DRA Fall 2020 Benthic Insect Sampling

In the Lower Deschutes River

Saturday, Oct 3, 2020.

It was a clear, warm day on the river between the Reregulation Dam and Kaskela.  A good day to be in the water and getting work done.

Our last benthic sampling of aquatic insects was done over fifteen months in 2015 and 2016. The report of findings from that sampling effort can be found on our website.

We have long felt that going back and resampling over time will be an important way to determine how, over time, damaging surface water withdrawal is to the lower Deschutes River.  No other organization or agency is doing this monitoring.

Our next sample date will be in April of 2021.  It would have been in April of 2020, but that date was another victim of the Coronavirus pandemic.

After the next sampling we will get another report out that compares our current data to previous data.  Based on streamside observation of samples, we believe that conditions are not improving, nor are they getting worse at this point in time.  The shift to greater abundance of pollution tolerant aquatic invertebrate species and lower abundance of pollution sensitive species in the lower Deschutes River seems to be well established now.

This sort of biologic sampling is key to understanding the impact of human activities on all rivers.  But especially so in the lower Deschutes River where the effects from surface water releases continue to negatively impact water quality.