So, why were we walking up a washed-out logging road in the first place? We were there to place electronic water temperature-sensing and recording devices (temperature loggers) in the different rivers and streams in the Nicola River Watershed. We cable these small loggers (about the size of a walnut) to large boulders or logs in the streams we monitor. They collect water temperatures every hour, every day, until we pick them up again and download the data… unless flooding or humans destroy them. Whenever we set temperature loggers, we do so knowing we won’t get all of them back.

We are monitoring water temperature throughout the Nicola Valley as part of a larger, landscape ecology project. The overall goal of the project is to better understand the natural systems of the Nicola Valley for management purposes, from grasslands and forests to fish and streams. This project provides the opportunity to understand how things such as rain and snow affect water temperature over time and space. These patterns of stream temperature determine where fish can live, spawn, and how fast they can grow – fish that feed the bears that make for interesting field experiences.