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Counting bugs helps gauge the health of county roads

It’s a way of making sure mother nature is still happy after the human hand has come and gone. There are over 2,200 locations around the county where roads and streams meet that could potentially impact the aquatic ecosystems that surround so many of our roads.

Rob Fritz from King County Road Services examines a beaker containing creek water for aquatic insects.

Crews are always looking for proactive tools to help them identify potential connections between a road’s physical presence and the health of the surrounding environment.

VIDEO REPORT Watch a video report on Road Services bug counting. RealVideo Windows Media Text transcript

In recent years, they’ve learned that insects can be a powerful ally in that effort. The macro-invertebrates they monitor include insects, annelids, mollusks, flatworms and crustaceans. They monitor these groups because of the diversity of life they represent. Some of these bugs flourish in healthy ecosystems and survive poorly in a highly degraded systems, while others can survive virtually anywhere. For years, fly fisherman have used this tool too; surveying the stream for a hot spot where both bugs (caddis, stone and may flies) and salmon may frequent.

There are 86 streams typically monitored by Roads crews, but the number of streams crews were able to test this fall was down due to our dry summer. They normally get samples for all of them, but in the 2006 stream survey, 10 of those will not have any data. Rob Fritz, a supervising ecologist with Roads says he and other crew members need to visit the creek at the right time to have sufficient water and the right testing conditions. He says this year’s lack of water has hampered the effort.

Despite the lack of data, road workers will still have some good information on the health of many streams come spring. Every stream will be given a score. Road crews will then have some new tools that can serve as an early warning system for problems ranging from erosion upstream, blockage of a catch basin or slope failure – problems that may be uncovered much earlier – thanks to the bugs.

Updated:  March 07, 2007

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