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September 14, 2000 Iowa
watershed groups Stephanie
Mutert DES MOINES, Iowa--Not all suburbanites are familiar with watersheds, even though it affects all the people of Iowa. Farmers know watersheds are a saving grace to crop yields. However, water quality and erosion are just as dangerous to the city dweller as they are to the farmer. The Environmental Protection Agency Web site defines a watershed as "an area of land from which all water, sediments and dissolved materials drain into a common outlet. When precipitation occurs, water runs to the lowest point, usually a stream, river or lake. On its way to the lowest point, the water crosses over surfaces of forestland, suburban land and urbanized areas, or it may simply seep into the soil. Everything that happens to a watershed can affect what ends up in the water." According to Rick Robinson, director of local and environmental affairs for the Iowa Farm Bureau, the biggest challenge for watershed monitors is to watch for erosion and nutrients. "There are about 70 new projects funded by the state to affect water quality. No one really knows about all the things that are going on to help the quality of their water. [What the state is doing] is what needs to happen—education, volunteerism, etc. It must happen locally with citizens to address this issue," Robinson said. IOWATER, a branch of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, is a project that coordinates and trains citizens to monitor water in their areas. IOWATER carries a large responsibility in organizing water quality efforts in Iowa, according to Rich Leopold, coordinator of IOWATER. "We train citizens how to monitor their own water quality - after we train them we turn them loose. We instruct them on 27 perameters—some being biological, ecological and geological. We tell them what it means with different readings, and we talk to them about different issues like erosion and pesticides. We've only been in existence for a year and over the past few months we have had 18 workshops and trained 500 people. After they are trained they can enter data into our database on the Internet, so that it is available all over Iowa," Leopold said. The concern of the quality of water is not lost to Jim Ellerhoff, program coordinator for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. "There is a concern about pesticides, and what they could do to the ecosystem. In the news lately are the monarch butterflies and pesticides. We also focus on ground water protection, if it gets into the ground water - you don't want it at supper. We need to improve and control pesticide technologies. We cannot sit back and see if nature will take its course over a time period, because we cannot wait for five years to see what will happen and possibly let things get worse," Ellerhoff said. The Raccoon River Watershed Project is addressing issues before it is too late, according Ellerhoff. The Raccoon River Watershed Project is applying for federal matching funds to restore wetlands that have been drained in the Northwest Iowa area. The RRWP was organized to create a heightened awareness of water quality issues, recognition of need for leadership from the agriculture sector, and an appreciation for voluntary education and information-based strategies for water quality protection, according to the RRWP Web site. Roger Wolf, executive director of the RRWP, described the project's focus. "Over the last five and a half years, we've been demonstrating various technologies and teaching farmers why they should use those technologies. These practices ... benefit the environment by reducing the loss of nutrients in the field and soil," he said. Through the experiences of RRWP over the past years, Wolf has found that the public has still not fully recognized the importance of watersheds and their contributions to the water quality of Des Moines. Wolf sees that without local efforts by the communities, the project he directed could come to a close. "The Raccoon River Project is at a crossroads. We are reaching the end of the funding cycle," Wolf said. "By December, participating organizations are trying to determine what their role is in the future activities of the watershed." Wolf said the organizations are assessing their priorities. "They all have members who have interests in watersheds elsewhere in Iowa. They've all contributed money and leadership, but they also have members who are invaluable in a new vision for the project. The goal must be to get local communities to lead local efforts. If you study the success of watersheds, then you will see they have to be locally led and locally monitored efforts," Wolf said. But the RRWP was not intended to continue far into the future, Wolf said. It began when the Des Moines Water Works observed a decrease in water quality in Des Moines, but it was only intended to be a study of the Raccoon River and effects of water quality due to watersheds. "A project should have a beginning and an end, and it should never go on indefinitely. A watershed management team is like a council. We do not exist forever, unless there is local leadership involved. We've accomplished what we said we would do, and it is quite likely that it will come to an end. Then it will depend on the locally-led efforts to build on our efforts," Wolf said. Links on the World Wide Web: Raccoon River Watershed Project Website http://www.rrwp.org |