Join the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, partners, and volunteers this winter to monitor for chlorides in streams throughout the Fox-Wolf River Basin. We currently have volunteers monitoring Ashwaubenon Creek in the Green Bay area, Sawyer Creek in Oshkosh, and the Fond du Lac River near Lake Winnebago.
Road salt (sodium chloride) is everywhere during winter months. It keeps us safe on roads and sidewalks, but it can also pose a threat to fish and wildlife as well as human health.
Fish and bugs that live in freshwater streams can’t survive in extra salty water. And many of us (more than 118 million Americans) depend on local streams for drinking water. Water treatment plants are not equipped to filter out the extra salt, so it can end up in your tap water and even corrode your pipes.
Use the button on the right to request your free Winter Salt Watch kit that includes four chloride testing strips along with instructions for use. Once you receive your kit in the mail, you only need to bring the chloride strips and instructions, a clean, small cup, and a camera.
You can use your kit any time you can safely approach a waterway. But it’s especially important to test salt levels around the time of events that cause those levels to change. Those times are:
- Before a winter storm, to find out the “normal” level of salt in your stream
- After salt has been applied to roads
- After the first warm day or rainstorm following a snow or freeze
- After the next rain event
We could use more volunteers throughout the basin. After you’ve requested your Salt Watch kit, please reach out to Kelly Reyer, Kelly@fwwa.org to discuss ideal spots for monitoring.
For more information, check out this video explaining the monitoring process from the Izaak Walton League:
