Posted by – Shawn Keenan, Assistant City Planner

On May 24, 2016, over 200 students from Avondale High School headed out to Riverside Park to assess the health of the Clinton River.  These students, guided by their teachers, parents, volunteer mentors from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the City of Auburn Hills conducted water quality tests and scientific surveys to determine the overall water quality of the river.

For over 14 years, students have been monitoring the health of the river through the Clinton River Watershed Council’s ‘Stream Leaders’ Program.  In addition to collecting stream habitat and chemical data, students geared-up and collected an assortment of macroinvertebrates from the river to identify and count.

The students were simply amazed at the aquatic life they found which included caddisfly larvae, mayfly nymphs, dragonfly nymphs, damselfly nymphs, scuds, crayfish, midges and aquatic worms.  These species are some of the most pollution-sensitive; their presence indicates good quality water.

There is little doubt that the overall health of the Clinton River has improved throughout the years.  Recent data indicates that this section of the Clinton River is close to a rating of ‘excellent’. For more information on how you can protect water quality, please visit www.auburnhills.org/stormwater.  To learn more about the Clinton River Water Council’s ‘Stream Leaders’ program, please visit www.clintonriver.org.