hoosier riverwatch

The Initiative has been a longtime supporter of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s Hoosier Riverwatch Program. Since 1996, Hoosier Riverwatch has engaged Indiana citizens in becoming active stewards of Indiana’s wadable streams through its hands-on water quality education and volunteer stream monitoring program. The Initiative hosts at least one basic workshop to train citizens on Hoosier Riverwatch protocols every year.

Following an eight-hour basic training workshop, participants will be qualified to conduct habitat and biological surveys of their local streams. Monitoring activities include collecting and identifying small stream organisms, called macroinvertebrates, which serve as bioindicators of water quality and determining the physical and chemical characteristics of the stream. Participants who have undergone the 8-hour training are eligible to borrow the SJRWI’s HRW water sampling kit. The data that volunteers collect and add to Hoosier Riverwatch’s online database can be used to determine the health of streams and how they are changing over time.

Join us and let’s work together to ensure the health and beauty of Indiana streams and watersheds for ourselves and future generations.