Being a Streamkeeper of Lake Forest Park means getting a little wet. For Brookside Elementary student Amelia Brown, that’s no problem at all.
On an overcast Saturday morning Jan. 19, Amelia and her father, Derek, were part of a small group equipped for any weather at a meeting of the Streamkeepers at the lower mall of Towne Centre. After introductions and a quick run through of the day’s data collecting process, the father-daughter pair picked up their assigned box and headed straight for their car.
Their mission: test the water quality at three creek sites in the city.
“I haven’t done McAleer Creek before,” Amelia, 11, said, as she studied the note positioned on top of the green box full of glass beakers, solutions and powder.
In just one hour, four teams of two visited three sites and performed tests to measure the pH levels and dissolved oxygen levels of the city’s streams. The group of volunteers collects the data one time in January and once in July and makes it their mission to provide credible data for those who protect and restore the city’s streams.
At the first location — known as Blue Heron Park — Amelia and Derek spent time re-reading the directions. Although both have performed the tests before, they were careful to follow the same procedure at each location. While each rinsed beakers with stream water, Amelia dropped green liquid into one tube of stream water. As the water changed color, both matched the hue to determine the water’s pH level.
Done with one test reading, the pair focused on determining the level of dissolved oxygen by mixing a white residue in a beaker of stream water. Within three minutes a chemical reaction caused the water to turn an amber color and the pair counted the number of drops of sodium thiosulfate necessary to turn the water clear again.
“We’ve been doing this kind of testing for years and our conclusion is it doesn’t change very much and that something else may be affecting the fish,” Derek said.
An experienced volunteer, Amelia said being a Streamkeeper is fun and helps fulfill a school volunteer requirement.
“I end up getting a lot more (hours),” she said. She is also an active participant in the city’s Ivy Out campaign and works as a library manager during school.
Although similar, the group’s site specific first data collection of the year revealed the water quality throughout Lake Forest Park falls within a level of water quality that is not unusual. In the fall, the group will collect macroinvertebrates or little bugs found in the streams and a lab technician in Olympia will review the samples.
“We really get wet then,” Amelia said.
The Streamkeepers of Lake Forest Park holds monthly meetings. Information about the February meeting can be obtained by contacting co-chairs Mark Phillips, msphillips1@comcast.net or Jim Halliday, jamesarthurhalliday@hotmail.com.
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