Don Conklin and two team members from GEI Consultants, walk slowly through a 330-foot section of Whitewood Creek. Two of them, including Conklin, carry electrofishing units on their backs. Low-voltage wands placed in the water temporarily stun the fish, which are put in a bucket then into a ?holding net.? After a third sweep, the fish are counted, measured and weighed then released into the stream.
?We try to catch every fish in each section,? Conklin said. ?It gives us a population estimate, which we compare to other parts of the stream and to previous years.? Three sections of the creek are tested and compared?two downstream, one upstream.
The lab must have a permit to discharge water. Monitoring the fish is just one way to assess the overall biological health of the streams. Other required assessments include looking at macro invertebrates populations?very sensitive small bugs?that live in the water, as well as algae. The WET test, which is done quarterly, determines whether certain sensitive organisms that are put into the stream can survive and reproduce. Finally, other laboratory tests assess any possible chemical impacts. Since 2008, tests consistently show very little impact from the lab?s discharge, said John Scheetz, Environmental Manager at Sanford Lab. ?Biological indicators show us this is a very healthy stream. The trout are happy, the sensitive insects are healthy and algae all seem to be very much the same up and down the stream.?