That's all I got - I hope you have a fantastic weekend!
Al Pack
Watershed Education Network (WEN) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to fostering knowledge, appreciation, and awareness of watershed health through science and outreach. We’re growing the next generation of watershed stewards.
Rain continues to fill the banks of Western Montana’s streams and rivers. Driving from Dixon to Missoula every morning, I am struck by how green everything looks. Balsamroot and Lupin are still blooming in the hills, and the cottonwood and aspen are putting out new growth along the Jocko and Clark Fork Rivers. After an abnormally dry winter, let’s hope all this precipitation cuts the summer fire season short.
As native Montanan who migrated to New York for college, it’s great to be home for the summer. Hiking in the mountains, and seeing wildlife, rivers and wide open spaces again reminds me just how lucky I am to live in our beautiful state. A couple of weeks ago, I started a summer internship here at WEN. I’m excited to join the WEN team, and to learn about river education. Part of my internship this summer will include weekly Stream Team sessions. Every Wednesday from 1:00-4:00 pm, a group of community volunteers and WEN staff will be heading out to monitor the health of our local streams and rivers. The data and information we collect will be added to a National online database.
Despite the rainy weather, Emilie Kohler, Michael Anderson, Michael Canseco, Al Pak and I headed out to a site on Pattee Creek last week for Stream Team orientation. Emilie showed us the proper method for each stream experiment. We measured physical aspects of the stream, such as the stream channel morphology and flow characteristics, and using a tennis ball, we calculated velocity. After taking the physical measurements, I pulled on my waders, and along with Michael A., who splashed into the water in his sandals, collected material from the bottom of the channel in nets. We searched through the stream bottom contents for macroinvertibrate life. Although Pattee creek runs through residential Missoula, it seems to be a fairly healthy stream. We found worms, snails, a large cranefly larvae, and a great number of black fly larvae.
Yesterday, Stream Team drove up to Rattlesnake creek. The water was rushing along its banks at a high velocity, due to all the recent precipitation. The swift current made macroinvertibrate collection difficult. However, after only a small mishap in which a team member’s wader filled up with water, we collected a diverse sample that included over 200 mayfly larvae, an enormous stonefly, several types of caddis, aquatic worms, blackflies, and leaches. It was fascinating to see the mayfly larvae breathe; they have visible abdominal gills that flutter gently along their sides in the water.
Despite the threatening clouds, the rain held off until we finished collecting data. After a satisfying day in the field, Stream team headed back to the 4th street office.
And we didn’t. The students managed to net a few brook trout that measured between four and six inches in length. John recommended we do one more pass before calling it a day, and good thing because what happened next will live in my head forever. As John passed his wand through an undercut bank we all watched as a well fed 16 inch cutthroat surfaced. I had no idea that a fish that large would be lurking just minutes from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. We admired the beauty of the native cutthroat trout before quickly releasing it back into the creek. What a day! John guessed that the native beast was a resident fish rather than migratory spawner, leaving the rest of us fisherman dreaming of mid may when all of our favorite little tributaries open for fishing.
1lb of beef requires 1799 gallons of water. 3lbs of grain for feed, plus irrigation water. 16.4lbs of roughage or grasses for feed, plus irrigation water. 18.6 gallons of additional water for drinking and processing.
1 gallon of wine requires 1008 gallons of water . 63.4 gallons of water for 1 cup. Most of the water used for wine production is for growing grapes.
1 T-shirt requires 713 gallons of water 45% for irrigation 41% is rainwater that evaporates off of cotton fields 14% is for treating wastewater from fields and factories
One egg requires 53 gallons of water. Each lb of chicken requires 2 lbs of grain for feed and the associated irrigation of water
1lb of chocolate requires 3170 gallons of water. Each lb of dark chocolate is 40% cocoa paste, 20% cocoa butter. Cocoa paste has a water footprint of 3993.8 gallons of water for 1lb. Cocoa butter has a water footprint of 6091.7 gallons of water for 1lb.
To calculate your water footprint, visit these sites: Water Footprint Network; and for a more kid oriented approach: H2O Conserve
All of our facts came from National Geographics Freshwater page: Water per Pound, Drinking Water and Sanitation Quiz
They have some awesome interactive water quizes. Absolutely worth checking out!