From the Director

I feel like we are going to survive this very hot summer! I am longing for cool fall days!

Drought and very hot temperatures can cause trouble for streams. The turbulence associated with flow incorporates air into water. Standing water is more likely to suffer from low oxygen than flowing water. In addition, higher water temperatures mean that the water is able to hold less oxygen than cooler water. Finally, many streams suffer from nutrient inputs associated with lawn maintenance and/or agriculture during the growing season. Excess nutrients stimulate algae growth in streams just like fertilizers stimulate grass to grow in your yard. Algae releases oxygen into the water column during the day when it photosynthesizes but consumes oxygen at night when it respires. Nighttime consumption of oxygen can result in very low oxygen levels late in the night and early in the morning. All of these factors can add up to low oxygen levels in streams that stresses fish and can cause fish kills.

Please note conditions that might lead to low dissolved oxygen on your data sheet. Definitely report fish kills to us and to the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality Environmental Complaints Hotline at (800)522-0206. Thank you for helping us keep an eye on Oklahoma streams.

Rebecca Bond
Blue Thumb Director

From the Volunteer Coordinator

Three recent events have taken place that have really picked up my spirits!

I traveled to Enid with new Blue Thumb staff member Briant on August 10 and 11.  Briant and I thoroughly canvased Enid.  We went to county offices, city offices, middle schools, high schools, colleges, the local conservation district, the public library, and even local businesses.  A lot of people seemed excited by the possibility of attending Blue Thumb training.  We want to help Garfield County to be a hub of active Blue Thumb volunteers monitoring the streams.  The training will be held on September 30 and October 1.

Spring Creek at Martin Nature Park in Oklahoma City was the fish collection site on August 16.  I joined the fishing crew, and what a wonderful day it was!  It was our intern Lillian’s last day on the job, so it was good to be able to say good-bye.  Some co-workers from the Conservation Commission’s main office came out to help, and I had not seen them in a few weeks.  Volunteer Harrison was there, as was most of the Blue Thumb team.  Spring Creek is monitored by long-term volunteer Debbie Adams.  Thank you Debbie for your dedication.

The best thing about the day was the fish.  We found 20 species of fish!  This is good diversity!  Here are a few of the fish we caught: spotted bass, silversides, stonerollers, longear sunfish, bluegill sunfish, green sunfish, redear sunfish, shad, red shiners, true minnows, channel catfish, and a handsome large longnose gar.  There were more.  It is encouraging to find fish, it is refreshing to be outside, and it is fun to see people actually in Martin Park and exploring at the stream (see photos below).  We had some moments for education with folks as we worked our way through the stream. 

Tulsa Blue Thumb Training was held on August 26 and 27.  We had an amazing turnout of volunteers, twenty-nine people.  The whole Blue Thumb staff enjoys our training activities.  Bringing aboard new people who will monitor streams and educate others about stream protection is pretty much at the heart of what we do as a program.  While most of the attendees were from Tulsa, we also had people from Oklahoma City, Claremore, Tahlequah, and Pryor!  Welcome aboard, new volunteers.

Cheryl Cheadle
Volunteer Coordinator

Big pool in Spring Creek at Martin Nature Park

Karla and a really beautiful longnose gar we caught in the big pool

Who doesn't love birds?

Who does not love the sounds of nature, especially those of birds? The Cornell Lab's "All About Birds" navigation tab has eight choices, from a bird guide and the Merlin app, to courses and bird cams. The Merlin Bird ID app, available on Google Play and the App Store, allows users to identify birds they see or hear. For example, while gardening, I used the app to record the bird sounds around me. The app identified four birds, one of which was a fish crow. Explore the website and download the app that helps identify over 10,000 bird species!

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Recommendation submitted by volunteer Beverly Woodrome of Edmond.

To our Monthly Monitors:

Let’s talk some QA. I had an interesting experience recently when I was helping a volunteer monitor her creek. When we were working on the ammonia test, I was running the blank and she was running the two creek water tests. While the ammonia cubes were incubating for their 15 minutes, we started on the orthophosphate test. After a couple minutes I noticed that my ammonia blank cube was turning green. Not a good sign. Both creek water ammonia cubes were steady at yellow. I figured it must be bad DI water. Luckily, we were testing at my office so this was easily fixed by replacing her DI water and rinsing out her big jug and squirt bottle. I ran the ammonia blank test again and all worked well. We have no idea when or why her DI water went bad. But rinsing equipment with bad DI water could potentially give false results with the creek water tests. Especially with the final rinsing’s after washing the equipment with soap and then storing for a month or so till the next monitoring time. This is one reason why blanks are important and part of Blue Thumb QA.

If you run into a situation where you are getting positive detection on your blanks, please let us know so we can help you trouble shoot the problem. Here is what you should be getting on your Blanks:

Orthophosphate: should be 0 on the wheel. But it does depend on the wheel sometimes. Any number from 0-4 on the wheel will be fine for the orthophosphate blank.

Ammonia: should stay yellow thus 0.0 mg/L.      

Chloride: 1 drop, ONLY!!!! I am seeing more data coming up with 2-3 drops for the chloride blank. It should take 1 drop of the silver nitrate to see that slight color change we are after.

Note from Summer 2023 QA: Please take time with your ‘Stream Site Observations’ when monitoring. Take time to walk and look around. Don’t just circle observations because they are always/usually there. During this summers’ onsite QA, I have noticed several people quickly assessing their site observations. These ‘Stream Site Observations’ include not only the water but also the banks, where you parked, wherever you walked to get from your vehicle down to the creek, what you smell (if you smell something dead then circle “Dead Animal” and write in the comments that it wasn’t seen but smelled), etc. Please document anything that is unusual or has changed since last you monitored.

Save the Date: Come Zoom with us Tuesday, November 14^th, at 6pm to learn about how to Advocate With Your Data. This is the final installment of our three-part webinar series to help you with your data. Stay tuned to our website and Facebook page for more information and the Zoom link.

Kim Shaw
Blue Thumb QA Officer

Friends of Blue Thumb has openings for two new board members.  To be on the board, you need to have completed Blue Thumb Training.  Are you interested in serving?  We meet six times a year for regular meetings, five of which are ZOOM, one is the full board in person, usually in Oklahoma City. The primary function of FBT is to support Blue Thumb volunteers and member conservation districts for good educational efforts that help our streams and rivers. 

• Did you know that there is a whole association for Citizen Scientists? You can become a member and learn more about it here!
• Don't forget about the "Stream Selfie," a project from the Izaak Walton League.
• Read an inspiring article about the Penn State Extension's Stroud Water Research Center Master Watershed Stewards Program here.

Oklahoma Conservation Commission

Oklahoma Conservation Districts

Project WET

Friends of Blue Thumb

Soil Health Program

Department of Environmental Quality

EnvironMentor

Macroinvertebrate ID Website