Watershed Sciences Workshop: College of the Siskiyous

My name is River Montgomery, I am 19 years old and this is my second year in the youth initiative. I grew up in upper Hat Creek and am part of the Pit River Tribe. My cousin Lincoln Granillo is also completing his second year with the program. So far the year has been really fun and we have been spending a lot of time in the water which is great. My favorite project this year has been working on the willows walls. I am really excited for our snorkel surveys that are coming up at the end of the month too.

This week, Lincoln, myself and another crew member went to a Watershed Sciences Workshop at the College of the Siskiyous. We learned about watersheds and hydrology and how they work. We got to go on a lot of field tours and were trained in some basic watershed monitoring techniques. One cool thing I learned was how to measure stream discharge. You find the discharge rate by calculating the area of the stream and then you time the velocity by using a measuring device and then multiply the numbers together to get a measurement of cubic feet per second. This type of work really interested me because if I were to go to college I would want to go to study Hydrology.

Another field trip we went on was to a fish hatchery in Mt. Shasta. It was really interesting learning about how they raise the fish and about fish biology. Something I didn't know before the tour was about the layer of slime that covers fish. They produce the slime to protect them from disease and also to cut down on resistance from the water when they swim. Overall it was a really good way to spend the week. Having a pool table in the rec room of the college was a nice treat as well.