Community Digest Invasive Weeds » A newsletter of Left Hand Watershed Center

A newsletter of Left Hand Watershed Center

Posted on: July 29th, 2019
Forwarded by PamSherman

Currents

A newsletter of Left Hand Watershed Center
Summer is here! We’ve settled into the swing of summer, which is a busy time here at the Watershed Center. We’ve been working with contractors and volunteers to complete necessary weed control activities, and we are wrapping up our Community Science plan and Catch the Hatch project. We’re also gearing up to start a major river restoration & construction project in Lefthand Canyon, as well as collect data to better inform how well our projects are meeting goals. We’re also planning for our first inauguralWatershed Days community event. Thanks to a new grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board, we’re also expanding our work to include Forestry Health projects, and we are working to strengthen partnerships throughout the County and beyond to ensure we are helping achieve greatest collective benefits for our Front Range Watersheds.

I hope you enjoy the news from the watershed!

-Jessie Olson, Executive Director
 

Our Activities
Learn more about the current status of our restoration, stewardship, and watershed science activities. Each month, we select a few projects to highlight.

Community Science Plan
Our Community Science Plan is Finished! Thanks to funding from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, Gates Family Foundation and Colorado Water Conservation Board, we worked with CitSci to develop a community science plan define projects, tools, and guidelines for developing future science-based community projects. Check out the planhere. 

Captain Jack Mine Update
Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment recently shared an update with us. They plan to work toward improving in-tunnel treatment system so that they can eventually remove the temporary on-site water treatment system, if water returns to the quality before the in-tunnel bulkhead was installed. Learn more here. 

Stewardship
What’s that weed?  In this new series, we will feature a new weed every month.
Details: This B-listed noxious weed is called Teasel. Right now you will find it budding and preparing to flower. Best treatment is to remove before it goes to seed. You can weed whip or dig out the roots. If the plant is flowering or gone to seed, clip the heads and bag them for disposal. Learn more here.

 
We Caught the Hatch!
We kicked off our first year of our Catch the Hatch project this summer!
Tracking Mayfly Emergence For Science
We caught the hatch! We kicked off our first year of Catch the Hatch project, tracking adult mayfly emergence in three watersheds in the St. Vrain Basin (Boulder, Left Hand, and St. Vrain). The first year was deemed a success as volunteers were able to record the emergence timing of Pale Morning Dun (PMD) mayflies.

Mayflies are important indicators of watershed health. Their life stages are both aquatic and terrestrial, and are driven by dynamic watershed processes. Climate variability in the Front Range, including changes in annual snow pack and seasonal temperatures and precipitation, may impact the phenology of aquatic insects.

While mayflies are critical to our watersheds, science does not do a great job at measuring adult mayfly emergence. Most mayflies are measured in their larval phase because they are easier to sample. Yet adult emergence is critical for reproduction and as a food source for trout. As a community that knows and loves our bugs, we help science better understand our mayflies into the future. The Catch the Hatch community science project aims to track emergence timing of PMD mayflies from year to year in relationship to creek flows and temperature. 

What did we learn this year?

  1. PMDs were observed at all three sites. PMD samples were collected only from Boulder and N. St. Vrain sites.
  2. PMDs were first observed at Left Hand Creek on June 21st. The majority of observations came after June 27th.
  3. PMDs were observed throughout the 11 am to sundown timeframe.

What’s next?

  • Gather volunteer feedback on methods and protocols.
  • Cross check accuracy of identification from collected PMD samples.
  • Improve volunteer methods and protocols.
  • Determine sampling timeline and locations for next year!   

Thanks to our 2019 volunteers and partners for a great sampling season!
 

State of the Watershed

Events
Thank you awesome volunteers! 
Interns from Burns & McDonnell joined us this month! Thanks to this awesome company for allowing staff to get out and give back to the community.

Watershed Days
We’re planning our first inaugural Watershed Days community event to celebrate watershed health, science, and community! The event will feature a data collection bio-blitz and hands-on watershed activities. Learn more here and mark your calendar for Saturday, September 28th.  

Conferences: 
Executive Director, Jessie Olson will be presenting at the Sustaining Colorado Watersheds Conference in Avon, CO in October. See conference agenda and morehere.  

We love our schools! If you live in Lyons, Niwot, or Longmont your kids may have an opportunity to work with us this fall. We’re forming new partnerships with local schools to help integrate meaningful watershed heath data collection into school curriculum and after school programs. Local teachers and schools have taken the lead on this initiative and we are excited to develop the partnership this year.
 
visit our website

By the numbers
SNOW PACK: Check out current snow pack data here or here

FLOWS: Current flow data available here
 
SEEKING FORWARD THINKING WATERSHED INVESTORS!  Interested in supporting resilient restoration projects, helping launch our community science program, and/or ensuring critical research and monitoring efforts continue into the future? Click the link below and donate today!
I want to be a watershed investor!
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Contact us:

Jessica J. Olson
Executive Director
Left Hand Watershed Center
6800 Nimbus Road, Longmont CO 80503 (office)
P.O. Box 1074, Niwot, CO 80544-0210 (mailing)
303.530.4200 (office) | 303.746.7937 (cell)
jolson@nulllwog.org | www.watershed.center