Streamkeeper Report - September 2023: Be a Hero- Clean our streams.

By Jim Sauter

Greetings from TCTU Streamkeepers!

As I’m writing this article, I’ve been doing some fishing this week in the Driftless area in Wisconsin. I was shocked when I took the stream temperature on Tuesday, 9/5/23, and recorded 62 degrees on the WISEH2O app, and the air temperatures hit 100 degrees. Truly amazing.

Our Streamkeepers have been busy battling buckthorns and extreme heat to monitor our streams. Kudos to all our “targeted” and “general” Streamkeepers for their efforts! We usually attempt to take at least three measurements on each stream after a major weather event (i.e., rain), and this year has been a challenge.

Become a hero. Help clean up our streams. 
As we begin the fall season, we are starting a Fall Challenge. The effort will involve cleaning up our streams. There are a number of options that are available:

1. Take a bag along when you go fishing and pick up some trash. Many of you may already be doing this!!!
2. Get a new handy, dandy Trout Unlimited mesh reusable trash bag and carry it along on your vest or sling pack. We will be giving some of these away at some upcoming TCTU events. We’ll keep you posted!
3. Some TCTU reusable mesh bags will be given away at our upcoming Oktoberfish event as door prizes.
4. Volunteer for the upcoming cleanup day at the South Branch of the Vermillion River. We’ll be giving some mesh TU trash bags away at that event!

Become a HERO for our streams by helping us clean up our streams.

South Branch Vermillion Cleanup Day
Join us for the 1st ever TCTU Trash Day on Saturday, October 28. Registered attendees who sign up in advance will receive a free TU mesh reusable trash bag (These will be given away at the South Branch Vermillion on the day of the event). We'll meet in the parking lot of the AMA, and walk either side of the river, picking up any trash we find.

The vegetation should all be knocked down and there shouldn't be any snow yet (hopefully) so it'll be easy to spot trash. Enjoy a walk in the brisk fall weather, while taking direct action to make this AMA a better place for everyone!

NOTE: You do NOT need to wear blaze orange as this event occurs after the end of archery season and before firearms season for deer.

WiseH2O Challenge Blitz & Updates from Carter Borden
The September WiseH2O Water Quality Blitz has started. We’re encouraging WiseH2O observations on brook trout streams as part of the blitz. The storefront to purchase strips is currently down due to out-of-country travel, so you’ll have to use the strips you have in your possession. Use them up, as they do expire. Each observation made is an entry to win some TU swag.  
 
In Wisconsin, there have been field crews out all summer surveying culverts for fish passage in Jackson, Trempealeau, Crawford, and Richland counties in Wisconsin (see map). This work has prioritized WDNR brook trout reserves and designated trout streams for this road-stream crossing inventory. While field crews were visiting the
numerous road-stream crossings in those counties, they were also collecting WiseH2O observations. This has helped to fill in data gaps in those areas, and it nicely supplements the data that has been collected over the last few years. The map is filling out!
 
Putting the data to use:
TU’s Science Program is planning to begin a Brook Trout Conservation Portfolio Assessment for the Driftless Area in fall of 2024.  Similar assessments have been completed by TU Science in the East and Great Lakes regions, but a gap remains in the Driftless Area – the western extent of the native range of brook trout. TU plans to incorporate WiseH2O data into that assessment of interconnected patches of native brook trout habitat. To see what this will look like, check out the Great Lakes Brook Trout Portfolio Assessment. It is summarized here: LINK.

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Targeted Streamkeepers
Our “targeted” Streamkeepers are monitoring Belle Creek, Eagle Creek, Hay Creek, Little Cannon, Mall of America Creek, South Branch Vermillion, and Trout Brook.  Below are some recent chemical readings on these streams.
 
Belle Creek

• Team of Dean Albrecht (Captain), Paul Frank, and Todd Hustad  
• August 22, 2023. Water quality: pH= 6.5 (trout are happy), Alkalinity=0.0 (Low reading), Hardness= 0.0 (low reading), Nitrate= 20.0 (High), Nitrite= 0 (Good), Phosphorous= 0 (good), Temperature = 61 degrees (high). Water clarity was very clear, water level was baseflow, and there were no significant weather conditions to report. 

Eagle Creek

• Team of Thor Benson and Southwest Christian High School students
• July 20, 2023.  Water quality:  Ph= 7.5 (Trout are happy), Alkalinity= 0 (low), Hardness= 30.0 (low), Nitrate= 1.0 (trout are happy), Nitrite= 0 (trout are happy), Phosphorous= 0 (good), Water temperature= 59 degrees (trout are happy).  Water clarity was clear.  Water level was mid-stage.  There was no recent weather event.​

Hay Creek (pictured above, photos by Mike Stinson)

• Team of Mike Stinson (Captain), Keith Ketchmark, Josh O’Tool, Larry Olson, and Mitch Abbett
• Report from Mike:  "A lot of fisher people on Hay Creek, particularly since they cleaned brush on 320th. Of the four people I spoke to no one had caught a fish, one lady said it was the most technical stream she fishes. The stream is in good shape, no cattle in stream and look how clear. The one photo is looking into about four feet of water. Will be back in about two weeks."
• September 3, 2023, 320th St.  Water quality:  pH= 7.0 (trout are happy), Alkalinity= 40.0 (fair), Hardness= 0 (fair), Nitrate= 20.0 (high), Nitrite= 0.0 (good), Phosphorous= 100 (fair), Temperature= 60 degrees (trout are happy).  Clear water.  Mid-stage level.  There was no recent weather event.
• ​August 19, 2023, 325th St.  Water quality:  Nitrate= 50.0 (high), Nitrite= 03.0 (high), Phosphorous= 100 (trout are happy), Temperature= 57 degrees (trout are happy).  Clear water.  Bank full stage.  There was recent regional rain.

Little Cannon

• Team of Hillary Pennalla (Captain), Rick Phetsavong, Ron Richardson, and Ginger Flaten
• July 16, 2023.  Water quality:  Ph= 7.0 (trout are happy), Alkalinity= 80.0 (trout are happy), Hardness= 0 (low), nitrate= 50 (high), nitrite= 3 (high), phosphorous= 100 (moderately high), temperature= 68 degrees (moderately high), water clarity is clear, water level is mid-stage, and there were now recent weather events.

Mall of America Creek

• Team of Harold Slawik and Veronica Bauer
• August 20, 2023.  Water quality:  Ph= 8 (Good), Alkalinity= 120 (Good), Hardness = 120 (Good), Nitrate= 1.0 (Good), Nitrite= 0 (Good), Phosphorus= 0.0 (trout are happy), Temperature= 61 degrees (trout are happy), the water clarity was clear, the banks were at mid-stage, and there was no recent weather event.

South Branch Vermillion

• Team of Doug Moran (Captain), Thomas Walkington (Captain), John Klesch, Matt Kleinheinz, Rowe Winecoff, and Joe Page
• September 2, 2023.  Water quality:  pH= 7.0, (trout are happy), Alkalinity= 180 (trout are happy), Hardness= 30.0 (fair), Nitrate= 5.0 (fair), Nitrite= 1.0 (trout are happy), Phosphorus= 200.0 (fair), Temperature= 65 degrees (trout are happy).  The water clarity was clear, level was baseflow, and there was no recent weather event.
• August 4, 2023.  Water quality:  pH= 7.0, (trout are happy), Alkalinity= 120 (trout are happy), Hardness= 120.0 (trout are happy), Nitrate= 5.0 (Moderate), Nitrite= 0.3 (moderate), Phosphorus= 0.0 (good), Temperature= 64 degrees (trout are happy).  The water clarity was clear, level was baseflow, and there were no recent weather events.

Trout Brook

• Team of Matt Lowe (Captain), Dan Erickson, Andy McRae, and Rick Varco.
• August 7, 2023.  Water quality:   pH= 7.0 (trout are happy), Alkalinity= 40.0 (fair), Hardness= 0 (fair), Phosphorus= 100.0 (fair), Temperature= 54 degrees (trout are happy).  Water was clear with baseflow water level.

General Anglers
“General” Streamkeepers are busy conducting more random and spontaneous monitoring of streams in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

General Streamkeepers - Minnesota

Beaver Creek (State Park)

• August 15, 2023.  Water quality:  pH= 7.5, (trout are happy), Alkalinity= 40 (fair), Hardness= 120.0 (trout are happy), Nitrate= 10.0 (high), Nitrite= 0.0 (good), Phosphorus= 0.0 (good).  Temperature= 50 degrees. The water clarity was clear, level was baseflow, and there were no recent weather events.

Crooked Creek

• August 15, 2023.  Water quality:  pH= 7.5, (trout are happy), Alkalinity= 80 (trout are happy), Hardness= 180.0 (trout are happy), Nitrate= 10.0 (high), Nitrite= 0 (good), Phosphorus= 0.0 (good).  Temperature= 60 degrees.  The water clarity was clear, level was baseflow, and there were no recent weather events.

Gribben Creek

• August 16, 2023.  Water quality:  pH= 8.0, (trout are happy), Alkalinity= 180 (trout are happy), Hardness= 180.0 (trout are happy), Nitrate= 5.0 (Fair), Nitrite= .15 (fair), Phosphorus= 200.0 (good), Temperature= 56 degrees (trout are happy).  The water clarity was clear, level was baseflow, and there were no recent weather events.

General Streamkeepers - Wisconsin

Coon Creek

• September 5, 2023.  Water quality:  Temperature= 62 degrees (trout are happy).  The water clarity was clear, level was baseflow, and there were no recent weather events.

Kinnikinnic River

• September 4, 2023.  Water quality:  pH= 8.0, (trout are happy), Alkalinity= 180 (trout are happy), Hardness= 180.0 (trout are happy), Nitrate= 20.0 (high), Nitrite= 1.0 (high), Phosphorus= 0 (good), Temperature= 64 degrees (high).  The water clarity was clear, level was baseflow, and there was no recent weather event. 

Mormon Creek

• September 7, 2023.  Water quality:  Nitrate= 2.0 (good), Nitrite= .0 (good), Temperature= 58 degrees (trout are happy).  The water clarity was clear, level was baseflow, and there was no recent weather event.  Water was clear, level was baseline, and there was no major weather event.

Pine Creek

• August 25, 2023.  Water quality:  pH= 7.0, (trout are happy), Alkalinity= 120 (trout are happy), Hardness= 120.0 (trout are happy), Nitrate= 2.0 (good), Nitrite= .15 (good), Phosphorus= 0 (good), Temperature= 52 degrees (good).  The water clarity was clear, level was baseflow, and there was no recent weather event.

Spring Coulee Creek

• August 8, 2023.  Water quality:  pH= 8.5, (trout are happy), Alkalinity= 120 (trout are happy), Hardness= 120.0 (trout are happy), Nitrate= 5.0 (fair), Nitrite= 0.0 (trout are happy), Phosphorus= 0 (good), Temperature= 70 degrees (high).  The water clarity was murky, level was baseflow, and there was a recent thunderstorm. 

Weister Creek

• August 8, 2023.  Water quality:  pH= 8.0, (trout are happy), Alkalinity= 180 (trout are happy), Hardness= 60.0 (trout are happy), Nitrate= 2.0 (good), Nitrite= 0.0 (trout are happy), Phosphorus= 0 (good), Temperature= 62 degrees (good).  The water clarity was clear, level was baseflow, and there was no recent weather event.  ​