I agree with Dave's feeling and others about safety. I sample in the icy water but I'm very careful to chose sites I'm familiar with. Not only am I familiar with them but I choose very small creeks without deep pools. I never sample new water in the winter since people die almost annually in my local river every spring even though the water is just 2-3 feet deep. They slip and fill their waders with water. They become immobilized due to the cold water, go under and are usually found less than a mile downstream. I think they feel comfortable wading this area since it's so shallow.

I'll be ok. The "stream" isn't really a stream. It's a pipe with water flowing out (which surprisingly is very clean) The water comes out pretty slow. I'll bring my camera and take a video of it if it's still flowing.

It turns out that I don't have time on Tuesday so Thursday is my only option. (Well, my other option would to abandon the trip altogether)

If it's too frozen or the water is too high, I won't try. I'm not sure about collecting in the summer. That area might only be acessable in the autumn/winter because there is a tree that blocks the path and the tree is bigger in the summer than in the winter.

Well, I actually had time today (tuesday)

I'll post a trip reprot in the trip reports section.