Macroinvertebrates as indicators of the water quality of River Shinta, Gondar, Ethiopia

River Shinta is important for agriculture and domestic activities of the surrounding people. But it is stressed with human activities. Macroinvertebrates were collected to provide a quantitative and qualitative description of the community composition at each sampling sites as a water quality indicator. A total of 1185 macroinvertebrate individuals of 37 families were collected from all sites of the study area. Impacted area Macroinvertebrate sample sizes was 38.31% individuals at S₁ site and 14.43% the lowest abundance at S₂ site but the reference Site S_R macroinvertebrate sample size was 47.26%. Physidae (Mollusca) was the most abundant family collected 16.29% in all of the sites, followed by Chironomidae 12.74%. The most tolerant families Physidae, Culicidae, Syrphidae and Hirudinidae were the most abundant macroinvertaebrates in the impaired sites. The River Shinta FBI Score was 6.967 in a range of fairly poor water quality while the reference site FBI Score was 6.218 in a range of fair water quality and impaired sites FBI Score was 7.641 in a range of poor water quality. Hence all the variables showed that river Shinta was polluted, moreover, the impacted sites. Taking care of water and the environment in general is crucial because it is difficult to maintain a healthy community and carry out development in a degraded environment.