The fall stream monitoring took place September 20 on Jordan River for macro invertebrates (bugs). The testing was done at two river locations and samples of the bug population were taken. By looking at the number and diversity of the bugs found can help determine the health of the river. When pollution problems start up in a river it affects the macro invertebrates far sooner that anything else. By keeping track of the bugs we can spot a pollution problem long before you ever see the first dead fish. 
The Jordan has now been monitored for two full years at two sites. The diversity of bugs has been high at both Webster Road and Fair Road sites, earning us a grade A rating. The high quality waters of the Jordan are due to little development and human activity along the river. The river has a great diversity of macro invertebrates with impressively high numbers of sensitive families. 
Volunteers get samples out of the river by scooping from under vegetation, logs, and gravel, and bring them on the shore where others look for the bugs. The bugs are placed in jars of alcohol. Weather and other data are collected before moving on to the second site. Then in a couple of weeks the bugs are examined under microscopes where they are sorted, categorized, and counted. This is done at NCMC college science building in Petoskey.  

We always are looking for volunteers to help us with the study. And it's a great activity for kids to learn about the river and how to take care of our environment. If you are interested in joining contact us at foj@friendsofthejordan.org