Although summer is the peak of the Kiap-TU-Wish monitoring year, monitoring will continue during the winter months at a number of streams and rivers, including three restoration project locations (Pine Creek, Plum Creek, and the Trimbelle River) and the Willow River, where the Little Falls Dam is being replaced in Willow River State Park. Deployment of 21 temperature loggers will continue through the winter to evaluate the year-round impacts of climate change, to provide background data for assessing the future impacts of the new Willow River dam, and to evaluate the ability of our stream restoration projects to improve temperature regimes. In January, water samples will be collected and analyzed at the Pine Creek and the Trimbelle River project locations to better understand water quality during winter baseflow conditions, when watershed contributions of pollutants are minimal. To complement stream temperature and water chemistry data, two weather stations are operated year-round, providing data on air temperature, relative humidity, and dew point. Kiap-TU-Wish also provides financial and volunteer monitoring support to the USGS, for their yearround operation and maintenance of the Kinnickinnic River flow gaging station.
WiseH2O mApp Project:
National Trout Unlimited is placing a high priority on Angler Science and the benefits it provides for angler education and coldwater resource management. Trout Unlimited’s national science team is currently partnering with MobileH2O, LLC to develop a customized mobile application (WiseH2O mApp) that can be used by anglers to monitor water quality and habitat conditions in Driftless Area trout streams. Throughout the spring. summer, and fall, Kiap-TU-Wish anglers tested the mApp on 10 local streams and rivers, making 83 observations and providing feedback to the developers on mApp improvements. With the monitoring year complete at the end of the angling season, MobileH2O has prepared a project report, including monitoring results, recommendations, and next steps. The project report is available at the following weblink: https://www.mobileh2o.com/reports.
In the mApp Development News Department, the iPhone version of the mApp is in limited circulation! Kent Johnson and John Kaplan have been field testing it and providing feedback to MobileH2O (Carter and Sarah Borden). So far, so good; the iPhone mApp should be available to all Kiap-TU-Wish members for the 2020 angling season! In addition, the 2-in-1 test strip, for measuring concentrations of nitrite- and nitrate-nitrogen, will be available for angler use in 2020.
The WiseH2O mApp Project Team, including MobileH2O (Carter and Sarah Borden), Dan Dauwalter (TU National Science Team) and Kent Johnson (Kiap-TUWish Project Leader), is discussing next steps for a broader rollout of the mApp across the Driftless Area, hopefully in 2020. Stay tuned, as this will be a great opportunity for anglers to evaluate the well-being of our precious coldwater resources.
Many people contributed to important aspects of this project. Jacob Lemon and Matt Barney (TU National Science Team), Jeff Hastings (TUDARE Project Manager), and Michael Miller (Wisconsin DNR) provided valuable feedback as Advisory Team members, as did participants during a workshop at the 2019 Driftless Area Symposium in La Crosse, Wisconsin (February 2019). The project team would especially like to thank the Kiap-TU-Wish Chapter members who expressed their interest in the project, attended project workshops in River Falls, Wisconsin (March and April 2019), participated in on-site training sessions (April and May), took time to fill out a project survey, and collected data using the WiseH2O mApp. John Kaplan (Kiap-TU-Wish Stream Monitoring Coordinator) deserves a special thank you for his project support and training. This project was funded by Trout Unlimited’s Coldwater Conservation Fund and the Kiap-TU-Wish Chapter of Trout Unlimited. — Kent Johnson & John Kaplan
