Benthic Macroinvertebrate Monitoring
Program Update
Message from Pete Cooper, Chair
06.25.25
FOMR benthic monitoring is now a Level 3 program.
Since its inception in 2010 (or thereabouts), the entire FOMR benthic team has worked very hard to become a top notch benthic monitoring program. Our efforts have now been recognized by DEQ resulting in our designation as a Level 3 program. To my knowledge, we are only the second citizen science benthic monitoring program in Virginia to be certified as Level 3.
We are proud of our 15-year legacy and the Level 3 designation and we are determined to continue monitoring at this level to provide scientifically sound and defensible data. We can now begin to focus more upon gradually expanding our monitoring coverage of the Middle River watershed to include areas most likely to contribute to a comprehensive Middle River assessment. This will take a while.
Compelling data is extremely valuable in monitoring and protecting the health of a watershed. Our benthic program will continue to provide such data along with data from other FOMR monitoring programs. We would love to see FOMR become the definitive authority on the health of the Middle River. The hope is that eventually FOMR would be consulted with and included in any discussion or decision impacting the health of the Middle River.
Citizen Science has never been more important.
The entire benthic team wishes to thank each of you for your continued support, dedication and patience.
Thanks,
Pete and Kelli
Fast FAQs
Started in: 2010
Protocol measures: Number and species of aquatic insect larva that live in the water
Number of volunteers that run the program: 70
Number of sites monitored: 9
Where the data is sent: Virginia Save Our Streams, a part of the Izaac Walton League of America
As stewards of the Middle River and its tributaries we need ways to measure the quality and health of these water bodies. Quantitatively, we can measure bacteria like E. coli, nutrient and chemical pollutants, and physical attributes like temperature, sediment, and oxygenation. All of these measures provide a valuable snapshot of water quality at the time of the assessment.
To gauge the ongoing water quality of the river throughout the year, however, we turn to benthic monitoring which focuses on organisms that are present in the river every day. Benthic invertebrates (i.e. bottom-dwelling spineless critters) are responsive to environmental change and are excellent indicators of system stresses. Benthic assessment protocols are the method of choice for gauging the biotic integrity of streams.
Many of these stream-dwelling critters are extremely sensitive to any type of pollution so that by knowing the types and numbers of these populations we are able to determine stream water quality. The bottom-dwelling macroinvertebrates make up the base of the food chain for all stream inhabitants and are essential to stream habitat. Monitoring is carried out twice a year by trained monitors in teams of two to three citizen scientists who capture, count and identify all the critters in a given space. The counts of specific types of organisms, both tolerant and intolerant of stream pollution, are plugged into an algorithm that gives a score between 0 to 12 (with 12 being the "best" score.) To date, we have a 10-year database of stream health of around nine different sites that have been monitored by over 70 volunteers.
