Adopt-A-Stream – The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay

Adopt-A-Stream

Adopt-A-Stream is a fun, easy, hands-on way to help improve water quality in the Grand Traverse Bay watershed.

Adopt-A-Stream is perfect for families, schools, neighborhood groups, employee clubs~just about anyone who cares about the deep link between our Up North water quality and our quality of life.

And all it takes is a couple hours twice a year!

Hear more about hands-on Adopt-A-Stream fun.

Here’s How it Works

Here’s What You Do:

Choose your favorite stream in the Grand Traverse Bay Watershed to monitor; it can even be in your own backyard.
Assemble a monitoring team of at least four individuals. For example, it could be a child’s classroom, a group of coworkers or a family.
Pledge to monitor your stream once during June and October.
Designate a team leader, who will receive training from the Watershed Center for sampling benthic macroinvertebrates. That’s fancy scientific terminology for “aquatic insects.” Team leaders will learn to collect, sort and identify aquatic insects; the type and number of aquatic insects present in a stream signify that stream’s health. The team leader will also learn how to complete the survey sheet so testing results can be entered into a statewide database.

Here’s What You Get:

Four team t-shirts; additional t-shirts are only $10 each
Recognition in the Watershed Center web site and newsletter
Fun, hands-on, place-based education for kids
Pride of ownership in our Up North water quality~and quality of life

Find Your Stream and a Team!

Spring sampling period: any day during the first two weeks of June
Fall sampling period: any day during the first two weeks of October
Team leader training: immediately prior to sampling periods

To join the hands-on fun, contact Maureen McManus at 231.935.1514 ext. 0 or mmcmanus@gtbay.org.

Become an Adopt-A-Stream Program Sponsor!

Businesses, organizations and individuals can become Adopt-A-Stream Program Sponsors for an annual fee of $500 for a minimum of three years. In addition to the above, you receive:

Name and logo on Adopt-A-Stream t-shirts
Name and link on web site
Name and logo in Watershed Moments print newsletters
Publicity in Watershed Moments e-newsletter
Publicity on Watershed Center Facebook page
Listing in all press releases
A unique medium for increasing your publicity that shows the community you actively invest in our Up North water quality~and quality of life

Many Thanks to Our Program Sponsors!

Alfie
Consumers Energy
FIM Group
Grand Traverse Organic Landscapes
Grand Traverse Resort and Spa
Katherine Roth, M.D. and Greg Holmes, Ph.D, Integrative Health and Wellbeing
Village of Northport
Wildlife and Wetland Solutions
Joe and Christy Quandt

Special thanks to Paesano’s Pizza for feeding our awesome volunteers!

Thank You to Our Stream Sponsors!

Acme Creek: Grand Traverse Resort and Spa
Baker Creek: Wildlife and Wetlands Solutions
Barker Creek: Barker Creek Nursery
Battle Creek: Sherry McNamara and Mensa Friends
Beitner Creek: Ms. Dyke’s TC West class, sponsored by Joe & Christy Quandt
Bingham Township Creek: Bob and Marsha Walton
Bissell Creek: White Family
Bonnie Brook: Alden Super Scuds
Brewery Creek: Jill Jennings, sponsored by Bud Welch and the Optimist Club
Carpenter Creek: Boardman Fly Tiers
Cedar Creek: Youngflesh Family, sponsored by Joan Bonney’s The Color of Water
Cedar Creek (Antrim County): Antrim Conservation District
Cold Creek: Dean Branson, Three Lakes Association
Finch Creek: Dean Branson, Three Lakes Association
Hines Creek: Youngflesh Family, sponsored by Joan Bonney’s The Color of Water
Jack’s Creek: Old Mission Cub and Boy Scouts, sponsored by Paula and David Kelley
Jackson Creek: Marcie Timmins, sponsored by Woodland School
Kids Creek lower: Vicky Arlt and family, sponsored by Katherine Roth, MD and Greg Holmes, PhD of Integrative Health and Wellbeing
Kids Creek upper: Rotary Water Committee
Maury Creek: Antrim Conservation District
Miller Creek: Blue Water Transportation
Mitchell Creek: Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy and Traverse Bay Intermediate School District
Northport Creek: Steve Wetherbee’s 6th and 7th grades, sponsored by Village of Northport
Rapid River site 1: Howard Family
Rapid River site 2: Fields Family
Rapid River site 3: Lawicki Family
Rapid River site 4: Dale Claudepierre
Rapid River site 5: Thom Yocum
Rapid River site 6: Bob Kingon
Shanty Creek: Dean Branson, Three Lakes Association
Spencer Creek: Alden Super Scuds
Twenty-Two Creek: Boardman Fly Tiers
Weaver Creek lower: Middleton Family
Weaver Creek upper: Fox-Eldredge Family
Wilkinson Creek: Williams and Caylor Families
Williamsburg Creek: White Family
Yuba Creek: Virginia Tegel, sponsored by Grand Traverse Organic Landscapes