Staff photo / J.T. Whitehouse A volunteer crew performs macroinvertebrate counts April 16 at Yellow Creek in Struthers. It was the first training session that the Mahoning Soil and Water Conservation District conducted.

The Mahoning Soil and Water Conservation District is training volunteers to monitor Mahoning County’s three major watersheds.

With a $4,000 grant from the Ohio EPA, the district purchased equipment and will provide training to get the program running. Funding was awarded in January.

“We apply for lots of grants, but this one will cover all the equipment we need to handle water quality monitoring,” said Zachary Felger, the district’s outreach and education specialist.

A team wades into a creek or stream and uses a kick seine net to obtain samples. The net, connected to two poles, is stretched out in the water while team members stir up stones and rocks that send macroinvertebrates into the net. After the net is removed from the water, it is onto a table where the macroinvertebrates are placed into an ice cube tray section for counting.

The macroinvertebrates are divided into three groups. Among the creatures collected are water-penny larvae, mayfly nymphs, riffle beetles, gilled snails, crayfish, aquatic worms and leeches.

The collected items are recorded on a form, which helps assess water quality.

The collection effort focuses on communities with separate stormwater sewer systems, Felger said. Targeted are Austintown, Boardman, Beaver, Canfield, Springfield, Poland and Mill Creek Park’s main park.

He said those communities fall under the county’s three major watersheds — the Meander Creek Watershed, the Mill Creek Watershed and the Yellow Creek Watershed. Each has a main stream or river fed by tributaries, such as creeks. They are also affected by stormwater runoff that feeds into the waterways.

Felger said the initial collection will establish a baseline. He said through continued monitoring, the volunteers will be able to observe any changes caused by pollution or a stream returning to being a wildlife habitat.

Felger presented the program’s first training session April 16 at Yellow Creek in Struthers and conducted the first collection of macroinvertebrates.

“All the data we collected will be entered into a database so we can track the trends,” Felger said. “We will be able to see any changes. If there are major changes, that is when we will go talk to local community leaders.”

He said the big plus for the program is not only in having citizen assistance but educating them on the importance of water quality.

“We are super excited about this program,” district administrator Kathy Vrable-Bryan said. “We love educating people on what affects our water quality. We hope to engage some young people in this effort since they are the future scientists and teachers.”

One area of concern is not what happens in the water, but what happens on land that affects the water. Vrable-Bryan said most of the county’s drinking water is sourced from the land and what we do on our own property can impact it.

“Meander Watershed has a land area of 50,000 acres,” she said. “Mill Creek has around 47,000 acres, and Yellow Creek has 23,000 acres.”

The land can be agricultural, residential and industrial and what takes place in those zones can infiltrate the water supply.

“Overall, our water quality is pretty good,” she said.

Felger agreed and added the monitoring will help maintain and improve that quality. He plans to conduct four training sessions per month over the summer. He said he hopes to encourage residents, students, civic groups or even Scouting troops to get involved.

The grant covered the cost of five field kits needed to sample and count the macroinvertebrates. Besides the collection nets and tools, the kits contain enlarged color photos of each macroinvertebrate and a chart that helps determine the health of the particular water source tested.

Another district program taking place in May is the Backyard Conservation Grant Program. Vrable-Bryan said the program offers reimbursements of up to $500 to cover construction costs for approved conservation projects. Among eligible projects are rain gardens, permeable pavement, rain barrels, bio-filtration practices, turf reduction, and conservation scholarships.

The window for submitting a grant application is May 1-31. Eligible applicants include residents, libraries, schools, churches and other organizations within Mahoning County.

For more information on the grants or the water monitoring programs, call 330-740-7995 or email Felger at zachary.felger@mahoningcountyoh.gov.