Grays Harbor Stream Team
The Grays Harbor Stream Team is a collaborative program established in 2009 that works to enhance and protect the natural waterways of the lower Chehalis Basin Watershed and Grays Harbor County through community engagement, volunteerism, and education. Grays Harbor Conservation District is the Grays Harbor Stream Team’s fiscal sponsor. Our programs are designed to improve water quality by increasing our community’s knowledge and interest in stewarding water quality.
Services
Riparian Stewardship
This program builds on the Stream Team’s previous successes around riparian stewardship by engaging the community in hands-on riparian stewardship events to educate the public on the importance of healthy riparian areas for water quality. Connecting with landowners to provide free native trees and shrubs is a great way to help establish riparian buffers that help protect water quality and provide habitat for wildlife. These events involve community members participating in the planting of native plants along streams, invasive plant removals, discussion of how to steward riparian areas, guest speakers, and educational activities.
Macroinvertebrate Monitoring
Our Macroinvertebrate Monitoring program is designed to engage school-aged youth, Grays Harbor College forestry students, and any interested adult volunteers in citizen science opportunities focused on water quality education and increased literacy of stream health indicators. Through this program, citizens will learn how to collect, sort, and analyze macroinvertebrates as a method for measuring stream health, understand the importance of macroinvertebrates to stream ecosystems, and learn how to identify trends in collected data. The goal of this program is to simply acknowledge the science and data, the Grays Harbor Conservation District is not a regulatory entity.
Water Quality Education
Grays Harbor Stream Teams Stormwater and Water Quality Education program is designed to reduce stormwater pollution in Grays Harbor and create sustained interest in water quality improvement among citizens. We aim to do this by hosting hands-on environmental clean-up activities, conducting stormwater pollution prevention education, and recruiting more citizens and landowners to undertake water quality improvement actions. These events include storm drain markings, educational booths at festivals, and outreach events at local businesses and libraries.