Even though it was only late October, the water in the East Branch of the Pine River near Tustin was so cold it took Cyndi Rachol's breath away as she picked up rocks from the stream bottom and carefully measured each one, even the tiny grains of sand.

Standing at her side, Kristine Boley-Morse tried to keep her fingers warm enough to record each measurement in a notebook.

For Rachol, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, and Boley-Morse, watershed coordinator for the Calhoun Conservation District and Michigan State University graduate student, it was just another day's work for these two members of Michigan's Stream Team.

Michigan has more than 36,000 miles of rivers and streams and many different organizations who contribute to the management, protection and conservation of these waters.

About six years ago, members from several federal, state and local agencies who were involved in stream restoration got together to share their knowledge and experience. From that meeting, Michigan's Stream Team was formed.

"The Stream Team began when staff from several agencies working on stream restoration got together to develop common ways of collecting stream measurements and to share collected data," said Ralph Reznick, senior engineer for the Department of Environmental Quality's Nonpoint Source Program. "We realized that each agency didn't have to resample the same river or stream to meet their specific needs."

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has been involved since the Stream Team's inception in 2002, and the group has grown to include 12 organizations.

The primary goal of the Stream Team is to share resources and develop common methods for collecting information related to the physical characteristics of the stream channel.

The data is the basis for the development of regional hydraulic geometry reference curves -- a fancy name for a tool that allows biologists to predict characteristics of streams based on the size of their watershed or drainage area.

"By using the regional curves on streams for which we have little or no information, we hope to save time and allow for better restoration project design," Reznick said.

Staff from the DNR Fisheries Division will use the regional curves for projects such as dam removal or stream restoration.

According to Chris Freiburger, who coordinates the state's role with the federal government in the regulation of hydroelectric dams and the licensing of hydropower plants in Michigan, completion of the curves will aid efforts underway as well as new projects.

"We currently help fisheries managers throughout the state by reviewing projects involving dams, fish passage and stream channel improvement," he said. "The regional curves will provide another resource to help us provide better advice and guidance."

Although all members of the Stream Team pitch in to help, the primary responsibility of data collection for the regional curves falls upon Cyndi Rachol and Kristine Boley-Morse.

Much of the financial assistance for the regional curves is provided by members of the Stream Team, including the Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Transportation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Thus far, 31 different rivers and streams throughout Michigan have been surveyed for the regional curves, and the goal is to collect date from a total of 50 streams. The selected streams must meet specific criteria including being wadeable and having unaltered channels with existing flow-gauging records.

The sites range from the West Branch of the Ontonagon River in the Western Upper Peninsula to the St. Joseph River along the border of Indiana. Some of the rivers are very large, such as the Brule River near Wisconsin, while some are small creeks that you can jump across, such as the Black River near Sault Ste. Marie.

After finishing data collection on the remaining streams this summer, the next step is to put the results together for publication and distribution by March 2009. One publication will be a U.S.Geological Survey report, which will present data for similar geographic areas of the state.

Boley-Morse also will publish her masters thesis, in which she will take the data and analyses described by the U.S. Geological Survey and provide classifications based on the shape and pattern of the rivers and streams.

A third product from this study will be a database created by the U.S. Geological Survey to hold all current and future data. Access to this information will be valuable to all the participating agencies and organizations, as well as to consultants and municipalities doing stream restoration work.

In addition to working on the regional curves, the Stream Team also provides training to teach others about river and stream systems and data collection methods.

When the Stream Team was first formed, the number of staff trained in the science of stream morphology was limited to only a few individuals.

However, according to Jessica Mistak, senior fisheries biologist in the Habitat Management Unit, more than 80 individuals have received the training over the past few years.

"These individuals are taking this important knowledge back to their organizations," Mistak said. "As more people are educated, the end result is going to be healthier stream systems."

For more information, visit the Stream Team's Web site at www.michigan.gov/streamteam.