While this study was not able to find significant chlorophyll-α variance with sediment type and stream flow, it contributed great improvements to the laboratory methods. A sieve analysis was developed to quantitatively classify sediment composition. Quantitative classification is vital because our data suggests that previous cohorts may have skewed their results by misidentifying sediment type using a qualitative approach. Additionally, sample filtration was previously the time-limiting step in the laboratory process. The filtration time was reduced significantly by centrifuging the samples at 3600 rpm for 3 minutes. Lastly, a new equation was used to calculate chlorophyll-α concentration from absorbance that does not require sample acidification. This prevented the formation of a precipitate, as the plastic cuvettes used in the spectrophotometer were found to be soluble in acetone and the acidification crashed the plastic out of solution.