Earlier this week I went to a presentation by the HRWC of all the work the volunteers did this summer. The data I gathered along with the data from over 100 volunteers was compiled into a 90 minute power point presentation. This presentation took all the pictures, water samples, temp readings, bug collections and water flow measurements and put it into something I could understand. The main thing I took form this is that the whole watershed is given a score from 1 to 100. A score of 1 is basically the bottom of a port a john where as 100 is perfectly pristine. The watershed as a whole had an average score of 67, with one section up by White Lake scoring a 93.
As for Wood Creek the overall score was a 66 which is extremely close to the river average. Not bad but their were a few bright points and some areas for concern. Phosphorus levels were above the accepted number but not by much. Anyone who fishes in my world knows what high phosphorus levels leads too…Algal blooms. Granted they won’t be as bad as the blooms in western Lake Erie but any bloom is a bad one.
One other item of concern that bothered me was in relation to the fish, specifically Steelhead. Years ago adult Steelhead were seen trying to spawn in Wood Creek. A DNR electroshocking survey failed to locate any young of the year fish. That still doesn’t mean that there wasn’t a hatch but it is highly unlikely. One thing I did find out was that there is a dam .6 miles upstream from the mouth. This dam is blocking the steelhead from being able to swim farther upstream to more suitable habitat. Maybe someday the Dam will be removed. This data will be used to help make the case for removing the dam along with other improvements throughout the whole watershed. Hopefully the improvements will happen.
Overall it was an interesting experience that I will do again. I’m sure they will contact me again to help out and hopefully a different stream.
Muskrat Adventures 