on Trout Brook and the South Branch Whitewater. TARGETED STREAMS Eagle Creek, Reporter Jim Calkins
Mall of America Creek, Reporters Harold Slawik, Veronica Bauer
South Branch Vermillion, Reporters Doug Moran, Rowe Winecoff, Mike Stinson
Trout Brook, Reporters Andy McRae, Rick Varco
 Photo by Chip Meyer, South Branch Whitewater, 5/3/24, after 2" rain on 5/2/24 GENERAL STREAMS
South Branch Whitewater, Reporter Chip Meyer
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