RIVERS
Since 2005, the Stream Ecology and Assessment Laboratory (SEAL) has been quantifying the biological health of freshwater streams in the Santa Ana and San Jacinto watersheds using bioassessment techniques. This long-term project, funded by the California State Water Boards, is innovative as it simultaneously provides two fundamental public services to the state of California, assessing the biological health of our state's freshwater resources and training the next generation of freshwater biologists.
SEAL provides training in the science of bioassessment for both undergraduate and graduate students at CSULB. Students are trained in three areas: 1) appreciating and gaining an understanding of the terminology and industry standards used by bioassessment professionals, 2) learning laboratory and field skills relevant to freshwater bioassessment, and 3) designing and conducting scientifically defensible experiments in stream ecology.
Since 2005, the Stream Ecology and Assessment Laboratory (SEAL) has been quantifying the biological health of freshwater streams in the Santa Ana and San Jacinto watersheds using bioassessment techniques. This long-term project, funded by the California State Water Boards, is innovative as it simultaneously provides two fundamental public services to the state of California, assessing the biological health of our state's freshwater resources and training the next generation of freshwater biologists.
SEAL provides training in the science of bioassessment for both undergraduate and graduate students at CSULB. Students are trained in three areas: 1) appreciating and gaining an understanding of the terminology and industry standards used by bioassessment professionals, 2) learning laboratory and field skills relevant to freshwater bioassessment, and 3) designing and conducting scientifically defensible experiments in stream ecology.
Cold Creek Oil Spill
On April 26, 2013 a double tanker overturned on Hwy. 38 near Angelus Oaks, California, spilling and estimated 6,435 liters of diesel fuel and 14,558 liters of gasoline into Cold Creek, a small first-order tributary of the Santa Ana River. The Stream Ecology and Assessment Laboratory is assessing the impacts of the spill by sampling the benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) and diatom communities in oil-impacted and reference sites and by conducting vegetation surveys to detect mortality and extirpation of plant species from the Cold Creek riparian zone. Water and soil samples are also being collected to evaluate the quality of the water passing through and leaving the watershed of the petroleum release and to identify petroleum hydrocarbons remaining in the soil, document changes in the hydrocarbon mass in soil with time, and evaluate the potential for hydrocarbons in soil to impact water quality.