StreamSmart Citizen-Scientists

StreamSmart Citizen-Scientists Get their Feet Wet to Collect Valuable Water Quality Data

Volunteer citizen-scientists monitored water quality across 14 stream sites in the beautiful Beaver Lake Watershed, generating 450 chemistry results for the year, bringing us up to over 4,000 chemistry results over the course of the StreamSmart program!
Volunteers collect a plethora of information during their site visits, including water samples, temperature, site observations, and macroinvertebrates. All this information is important to assess the status of these streams and rivers, and data are being used by professional stakeholders and interested citizens to evaluate water quality.
Thanks to our program partners. The Northwest Arkansas Master Naturalists and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. We will soon begin measuring dissolved oxygen (DO) at each of our stream sites. The level of DO in waters can impact fish and other aquatic life and is an important water-quality indicator. Unfortunately, some rivers in the Beaver Lake Watershed have been added to the State’s list of impaired waterbodies for DO. With this additional data collection, we will be able to monitor changes in DO across our sites. For More information about StreamSmart, or how to become a volunteer Citizen-Scientist, visit our website.