Submitted by Chris Roth

The Stream Team Event was held Saturday, September 26th. Six FATC members—Mike Oldani, Ken Welter, Scott Dougherty, Frank Sanfilippo, Peter Rumbolo, and Chris Roth—met at Babler Park to check out water conditions at Bonhomme Creek, located outside Babler Park.

Weather was good, temps comfortable, and the creek was found to be in good condition. Despite the skinny water and low flows the team was able to identify three suitable locations for macroinvertebrate sampling.  Caddis larvae were by far the most abundant insect found, but there were also good numbers of mayfly nymphs, scuds, waterpennies, and riffle beetles.  We were even able to pick out one stonefly nymph and one damselfly nymph among the aquatic life. The score after adding the total of all the bugs gave the creek a “GOOD” rating.

Beyond the sampling, it was a special morning on the water: if I followed the discussion correctly, it turned into a reunion of sorts, as Oldani, Sanfilippo, and Rumbolo all went to high school together.  It was also very cool to see Ken’s “grip n’ grins” from his recent salmon trip on the Pere Marquette.

Thanks to all the FATC members who volunteered to make the morning a successful event and a great time. All the information collected will be sent to the Missouri Department of Conservation. This data is used to establish baseline data on streams throughout Missouri, establish long-term trends, and locate streams in need of professional follow-up monitoring. 

I think we all learned something at this event and I urge all FATC members who have not been on a Stream Team Event to join one, learn about the water monitoring, aquatic life, and the stream ecology.