Streams

The Volunteer Stream Cleanup program — part of the Michigan Clean Water Corps (MiCorps) — in 2021 made available $25,000 in grant funding to local units of government to implement trash cleanup of rivers, streams and creeks. Municipalities often partner with nonprofit organizations or other volunteer groups to carry out cleanups. Funding comes from the sale… Read More

Guest Blog by: Dr. Jo Latimore, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University The term “citizen science” is used a lot these days. In the past few years, it has evolved from the latest “new” idea, to a popular buzzword, to an everyday phrase. Many of us involved with volunteer lake and stream monitoring… Read More

Guest Blog by: Patricia Jarrett, Office Manager and Monitoring Coordinator, Muskegon River Watershed Assembly When I tell friends about my job working for the Muskegon River Watershed Assembly (MRWA), they are often surprised about the variety and unpredictable nature of my work, especially when I am out in the field. I have to remind them… Read More

Guest Blog by: Chelsea Cooper, Water Quality Monitoring Intern, Manistee Conservation District Editor’s Note: This blog post is one example of how MiCorps is facilitating partnerships between local, state, and federal organizations to grow lake and stream monitoring efforts in Michigan. In the spring of 2016, the Manistee Conservation District (MCD) began to take action… Read More

Over the past 10 years, the St. Joseph County Conservation District (SJCCD) has participated in several water quality projects funded by MiCorps grants. There is no telling just how important these grants have been to the SJCCD, but one thing is for sure, without them we would never have been able to accomplish as much… Read More

MiCorps volunteers have been monitoring water quality for over 13 years. What a great opportunity to look at the coverage across the Great State of Michigan! Take a look at this map showing all 458 lakes surveyed under the Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program and the 57 stream groups that were awarded grants under the Volunteer… Read More

Water velocity x depth x width = Good times in the river This spring, MiCorps awarded stream flow monitoring grants to two organizations. Stream flow monitoring is a pilot parameter in 2016, meaning that these groups are the first to use these procedures and equipment and one of their jobs is to find any issues… Read More

When I was little, my neighborhood friends and I would sneak away from our houses just after lunch, traverse down the wooded bluffs and spend the afternoon exploring the nooks and crannies of the nearby Willow River. Barefooted and sunburned, we would wade up the stream in search of wildlife. In all of our rumpus… Read More