Algal Forays: Salmon, Cyanobacteria, and Citizen Science in the Eel River

Eel River scientists, lead by co-PI Mary Power, hosted “Algal Forays” at the Angelo Coast Range Reserve, so that citizens of the Eel and other North Coast rivers, including members of tribes along the Klamath, can learn to identify algae and distinguish the “good from the bad from the slimy”.  The Eel River CZO and Eel River Recovery Project (EERP) citizen scientists have partnered in basin-scale surveillance, exchanging and coordinating monitoring methods and data to track changes in salmonids, algae and channel environments. The EERP formed when citizens of the Eel River in northwestern California were concerned about diminishing flows, recovery of salmonids, and recent toxic algal blooms. Now, in partnership, the EERP and Eel River CZO along with tribal members living along north coast watersheds, and other concerned citizens are working to understand where, when, and why algal assemblages in our watersheds tip from salmon-supporting diatoms to cyanobacterial domination.