1	IOWATER Level One
2	What is IOWATER
3	Volunteer Monitoring Before IOWATER Izaak Walton League- Save Our Streams Iowa Rivers Project Global Rivers Environmental Educational Network (GREEN) Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Local Watershed Coalitions
4	IOWATER History “Surfaced” in 1998 Initial Advisory Committee (Partners) Iowa Department of Natural Resources Iowa Division of Izaak Walton League Iowa Environmental Council Iowa Farm Bureau Federation United States Natural Resource Conservation Service University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory
5	IOWATER Funding Iowa’s Ambient Water Monitoring Program – Environment First Fund IOWATER receives 10% of the funds allocated to WMS 2000 = $200,000 2002 = $210,000 2003 = $210,000 (estimated)
6	IOWATER Mission “To protect and improve Iowa’s water quality by establishing and supporting a statewide volunteer water monitoring program.”
7	IOWATER Tenets Citizen-based Focuses on solutions, not just documenting problems Results, not regulation Flexible Partnerships Watershed approach
8	IOWATER’s Plan for Action On-site Trainings Testing Equipment Support Materials Streamkeeper’s Field Guide IOWATER Manual Levels of Monitoring Technical Assistance Full time staff “The Iowa Citizen Monitor” Online Database
9	Level One Monitoring Biological Physical Habitat Chemical Lake Monitoring
10	Biological Assessment
11	Physical Assessment Water Odor Stream Velocity Water Temperature Transparency Water Color Stream Width Stream Depth Weather Air Temperature Precipitation Stream Flow
12	Habitat Assessment
13	Chemical Assessment Dissolved Oxygen pH Ortho-phosphate Nitrate Nitrite
14	Lake Monitoring Secchi Disk Water Color Stream parameters slightly modified
15	Benthic Macroinvertebrate Workshop Identifying to order or family Use metrics – values of tolerance Create index numbers Values that describe the ecological health
16	Water Ecology Workshop Looks at principles of aquatic ecology Stream hydrology Water food webs Demonstrations
17	Secondary Educators’ Workshop Bring IOWATER into the classroom Aquatic Project WILD Healthy Water, Healthy People River of Words Continuing education or graduate credits
18	Other Workshop Ideas More parameters Chloride Bacteria Monitoring design QAPP Data interpretation Iowa Water Quality Standards
19	"1,465 Level One Certified Monitors" 1,465 Level One Certified Monitors 1,073 Registered Sites 3,440 Chemical/Physical Assessment Data Sets 1,267 Biological Assessment Data Sets 946 Habitat Assessment Data Sets 39 Level 2 Benthic Data Sets 58 Lake Data Sets
20	The IOWATER Database Over 1,000 IOWATER sites registered online 89 counties with IOWATER sites 5,402 data assessments submitted online
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22	Uses for IOWATER Data Clean Water Act 305(b) Report Minimum monthly sampling suggested 303(d) Listing State-approved Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) required Minimum monthly sampling suggested Watershed assessments Snapshot sampling Routine samples Local issues Other – The possibilities are endless…
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25	IOWATER Participation
26	Contact IOWATER Jacklyn Neely [email protected] 515-281-4476 Brian Soenen [email protected] 515-281-6640