Wednesday, July 22, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
How healthy is Whychus Creek?
Cyclists
will roll
through
Sisters
Wednesday
By Jim Anderson
Correspondent
Lauren Mork, moni-
toring coordinator for the
Upper Deschutes Watershed
Council, is looking for help
to survey invertebrates (ani-
mals without backbones) in
Whychus Creek on August
15, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30
p.m.
This will be another
opportunity to join the Upper
Deschutes Watershed Council
and Xerces Society for
Invertebrate Conservation,
to collect macroinvertebrates
—the aquatic life stage of
insects, such as mayflies, cad-
disflies, and stoneflies — in
Whychus Creek.
Folks have been volun-
teering for the project since
it began in 2005. Volunteers
Riders from the Cascade
Cycling Classic will
storm through Sisters on
Wednesday, July 22 as part
of the 125-mile first stage of
the five-day event.
They will start in Madras,
roll through Prineville and
Redmond before heading
west into Sisters for a fin-
ishing climb up McKenzie
Pass. The stage is one of the
longest in the history of the
CCC.
Motorists are advised to
keep an eye out for cyclists
on the roads of Sisters
Country. Roads will not be
closed during the event.
Motor officers escorting the
riders will be directing driv-
ers to pull to the side of the
roadway as the riders pass
through. A large group of rid-
ers will take up the majority
of both travel lanes. If motor-
ists find themselves affected
by the event, it is imperative
for the safety of everyone
involved to follow the direc-
tions of the motor officers.
photo provided
Volunteers collected macroinvertebrate samples at camp Polk Meadow on Whychus creek in 2013.
have learned how to use the
equipment, sampling pro-
tocols, and then visit rim-
rock, meadow and flood-
plain reaches of Whychus
Creek to collect samples that
photo provided
Jodi Wilmoth collected macroinvertebrate samples at camp Polk Meadow
on Whychus creek during Stream Sampling Day in 2013.
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This event is an opportu-
nity for community members
to get involved as stewards of
their local watershed, learn
first-hand about one of the
streams in our backyard and
to become “citizen scientists.”
Everyone will meet at
Creekside Park for the first
part of the project to receive
instructions from Celeste A.
Mazzacano, staff scientist and
aquatic conservation director
for the Xerces Society.
Mazzacano will explain
why the monitoring is so vital
in providing data to the fish
biologists who are attempting
to return ocean-run salmon to
Whychus to spawn.
After everyone is familiar
with the tools of monitoring,
she will take the volunteers
to the creek and demonstrate
TREATING SPORTS
INJURIES
Children & Adults
9
the techniques for collect-
ing. After that, each group of
volunteers is given specific
stretches of the creek and the
work begins.
This year, Whychus is
undergoing a water shortage
that hasn’t been this severe
since the old days when the
creek went dry from irrigation
demand. These conditions
make this year’s monitoring
even more important.
Even with the higher
waters of previous seasons,
the monitoring since 2005 has
not shown dramatic improve-
ments in biological condi-
tions in Whychus Creek,
apart from a trend toward
increased invertebrates
among upstream-reach sam-
pling sites.
For more information, or
to sign up, contact Lauren
Mork at 541-382-6013 x39 or
lmork@restorethedeschutes.
org.
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