The scoring system has been designed to give more weighting to conditions that are more important to stream or water-source health. For example, bank vegetation is more important than the proportion of pools and riffles in a stream. The survey can, if desired, be conducted every 6 months to keep track of changes. It will provide you with one source of ideas to improve the health of your stream. You will find it very informative to walk along as much of the length of your stream as possible and observe the changes.
Photographic records are also valuable for monitoring changes.
Photographs provide an excellent record of exactly how a stream changes. Some streams will change more dramatically than others. Take care to ensure that you choose a representative portion of the stream for your photographs. Use a 35 mm camera, with 200 or 400 ASA print film. Make notes on the cross-section and the bird's eye view sketches on your Stream Habitat Record Sheet to show the exact location and direction from which any photographs are taken, so that you have a basis of comparison with future photographs.