With the arrival of summer, volunteers working with the Central Wisconsin Chapter of Trout Unlimited (CWTU) are engaged in the monthly process of monitoring area streams for water quality.  This monthly inspection begins in May and runs through October.

Mandy and Adam Dorsch of Princeton monitor two streams in the area…Little Lunch Creek and Lunch Creek both west of Neshkoro in Marquette County.  They are part of a group of 80 CWTU “River Keeper” volunteers working in 27 teams monitoring 36 sites mainly in the five county area covered by the CWTU:  Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Marquette Waushara and Winnebago.  The teams measure a variety of stream conditions including water temperature, depth, flow rate, water clarity and dissolved oxygen levels.  At the beginning and end of the monitoring season, they also gather and identify invertebrates as well as note any significant stream habitat changes that have occurred in the past year.

The CWTU River Keepers program is part of a larger state-wide Water Action Volunteer program; a cooperative effort between the Wisconsin DNR, the University of Wisconsin Extension Division and local groups.

Data from these volunteers is entered into a statewide database managed by the Wisconsin DNR, which uses the information for decision-making and natural resource management.

For more information on CWTU visit centralwisconsintu.org or find us on Facebook at https/www.facebook.com/CentralWisconsinTU.