Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do I become a volunteer for IOWATER? How do I volunteer for Project AWARE? How do I enter the River of Words Art and Poetry Contest? How do I view IOWATER data? How do I get into touch with other IOWATER volunteers in my area? How do I register a site with the IOWATER database? How do I get the UTM coordinates for my site? What do I need to know to get my UTM coordinates using a Global Positioning System (GPS) in the field for my IOWATER site? What do I do when someone already has a site registered on the IOWATER database at a location I would like to monitor? How do I enter data for a site someone else has already registered on the IOWATER database? How do I enter data to the IOWATER database? How do I upload photos of my site to the IOWATER database? How do I make corrections to data that I have submitted to the IOWATER database? How do I estimate rainfall amounts to submit with my IOWATER data? How do I get a resupply of IOWATER equipment? What is IOWATER’s resupply of IOWATER equipment policy? How do I check the expiration date of my chemical monitoring supplies? How do I become a volunteer for IOWATER? The first step to becoming a Certified IOWATER volunteer is to attend an IOWATER Introductory Workshop. IOWATER Introductory Workshops are eight hours. A variety of session settings, held both indoors and outdoors, will contain topics such as starting a monitoring plan, the "why-tos" and "how-tos" of water monitoring, what to do with the data, networking with others concerned about water quality, and some muddy fun! For the current IOWATER workshop schedule please check the Workshop section of the website. How do I volunteer for Project AWARE? Project AWARE is the Iowa DNR’s annual week long river cleanup event. A different Iowa river is cleaned up each year and volunteers may stay and help for as little or as long as they like. To register for the current years event please download the registration materials at www.iowaprojectaware.com. How do I enter the River of Words Art and Poetry Contest? River of Words ® (ROW) conducts an international environmental poetry and art contest for youth aged 5 to 19 in grades K-12 every year. Entries not chosen as finalists or grand prize winners in the international contest are returned to IOWATER, where they are judged in an Iowa statewide River of Words contest. The annual deadline for entries is December 1. Visit http://www.riverofwords.org to download an entry form. How do I view IOWATER data? Anyone can view the data submitted to the IOWATER database. You can find the View IOWATER Data Online options by selecting “View Data” under the “Database” menu. This will take you to a page where you can view data by county, watershed, volunteer, etc. Data can also be viewed geographically through the Iowa DNR’s Water Monitoring Atlas (there is a link at the bottom of the “View IOWATER Data Online” page). How do I get into touch with other IOWATER volunteers in my area? This is only available to current Certified IOWATER volunteers. Under the “Current Volunteers” menu select the Find Other Volunteers option. At this point log into the IOWATER database you will then be able to search for other current Certified IOWATER volunteers by city, county, etc. How do I register a site with the IOWATER database? Only current Certified IOWATER volunteers can register sites with the IOWATER database. If you are a volunteer you can find the site registration options by selecting Register a Site under the “Database” menu. You will need to log into the IOWATER database at this point. When you log in with the “Register a Site” option you will be taken to a site registration form. Fill in the form with the requested information. Once you have entered all of your site information hit the “NEXT” button. A confirmation page containing the information you entered will appear. Verify that the information is correct. If a change needs to be made, hit the Back Arrow key on your browser to return to the form. Make the necessary change(s), hit “NEXT” again, and verify the changes. If all the information is correct, hit the “Final Submit” button. If submitted successfully, you will receive a “Thank You” confirmation page. Allow one week for processing. A unique site number will be assigned for your site. After your site has been registered, a dropdown box will appear that contains the site, as well as any others you have registered. How do I get the UTM coordinates for my site? NOTE: This is process is designed to work with Internet Explorer – other browsers may not work. Here are step by step instructions on how to get your UTM coordinates: 1. Hold your mouse pointer over the “Database” in the menu bar, a dropdown list should appear. Hold your mouse pointer over “Iowa Water Monitoring Atlas” and click on the link. 2. Once you reach the Iowa Water Monitoring Atlas site, there are several ways you can locate a site. The easiest is to simply use the “zoom in” tool ( ), which also happens to be the default tool. To zoom into the map, left-click the mouse, hold, and drag, creating a square on the map around the county your site is in. When you release the mouse button, the map will zoom into the area you selected. 3. Identify streams and familiar landmarks (towns, road, etc.). If you don't recognize the area, you can select and use the "zoom out" ( )  tool, located on the toolbar along the top of the map, to get a larger view. 4. Once you can identify your monitoring site, select the “zoom in” tool ( ) on the toolbar at the top, move your mouse pointer as close to your site as possible, and click the left mouse button. The map will automatically center and zoom in on where you clicked. 5. On the toolbar at the top, select the number 3300 in the “pick map scale” box. This will zoom into the site you centered on to the 1:3300 scale. 6. Now locate the “CIR 2002” layer in the Legend on the left-hand side of the screen. It is located in the Air Photography folder. Click on the check box to the left of the “CIR 2002” layer and hit the “Redraw Map” found at the bottom of the Legend. 7. This brings up a map with the Color Infrared Air Photo of your site. Hold your mouse pointer directly over your site and record the UTM (X,Y) coordinates that appear in the tan box the upper left-hand portion of your screen. The X coordinate will be a six digit number and the Y coordinate will be a 7 digit number (ignore any digits after the decimal point). What do I need to know to get my UTM coordinates using a Global Positioning System (GPS) in the field for my IOWATER site? If you are using a Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine UTM coordinates, be sure your GPS unit is set to the UTM coordinate system to display NAD83, not NAD27. NAD refers to the North American Datum. NAD27 is a reference system based on surveys. NAD83 represents an adjustment made to NAD27 using satellite data, which is more accurate. The Y coordinate on these two systems differs by about 200 meters, while the X coordinate is the same. What do I do when someone already has a site registered on the IOWATER database at a location I would like to monitor? There are a couple options: 1. If the site is being actively monitored you can select another site to monitor as an IOWATER volunteer or you can touch base with the volunteer who originally registered the site to see if they would like to work together. If are having trouble getting in touch with the volunteer contact IOWATER staff at and we can help. 2. If the site is not being actively monitored (there is not data on the website) you can get rights to submit data to the site by contacting IOWATER staff at with the site # and your ID # we will then add that site to your dropdown box of registered sites. How do I enter data for a site someone else has already registered on the IOWATER database? Only current Certified IOWATER volunteers can submit data to the IOWATER database. If you are a volunteer and would like to submit data to a site registered by another volunteer on the IOWATER database please contact IOWATER staff at with the site # and your ID # we will then add that site to your dropdown box of registered sites. How do I enter data to the IOWATER database? Only current Certified IOWATER volunteers can submit data to the IOWATER database. If you are a volunteer you can find the data submission options by selecting Submit Data under the “Database” menu. You will need to log into the IOWATER database at this point. Then select the site you would like submit data to from the dropdown box of your registered sites. Next select the type of dataset you would like to submit. Transfer the data collected from your field form to the online form. Once you have entered all of your data hit the “NEXT” button. A confirmation page containing the information you entered will appear. Verify that the data is correct. If a change needs to be made, hit the Back Arrow key on your browser to return to the data entry form. Make the necessary change(s), hit “NEXT” again, and verify the changes. If all the data are correct, hit the “Final Submit” button. Your data then will be submitted to the IOWATER database. If submitted successfully, you will receive a “Thank You” confirmation page. How do I upload photos of my site to the IOWATER database? Photograph requirements: The filename can not be more than 40 characters, including the file extension. Photographs must be in JPEG or GIF format. File size must be less then 1mb (1024kb). If you have questions about these requirements, please contact IOWATER at . NOTE: This process is designed to work with Internet Explorer – other browsers may not work. Here are step by step instructions on how to upload photos: 1. Hold your mouse pointer over the “Database” in the menu bar, and a dropdown list will appear. Hold your mouse pointer over “Online Database,” and a fly-out menu will appear. Select Submit Data from this menu. 2. Log in with your IOWATER ID and Password. 3. From the dropdown box, select the site for which you want to submit photos to and click the “Submit” button. 4. On the data entry menu, click on “Upload Photographic Records for this Site,” which is highlighted in pink. This will take you to a data submission page. 5. Enter a title for the photo (must be less than 80 characters), the date it was taken, the photographer, and a caption (or description) for the photo. 6. Click the “Next” button to go to the confirmation page. Review the information you just entered – it is located in the green box on top of the page. 7. To select the photo you want to upload, click the “Browse” button in the middle of the page. This will open up a window that will allow you to find the location of your photo on your computer. 8. Once you locate the photo you want to upload, select it by clicking on it once and then click the “Open” button in the lower right-hand corner of the exploring window. This will place the path (or file extension) and file name in the “Select a photo to upload” box. 9. Click the “Upload” button to submit your photo. . If the upload was successful, you should be directed to a page that reads “Thank you for your upload.” How do I make corrections to data that I have submitted to the IOWATER database? Only IOWATER staff can make corrections to the IOWATER database. If you have discovered an error with data you have submitted please let IOWATER know ASAP by emailing with the site number, date data collected and the correction that needs to be made. How do I estimate rainfall amounts to submit with my IOWATER data? For help with estimating rainfall amounts at your IOWATER site please use one of the links provided at the Precipitation Information page under the “Database” menu. How do I get a resupply of IOWATER equipment? Only current Certified IOWATER volunteers can get a resupply of IOWATER equipment. If you are a current volunteer determine if you meet the resupply policy. If you meet the requirements then fill out the Equipment Resupply Form located under the “Current Volunteer” menu and email or mail it to IOWATER staff. What is IOWATER’s resupply of IOWATER equipment policy? To receive additional IOWATER monitoring supplies, you must submit a minimum of three chemical/physical assessments within the past 12 months from the date of your request. However, it is the policy of the IOWATER program to encourage volunteers to monitor. Therefore, the updated policy includes additional criteria that IOWATER staff will use to determine eligibility of resupply for volunteers who do not meet the above policy. To view the full policy download the Equipment Resupply Form. How do I check the expiration date of my chemical monitoring supplies? To check your supplies for expiration follow these instructions: • For Hach® pH, Nitrate-Nitrite & Chloride supplies: Expiration dates for all three are on the bottom of the bottle. If expired, DO NOT USE if you plan to submit data to the IOWATER database. Expired equipment can be used for educational purposes but not for data that is to be submitted to the IOWATER database. If you have expired equipment that you do not intend to use it can be returned to IOWATER at 109 Trowbridge Hall; Iowa City, IA 52242 so that it can be distributed to educators for educational use. • For Chemetrics® Dissolved Oxygen supplies: Check the expiration date printed on the back or the front of the color comparator which is located in the lid of the kit. If expired, DO NOT USE if you plan to submit data to the IOWATER database. Expired equipment can be used for educational purposes but not for data that is to be submitted to the IOWATER database. The ampoules do not expire as long as they are kept in the dark at room temperature. If you have extra ampoules that you do not intend to use please return them to IOWATER at 109 Trowbridge Hall; Iowa City, IA 52242 so that it can be distributed to other volunteers. • For Chemetrics® Phosphate supplies: Check the expiration date printed on the back or the front of the color comparator in the lid, on the side of the round color comparator, and on the activator solution. If expired, DO NOT USE if you plan to submit data to the IOWATER database. Expired equipment can be used for educational purposes but not for data that is to be submitted to the IOWATER database. The ampoules do not expire as long as they are kept in the dark at room temperature. If you have extra ampoules that you do not intend to use please return them to IOWATER at 109 Trowbridge Hall; Iowa City, IA 52242 so that it can be distributed to other volunteers.