Compiled by Lynette Seigley.

www.iowater.net

Lynette Seigley, Research Geologist

May 24 is IOWATER Snapshot Day. IOWATER is sponsoring another snapshot sampling on Saturday, May 24. We encourage you to sample your sites on that date and submit the data collected to the IOWATER database by May 31. A summary of the May 24 sampling will be sent to all participants and will be posted on the IOWATER Web site by the end of June. Results from the October 18, 2002, snapshot sampling are now available on the IOWATER site.

Chloride Results. If you submit data for chloride, be sure to enter the chloride concentration rather than the Quantab units or the NaCL percent. If you enter a value that is less than 10, recheck your Quantab test strip vial to get the correct chloride concentration. The value entered should be a number greater than 20.

Changes to the Level 1 Biological Assessment Form. Minor changes have been made to the Level 1 biological assessment form. The form now includes information on microhabitats that were present in your stream and which microhabitats were sampled for benthic macroinvertebrates, and is now available on the IOWATER Web site. Click the Online Database. At the bottom of the page you can access the new biological field form. The online database submission page for the Level 1 biological assessment has been updated to reflect these changes.

Coming Soon - A New and Improved IOWATER Web Site. The IOWATER staff has been working on updating and improving the current IOWATER Web site to make it easier to navigate and access information. The new site is expected to be unveiled June 1.

Forgotten your IOWATER Monitor ID or Password? If so, contact me (Lynette) or Jackie.

Update on Sites Registered/Data Submitted. As of March 1, a total of 1,078 sites in 90 Iowa counties (and five Minnesota counties) have been registered in the IOWATER database. There have also been 1,292 biological, 3,581 chemical/physical, 966 habitat, and 378 photographic records submitted. Counties without a registered IOWATER site include Adair, Decatur, Fremont, Henry, Ida, Keokuk, Lee, Mills, and Osceola.

If you have questions or need help using the IOWATER database, please contact me (Lynette). We welcome any suggestions or comments you have for improving the database.

IOWATER Annual Report: Coming Soon!

Brian Soenen, IOWATER Natural Resources Interpreter

IOWATER's Mission:  "To protect and improve Iowa's water quality by establishing and supporting a statewide volunteer water monitoring program."

Today, IOWATER's mission is only partially completed. As you know, the program has been established, and thanks to overwhelming support from folks like you, it continues to be successful. However, the mission is only partially completed because "protecting and improving Iowa's water quality" is an on-going, never-ending process. There have certainly been some great accomplishments and large strides taken towards this process.

Take, for example, the recent events surrounding Buttermilk Creek in Wright County. The foul-smelling creek supported billions of bloodworms that lined the stream's banks. The streambed was no longer visible because it was completely covered with sewage algae (sewage algae isn't algae at all _ it's harmful, filamentous bacteria). Fortunately, IOWATER monitors alerted the DNR and the problem was addressed. Although extreme cases like this are not commonplace in Iowa, protection and improvement of these streams may not occur without the efforts of our volunteers.

In order to determine if protection and improvement of water quality is taking place, the data must be analyzed. When this is done, yearly comparisons of data can indicate the status of Iowa's water quality, and be used to identify trends. Therefore, IOWATER's first "Annual" Report will be completed and mailed to IOWATER volunteers shortly after the start of the 2003 monitoring season. This report will include IOWATER data from its first three years, 2000 to 2002.

Although the mission of protecting and improving Iowa's water quality may never be truly completed, the dedication of IOWATER monitors will continue to uncover problems and raise awareness throughout the state. Enhanced understanding of water quality through IOWATER data may help citizens, lawmakers, and others proactively address these water-quality issues. 

What's New in 2003?
A Focus on Nutrients

One of the biggest environmental challenges facing Iowa today is the overabundance of nutrients in our water bodies. In healthy ecosystems, the natural availability of nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) limits the growth of plants. When nutrient concentrations are increased, plants respond through increased growth. In an agricultural setting, fertilizers and manure are commonly used to add nutrients to the soil and enhance crop production. In aquatic systems, however, increased nutrients are generally not desirable and can create a variety of problems. For example, excess nutrients in lakes can result in toxic algae blooms and in streams can cause low dissolved oxygen levels. These effects can, in turn, harm fish and other biological communities. The problem for Iowa is that we are a naturally nutrient-rich state. Determining what is "excess" or "increased" or "too high" is not as easy as it sounds. Because we didn't monitor our waters until long after we arrived, we have to piece together the picture from data we can gather today.

During the last legislative session (2002), the Iowa General Assembly asked the Department of Natural Resources to conduct a study of nutrients in Iowa's waters. This study (to be completed by the end of 2003) will document the current status and trends of nutrient concentrations in Iowa's waters, the impacts of nutrients in our waters, and will attempt to develop a watershed-specific "budget" of nutrient inputs (animal and human waste, lawn and crop fertilizers, rainfall, etc.) and outputs (crop harvest, losses to the air, groundwater or stream, etc.). Eventually, this study will provide a foundation for the state to build a long-term plan or strategy to address excess nutrients in our waters. Throughout 2003, IOWATER will focus attention on nutrients through articles in the newsletter, "hands-on" learning activities, and special events in order to keep you up to date and informed on what's happening. Remember, your efforts are valuable to Iowa and the data you collect this year on nitrate, nitrite, and phosphorus may help this process! (P.S. don't forget to check your expiration dates.)

UN Dubs 2003 "International Year of Freshwater"

Did you know that 2003 has been declared the "International Year of Freshwater" by the United Nations? Well, if you didn't, you do now! The UN officially announced its plans in New York last December. The aim of the Year is to raise awareness of the importance of protecting and managing freshwater.

One of the main events of the International Year of Freshwater (IYFW) will be the 3rd World Water Forum, to take place in Kyoto, Japan, March 16-23. The Forum is timed to coincide with World Water Day, held on March 22 each year. At the Kyoto meeting, the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), a collaboration between 23 UN agencies involved in freshwater and hosted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), will present its World Water Development Report.  This is the first of a planned series of reports on the state of water stress in the world, due to be published every three years. The Report identifies critical issues and problems as illustrated by in-depth case studies of selected, representative river basins.

One of the aims of the Year is to reassert the UN's Millennium Declaration Goal on Water, which pledged "to halve, by the year 2015, the proportion of the world's people unable to reach, or to afford, safe drinking water" and "to stop the unsustainable exploitation of water resources." The goal, endorsed by the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg (South Africa) in August 2002, also set a new target of halving the proportion of people who do not have access to basic sanitation by 2015. It also recognized the key role of water in agriculture, energy, health, biodiversity and ecosystems as well as in combating poverty.

"The Year offers a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness about water issues and to motivate people of all ages to get involved. Schools, the private sector, youth and community associations _ each has something to contribute," says Alberto Tejada-Guibert, the UNESCO Coordinator for IYFW.

How can you get involved?

• Go to your local library or bookstore; look in the newspapers; talk to people to become more familiar about water, what the issues are, and how this affects your life and the world in which we live.
  

• If you have access to e-mail, sign up to the wateryear2003 newsletter by e-mailing wateryear2003@unesco.org, for updates and information about events happening around the world.
  

• For additional information, visit the official International Year of Freshwater Web site at www.wateryear2003.org.