2026 baseline stream training in Sauk County.

We have officially wrapped up our baseline stream trainings for the 2026 season! It has been awesome to see new volunteers across the state wade into rivers and streams. 

Trainings not only allow our team to work with local organizations to host events and meet new people, but they also let us see the variety of macroinvertebrates in Wisconsin. From leeches to caddisfly larva to rusty crayfish (an AIS!), it has been wonderful to learn about the health of our state's streams up close. 

Interested in learning more about Wisconsin's streams and rivers up close? Checkout out our Aquatic Invasive Species Monitoring trainings with Project RED. Hosted by local organizations, these trainings will teach participants aquatic invasive species identification and monitoring protocols. 

Data entry may be the least glamorous part of stream monitoring, but it’s where your time and effort spent collecting water quality data transform into public information on the health of our waters! 

To ensure our data are as accurate as possible, we recently added automatic data quality checks to the SWIMS database. These checks will help catch typos and common data entry errors from both volunteers and staff before they are saved.

How it works

For all the data entry fields where you type in a number (like temperature, dissolved oxygen, or stream depth):

If you attempt to save your data with one of these typos or issues, a pop-up will let you know exactly what you need to fix. You won’t be able to save the page until you correct the error. 

We hope this update gives you more confidence in the valuable data you are collecting! Contact us with any questions at wav@extension.wisc.edu. 

Southern Brook Lamprey. Image from the Minnesota DNR.

While out collecting his monthly baseline water monitoring data near Spooner, WI, WAV volunteer Phil Sylla observed a surprise guest in the Yellow River: a southern brook lamprey. Before you get spooked by this unique critter, we wanted to share a few fun facts about why they're actually pretty cool... 

The southern brook lamprey is a jawless, eel-like species that spends most of its life hidden beneath stream sediments. Unlike its infamous cousin, the invasive sea lamprey, the southern brook lamprey is native, harmless, and never feeds on other fish. After spending three to four years as a tiny, worm-like larva filtering algae and organic matter from the stream, southern brook lampreys grow into an adult that lives only a few months, surviving entirely on energy stored from its larval stage.

Adults emerge in spring to build pebble nests, spawn once, and then die. They spawn in groups of up to 40 individuals - which is exactly what Phil observed while out sampling. The southern brook lamprey reminds us that healthy streams support not only familiar fish and wildlife, but also remarkable species that spend most of their lives hidden from view.

Submit a stream monitoring question to WAV for a chance to have it answered in next month's newsletter! 

Help preserve and protect Wisconsin’s streams

Water Action Volunteers Program (WAV)

Phone: (608) 331-0173

Email: wav@extension.wisc.edu

https://wav.extension.wisc.edu/

The Water Action Volunteers (WAV) stream monitoring program is an ongoing partnership between the University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, in collaboration with over 50 local groups and organizations.