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WHAT IS STREAMKEEPERS?
To view a video clip produced by Earth Tribe TV, click: Streamkeepers Video.
If you have dial-up service try this YouTube Link: Streamkeepers Video on YouTube. View other Earth Tribe TV clips at: www.earthtribetv.org
To view an introduction to Streamkeepers of Clallam County, click: Powerpoint Presentation.
Streamkeepers, a citizen-based watershed monitoring program of Clallam County's Department of Community Development, provides volunteer opportunities and project assistance in the effort to protect and restore salmon habitat.
Streamkeepers is:
- A volunteer opportunity for all Clallam County residents interested in monitoring, protecting, and restoring streams in our own watersheds;
- A service provider for watershed planning groups and habitat restoration project sponsors who need monitoring assistance on local streams.
Program Goals
- Provide credible data useful to decision-makers acting to protect and restore local watersheds:
- Describe current watershed conditions
- Identify trends in watershed conditions
- Track known problem areas
- Screen for potential problems
- Help to determine watershed restoration priorities
- Monitor the effectiveness of watershed restoration projects
- Report the information collected to fellow volunteers, County resource planners, other agencies and organizations, and the general public, on a regular and timely basis.
- Facilitate public involvement in watershed monitoring and stewardship.
What sort of work do Streamkeepers do?
Our stream teams perform regular quarterly monitoring at established sites on streams ranging from Sequim to Forks, measuring components of stream health such as the quality of the water, the diversity of life forms, and the integrity of the physical habitat.
In addition, special teams perform other activities, such as trapping juvenile fish, counting redds, replanting riparian areas, controlling invasive weeds, conducting streamwalks, teaching about watershed stewardship in the greater community, and entering & analyzing data.
What do regular stream teams measure?
Streamkeepers trains volunteers to assess a variety of biological, physical, and chemical stream health indicators through a structured quarterly monitoring program:
Biological health
- Benthic macroinvertebrates ("stream bugs")
- Fish & wildlife
- Noxious weeds
- Fecal coliform
Chemical health
- Temperature
- Dissolved oxygen
- Conductivity
- Turbidity
- Nitrates
- pH
Physical health
- Annual Streamwalk
- Photographs
- Reach maps
- Flow
- Gradient
- Cross-section
- Erosion & revetment
- Substrate and pools
- Large woody debris
- Riparian vegetation
Streamkeepers can help on your watershed!
Streamkeepers accepts requests from citizens, organizations, and governments in need of special services. The scope of available assistance includes:
- monitoring services
- data management and analysis
- outreach and education
- hands-on restoration work
- match for grants
For more details, see Streamkeepersī Monitoring Services.
How do I get involved?
We train new volunteers once a year. Annual training takes place over several evenings and two Saturdays between June and September. We post the training schedule by May.
But you can always join Streamkeepers prior to formal training and learn to perform some of the procedures "on the job."
For more information, contact:
Streamkeepers of Clallam County
Clallam County Dept. of Community Development
223 East Fourth Street, Suite 5
Port Angeles, WA 98362-3015 USA
Phone: 360-417-2281
Email: streamkeepers@co.clallam.wa.us
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We Monitor Streams, and 
