Eighty volunteers joined HRWC’s Spring River Roundup on Saturday, April 17, sampling macroinvertebrates (small aquatic bugs) at 42 sites along the Huron River and its tributaries. Macroinvertebrates are an important indicator of water quality because certain species are very sensitive to pollution and habitat degradation. HRWC monitors macroinvertebrate populations across the watershed, but we couldn’t do it without the help of our amazing volunteers – Thank you!

Getting Back to Normal – Safely

This year’s spring roundup was especially exciting, as it was HRWC’s largest volunteer event since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Like all of our events held over the past year, the River Roundup incorporated extensive health and safety measures to keep our community safe – volunteer teams were small, masks were required, and volunteers picked up equipment outside at HRWC’s office lot and at varied intervals to minimize person-to-person interactions.

Jason managing a social distance pickup site

sign at study site
Volunteer data collectors at work here.

Trained volunteer collector

Trained volunteer collector passes samples to volunteer to sort

Sorting and collecting bugs

Collected bugs ready to be identified

Taking a moment to enjoy the view before the workday is done

Bonus Video

Check out what Paul Steen found from a couple of samples that were brought back to HRWC on the day of the event

We’ll let you know what we find!

Results and findings from the Spring River Roundup will be posted as soon as HRWC staff have identified all of the macroinvertebrates collected. Stay tuned for another update from our monitoring team (email news sign up below). In the meantime, thank you to all of our volunteers who make our work possible! If you’re interested in volunteering with us, please visit our volunteer page to learn more.