Citizen scientists will be traveling throughout Brown County on Friday, Sept. 18 with bottles, waders and pH strips. Their job for the day? Collect water samples from streams that flow into North Fork Salt Creek and Middle Fork Salt Creek, two of the main tributaries to Lake Monroe.
Volunteers will work in teams of two to collect water samples from streams like Greasy Creek, Sweetwater Creek, East Fork Salt Creek and Clay Lick Creek. Samples will be analyzed for E. coli, sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus.
“A lot of people don’t know that rainfall in Nashville, Story and Gatesville flows eventually into Lake Monroe,” said watershed coordinator Maggie Sullivan. “We are grateful to Brown County Inn, Story Inn and Gatesville Country Store for hosting our Brown County volunteers.”
Other volunteers will gather in Freetown and Bloomington. They will collect samples from streams that flow to South Fork Salt Creek and directly into Lake Monroe.
Friends of Lake Monroe, a nonprofit based in Bloomington, is partnering with the IU Limnology Lab to organize the events. They will use the sampling results and other data to develop a watershed management plan for the lake that will be released in early 2022. Watershed management plans identify water quality problems, propose solutions, and create a strategy for putting those plans into action.
“Right now our focus is data collection,” said Sullivan. “Anyone with suggestions or questions is encouraged to contact me at 812-558-0217.”
More information about the project is available at https://friendsoflakemonroe.org.
