Water Testing

Part of our strategy of understanding the overall health of the local stream is to test the water. Our Water Testing Program began in 2013 to identify the circumstances under which salmon could return to the area. Since then we have brought on Brian Allée, a 50-year veteran of fisheries specializing in salmon, to collect water samples and monitor the salmon spawning season to identify prime habitat for young smolts.“What you need to do is follow (the salmon) as they migrate upstream,” said Brian Allée to San Jose Mercury reporter. That way, the group could gauge how well the fish spawn and whether or not they survive, especially as streams dry up in the summer and get too warm. Allée has adopted a sampling regimen that will test water temperature, bacteria count, overall pH levels, and sediment during the spawning period which helps to determine how likely salmon are to return.

In 2019 we were notified that new testing procedures were available to us through our partnership with UC Davis. The testing was for a more in depth analysis of our Salmon monitoring harvest samples through gas chromatography. This data would be paired with water samples from the local watershed. This effort, in theory, could prove the possibility of a native strain of salmon that belongs to the San Jose region.

Alicia De Toro is a tenured professor at the Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies at De Anza College. We work together to provide her students with in-field experience. We study the flow, quality, viability, turbidity, and inhabitants of the local streams. Through the SWAMP Program, we have been able to provide professional tools for the students to use that gather accurate data for them to compare with the previous years. This program has been so successful that a similar testing program was launched in the Hollister Area. 

At the Kirsch Center they have simulated the San Jose ecosystem and are able to study the effects of native plants, flowing and stagnant water, and the microbiomes that propagate there. This gives them a base to compare with a largely industrialized waterway.  

This partnership has given the students an opportunity to conduct projects that have real world applications.

We partner with De Anza College to provide water testing outings for their Environmental classes. We found a trainer from the State to train the group using the SWAMP Program, and we purchased a water testing device that is currently on loan for students and faculty at De Anza College to collect multiple water samples throughout the year. De Anza’s lead faculty member was a key member of a similar testing program that was launched in the Hollister Area. Beyond gaining valuable knowledge about our local waterways, this program provides students with the opportunity to conduct projects that have a real world application.