Grays Harbor Stream Team: Sign up to be a Macroinvertebrate IDer

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 8, 2026

If you have wanted to learn more about the macroinvertebrates that are the foundation of our waterways’ food web or participate in a citizen science project, the Grays Harbor Stream Team is leading a Macroinvertebrate Sampling Program this spring and summer.

Macroinvertebrates, as their name suggests, are visible to the naked eye and lack a backbone. The largest ones are known by the acronym EPT, which represents three orders: Ephemeroptera are mayflies; Plecoptera are stoneflies; and Trichoptera are caddisflies.

Why care about macroinvertebrates? They are “the salmon’s food source, so they are also a keystone species,” said Breana Downs, education and outreach coordinator with the Grays Harbor Conservation District (GHCD). “Looking at macroinvertebrates helps us determine the health of the stream based on which macroinvertebrate species are present or aren’t present. It’s a good indicator of stream health.”

Downs is leading the Macroinvertebrate Sampling Program, which is funded through a three-year Department of Ecology Water Quality grant the Grays Harbor Steam Team Steering Committee received.

“That grant had various aspects of it, from restoration to education and other forms of outreach, but one of the big tasks in it was a citizen science program that was looking at macroinvertebrates,” said Kelsey Hunter, education and outreach program manager GHCD.

Since this is the first time a macroinvertebrate sampling program is being held, Downs worked with staff at Ecology, the Thurston Stream Team and local stakeholders to develop a program relevant to Grays Harbor. One administrative part of the program was writing the 65-page Quality Assurance Project Plan and the standard operating procedures, which were required by the Department of Ecology, and she had to modify it for the citizen volunteers who would be doing the sampling.

“Nobody in our organization had done one of these before, so it was a lot of leaning on their scientists at Ecology to get that,” said Hunter. “And then also obtaining permits through WDFW [Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife] for scientific collection.”

There were specifications for the sites where they would sample from, such as including a reference site that has the best quality of habitat and a degraded site.

The program consists of two volunteer training events, four macroinvertebrate identification events, which will highlight the different macroinvertebrate species and how to identify them, and four field events to collect samples at locations around the county.

Each macroinvertebrate species is an indicator for different aspects of water quality. For example, Downs described the caddisflies as being the most sensitive macroinvertebrate to pollution.

When sampling, “we’re looking at which species are there, if they’re present or absent, and are there a diversity in pollution tolerance levels,” said Downs. “Because you want to see the ones, like leeches and worms, that are tolerant to pollution as well, because if they’re not there, that also indicates a habitat problem. You want to see a variety of them; there’s no good or bad bugs.”

One caveat with the sampling that Hunter called out is that the data collected won’t be used for enforcement.

“The goal is to get people knowledgeable on what macroinvertebrates are, why they’re important for stream health, what is stream health, and how do we sample these,” Downs said. “And then also just a resume builder to try to break those barriers in Grays Harbor into environmental science positions.”

Recently at one of the school programs that Downs participated in, which featured a macroinvertebrate station, a student told her that bugs don’t have a purpose, a sentiment she’s heard shared by adults too. “I took that as a moment to talk about how every species has a purpose and why macroinvertebrates and bugs in general are so important. That was a really cool moment.”

In addition to macroinvertebrate sampling, volunteers will also do water quality testing, collecting temperature, dissolved oxygen, temperature and pH, as well as site evaluation.

They acknowledge that the events are primarily focused in East Grays Harbor County, with the Mill Creek site being the farthest west.

“Hopefully one day is how I respond to that because that’s a pipe dream where if I could reach the entire county, that would be amazing,” Downs said. “But the funding and time for that will have to increase for that to be a possibility, unfortunately.”

With the first volunteer training event scheduled for Saturday, April 11, nearly 30 people had already signed up, and there is still time to register. Visit https://www.graysharborcd.org/stream-team to register.

“If you want to volunteer and be a part of the program, anybody is welcome, all ages and abilities,” Hunter said. “We just ask that you come to one of the training events as there are like specific techniques for sampling to try to be as accurate as possible.”

“This is the trial year, but we’ve already got an amazing amount of participation interest so that really surprised me because I was worried since it’s the first year of launching,” said Downs.

Looking ahead, “the goal with this program is to continue to have funding for it in the future, and this will be the pilot year,” Hunter said. “Next year, hoping that we figured out what works and what doesn’t, we can strategically make these changes to test different types. … My long-term goal with it is that you have a base of volunteers that are consistent over years and you can, especially at public sites, send them off to do sampling.”

Volunteer training events

Saturday, April 11, 3 to 6 p.m. – Bug ID and Pizza Night Training at Grays Harbor County Fairgrounds

Saturday, April 18, 12 to 4 p.m. – Field Techniques Training at Mill Creek Park

Identification Events

Saturday, May 30, noon to 4 p.m. at Grays Harbor County Fairgrounds

Saturday, July 11, noon to 4 p.m. at Grays Harbor County Fairgrounds

Saturday, August 22, noon to 4 p.m. at Grays Harbor County Fairgrounds

Field events

Saturday, May 9, noon to 4 p.m. at East Fork Wildcat Creek Site – email streamteam@graysharborcd.org for driving directions

Saturday, June 27, noon to 4 p.m. at Lake Sylvia State Park

Saturday, July 18, noon to 4 p.m. at Chehalis River Floodplain Site – 15 S Bank Road, Elma

Saturday, August 8, noon to 4 p.m. at Mill Creek Park