StreamSmart
Citizen Science Program
Cleaner Water Together
What is StreamSmart?
StreamSmart is a volunteer water quality monitoring program for the Beaver Lake Watershed in Northwest Arkansas. Started in 2012, the program equips and guides volunteers to collect water samples and site information quarterly, during February, May, August, and November. Volunteers in this program are integral to the development of a long-term database for tributary stream sites in the Beaver Lake Watershed. The samples our StreamSmart volunteers collect is sent to a certified lab for analysis, and the data is used to inform many of our intiatives and future projects. Through this program, we aim to engage citizen scientists, increase public awareness, and inform stakeholders about the current quality of our waterways and identify potential trends over time.
How Can You Join?
StreamSmart is designed for adult volunteers and high school students who are supervised by adults. Contact us or call
479-866-7220 if you are interested in joining this program or would like more information.
When do Volunteers Monitor?
Sites are monitored and samples collected each quarter. Monitoring is scheduled around the first full week of
February, May, August, and November.
Information Collected by Volunteers
During each monitoring period, volunteers collect water samples at their stream site, and deliver the samples to the Arkansas Water Resources Center Water Quality Lab, where they are analyzed for the following parameters:
- Alkalinity
- pH
- Conductivity
- Total dissolved solids (TDS)
- Total suspended solids (TSS)
- Turbidity
- Total nitrogen (TN)
- Total phosphorus (TP)
- Air temperature
- Water temperature
Volunteers also record notes about the site, and take pictures during each monitoring period.
During the May and August monitoring periods, volunteers get to collect macroinvertebrates from the stream and identify the types they find. Macroinvertebrates can be excellent indicators of water quality, and they’re fun to collect and identify!
Volunteers Needed!
Become a StreamSmart Citizen Scientist! We are looking for volunteers to monitor one or more of the following sites:
White River near St. Paul
(Site 104) - located at latitude 35.818676 and longitude -93.779774 in southern Madison County.
This site currently has no active volunteers!
BECOME A VOLUNTEER TODAY
Register a Shoreline Cleanup Team or Sponsorship
Contact Us
Abbie Lasater, recording air temperature at Town Branch in Fayetteville.
Volunteers work together to identify macroinvertebrates during annual training.
Grimsley Graham and Mark Curtis (left to right) monitoring Clear Creek on a beautiful November day. These two have been Streamsmart volunteers since the beginning of the program back in 2012!
Picture of a great group of women, including Karen Freeman, Jane Foster, Rose Tacker, and Rita Caver (left to Right) ready to monitor at the West Fork of the White River in November, 2020
funding provided by beaver water district
