Great Lakes Environmental Center (GLEC) in cooperation with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians developed protocols for streams to evaluate water and habitat quality within the 1836 ceded territory that meaningfully describe biological resources and habitats, detect subtle changes in the biotic community, be reproducible, defensible against legal challenges, and provide a baseline inventory for future evaluations.
The protocols evaluate biotic communities and habitat quality. Each are scored according to metrics that represent criteria in northern ecoregions in response to various stream quality conditions. Sufficient information is collected to use alternative metrics so that the results of each stream evaluation can be translated to other protocols ( if necessary). Elements of the habitat protocol were broadened to define structural attributes and to expand the description of specific activities that may effect habitat and water quality. The fish community metric provides an Index of Biotic Integrity for coldwater streams which is absent from many other protocols. The protocols can be used to measure the effectiveness of watershed management practices, the effect of specific land use practices on stream water quality, predict potential regional trends, determine the degree of use attainability of individual water bodies, assess the impact of catastrophic events, and to identify sensitive or ecologically important areas.