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Rock Branch Stream Repair
A Look Under The Ice

Watershed Stories

Keep up with the work of Ausable River Association staff. These stories share information about our stewardship and monitoring work, natural stream restoration, and culvert replacement techniques by highlighting specific projects in the Ausable and Boquet River watersheds of northern New York. They also give you fun facts about the plants and wildlife that live in these watersheds, as well as tips for enjoying responsible, low-impact recreational opportunities.

Dec
08
2021
Using Wood to Protect Streambanks
Erosion and deposition in rivers are natural processes, but excessive erosion can be a problem, as eroding banks migrate outward and threaten homes and roads. Where infrastructure cannot reasonably be moved, allowing a stream to meander and self-repair, toe wood benches are a cost-effective solution to stabilize eroding banks and improve fish habitat.
Restoration
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Dec
02
2021
Our Salty Work: Reducing Salt in Mirror Lake and Beyond
Science on the impacts of road salt on our waters is clear. Salt that is used as a deicing agent in winter maintenance moves into our waterways and threatens natural ecological processes.
Road Salt
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Nov
04
2021
Birds and Bats and Bivalves, Oh My!
A brief summary of our 2021 Guided River Tours....
Stewardship
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Oct
21
2021
A Day in the Life of a Field Scientist: Looking for Fish in a Cup of Water
We want to determine which species of trout inhabit the streams across the watershed, from the mouth to the headwaters. To answer these questions and effectively map the species distribution of brook trout and other salmonids, we can use environmental DNA. As an alternative to employing traditional fisheries surveys, we filter water from sites every kilometer from the mouth of the stream to the headwaters. We are looking for environmental DNA, which are small fragments of DNA from shed skin cells or waste generated by fish swimming around in the stream.
Brook Trout
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Oct
07
2021
How Much Oxygen Is in Our Lakes and Streams?
If you spend time following the work of the Ausable River Association, you know that dissolved oxygen (DO) is an important component of water quality. Dissolved oxygen is the measure of how much oxygen is dissolved in water, or the amount of oxygen that is available to aquatic organisms.
Limnology
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Sep
16
2021
Why You Should Always Bring a Headlamp
In case you didn't know, this blog is about always carrying a headlamp with you on your day trips. But maybe you already figured that out from the title....
Recreation
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Aug
19
2021
What Controls the Amount of Water in the River?
Have you ever wondered why one river in our region has more water flowing than another river? What accounts for this difference if both rivers have been receiving similar amounts of rainfall?
Hydrology
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Aug
05
2021
What Causes Foam on Rivers?
While hiking near a stream in the Ausable watershed, I noticed a light tan foaming blob on the water's surface next to the bank. Stream foam or suds are often seen on windy days, accumulating against logs, on the banks of streams or along lake shores. This is most often a harmless natural occurrence.
Ecology
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Jul
28
2021
What Insects Tell Us About Water Quality
An additional tool we can use to understand water quality in our streams and lakes is to look at biological measures such as fish, macroinvertebrates, and algae abundance and diversity. Most often, macroinvertebrates are used as bioindicators of water quality.
Ecology
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Jul
22
2021
Creating Climate-Ready Culverts: Part 1 – The Survey
The Ausable River Association has been working with our partners, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy, since 2010 to identify and replace aging and undersized culverts. Our "right-sized" climate-ready culverts are critical to improving flood resilience, aquatic species passage, and stream health in our watersheds.
Restoration
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Our mission — is to help communities protect our streams and lakes.
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Threats
The Ausable River is a river on the edge.
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AsRA is working hard to protect the Ausable River.
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