Uncategorized - Prairie Rivers of Iowa

What’s next for water monitoring in Iowa?

by Dan Haug | May 27, 2023

The Kopecky family helped with water testing for our spring snapshot.

As you may know, Prairie Rivers of Iowa has been working for several years on the outreach and data analysis for a local water monitoring program that includes volunteers led by Story County Conservation and lab-testing by the City of Ames. However, we’re not the only organization partnering with volunteers and local governments in Iowa to monitor streams and educate the public! In the coming year we have an opportunity to get to know one another, learn from each other, and do more in partnership. Actually, it’s already started.

In late May, Prairie Rivers organized a volunteer “snapshot” event to do same-day testing of sites throughout the Ioway Creek watershed. On that same day, Polk County Conservation tested over 100 sites as part of their spring snapshot. By coordinating our schedules, we can see how water quality compares across a broader swath of Iowa. Check out the Izaak Walton League’s nationwide Nitrate Watch map, which includes some of our results!

In mid-May, I added some extra stops to my route and was able to track down the main source of fecal bacteria affecting the lower part of West Indian Creek—it looks like the new wastewater treatment plant being built in Nevada will make a big difference for water quality. In our other creeks, the sources and solutions for E. coli are uncertain, so we’re anxious to hear what Partners of Scott County Watersheds is learning from its microbial source tracking projects in the Davenport area.

In early May, Prairie Rivers released a report analyzing the data that volunteers with Story County Conservation and the lab at the City of Ames have been collecting, including some good news! We’re learning a lot about waters in Story County, but we’re also learning how to work with data from national and statewide databases, account for the influence of streamflow, and make pretty graphs. The computer code, the skills, and the lessons learned are transferable, we just haven’t had an opportunity to apply them outside Story County… until now.

Our 2022 report included an analysis of nitrate trends in the South Skunk River.

Prairie Rivers applied for a grant from the Mosaic Foundation, which reached out to the Water Foundation to fund our project! Both these foundations have an interest in “movement infrastructure”–building the capacity of the environmental movement to do more by working together. Between now and next April, we’ll be building a network of organizations in Iowa with an interest in water monitoring, developing some tools and guidance to help us make sense of our data, and translating data into action. The planning team includes Prairie Rivers and three other Resource Conservation and Development councils (RC&Ds), Partners of Scott County Watersheds, Polk County Conservation, Iowa Environmental Council, and the Izaak Walton League of America.

While we’re excited to see the growth of volunteer initiatives like Nitrate Watch, bimonthly monitoring with semi-quantitative test strips is not a substitute for equipment that can precisely measure nitrate in a stream every 15 minutes and immediately publish the data to the internet. In April and May we learned that the latest state budget included targeted cuts to University of Iowa’s nitrate sensor network. The decision has raised more than a few eyebrows, giving the impression that some legislators would rather the public not know how polluted our lakes and streams really are, or whether conservation efforts are working as expected. Let’s keep our leaders honest and Iowans well-informed!

How a Pollinator Plan can Enrich Life in Ames

by Jessica Butters | May 24, 2023

Prairie Rivers of Iowa, Ames Public Works, and the Pollinator Task Force with Mayor Haila proclaiming Pollinator Week and the Ames Pollinator-Friendly Community Plan.

June is National Pollinator Month!

We are *buzzing* with exciting news! Mayor John Haila recently proclaimed National Pollinator Week in Ames, starting on Monday, June 19. Additionally, Haila announced a plan to make Ames a more pollinator-friendly city! To our knowledge, Ames is the first city in the United States to create its own 10-year plan, tailor-made for Ames residents and Iowa-native pollinators. Prairie Rivers of Iowa partnered with the City of Ames Public Works Department to organize a Pollinator Task Force, comprised of Ames residents, who came together to write the City of Ames Pollinator-Friendly Community Plan. Prairie Rivers and the City of Ames are now calling on even more residents to get involved in implementing this 10-year plan. You may be asking: ‘Why proclaim a national pollinator week, and why should we have a plan concerning pollinators for Ames?’. Because supporting pollinators is supporting the Ames community!

Do you like apple pie topped with ice cream? Thank pollinators!

Supporting Pollinators = Supporting Our Food

A pollinator is any animal (insect, bird, mammal) that moves pollen between flowers (the Ames Pollinator Plan focuses on supporting native bees, butterflies, moths, and other insects). The pollen exchange facilitated by pollinators allows plants to be fertilized and consequently grow fruits and seed. The fruits and seed produced with the help of pollinators is infinitely important! About one-third of our global food supply depends upon pollinators. If you like almonds, apples, tomatoes, or even steak and butter, you have pollinators to thank. Wait, steak and butter? Yes indeed. Pollinators are very important in producing seed for growing alfalfa, a hay crop fed to beef and dairy cattle. Without hay in livestock rations, it would be harder to access all things cattle, from ice cream to beef tacos. Lastly, almost 90% of flowering plants depend on pollinators! If you like seeing wildflowers on hikes or along roadsides, then you should want to keep pollinators around. Imagine if we lost nearly all of our flowering species? Our landscapes would be quite boring and colorless, and our plates would look more empty.

Supporting Pollinators = Supporting Ames’ Natural Resources

Yes, pollinators are very important for food crops at the national and global scale. But what are some benefits that we will be able to see locally, here in Ames? We’ll list two: 1) our water quality and 2) our soil health could be improved by planting pollinator habitat. One of the best ways to support pollinators is by planting native vegetation, or plants that have evolved and are originally from Iowa. Pollinators eat the nectar and pollen of these plants, and some also create nests in their stems. Many native plants are perennial, and because of this have expansive, thick root systems. Planting a patch of native plants is similar to casting a thick, wide net underground. This net of roots holds soil in place on slopes, soaks up extra water during heavy rain, and absorbs excess chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides as water moves through. These actions provided through native vegetation will lower erosion, mitigate flooding, and keep our local waterways cleaner if planted in the right areas.

Pollinator habitat also supports water quality!

Planting for pollinators is also planting for people.

Additionally, because these plants are well-adapted to Iowa, they need fewer inputs such as pesticides and thrive without fertilizer. This creates a low-input, sustainable planting system. Lastly, creating a good pollinator habitat will create a good human habitat (see graphic on page 4 of link). Bear with me here. Being surrouned by greenery and wildlife such as butterflies reduces stress and stimulates curiosity and creativity. Strategically planting more diverse vegetation and flowering plants may increase the observations of birds, butterflies, and other wildlife, which could have a positive impact on the mental health of Ames residents. This plan will support the pollinator community to address food insecurity, ecological health, offset the impacts of climate change, and will serve as an example for other cities around the world. Supporting pollinators truly supports the Ames community and beyond!

So What’s in this Plan?

The vision of the Pollinator Plan is for the City of Ames “to become a leader in developing and sustaining pollinator habitat that will enrich the quality of life for the human and biological communities of Ames“. Besides creating habitat that benefits pollinators and people, this plan also contains four pathways to bring this vision to life: 1) public education about pollinators and other important wildlife in Ames, 2) policy enhancements to support habitat implementation in the city, 3) research current and future conditions for pollinators and residents, and 4) the creation/strengthening of partnerships to use all resources to the fullest potential. Through education, policy, research, and partnerships, our plan will leverage the excitement and interest in pollinators to reach a beautiful vision of Ames: a more engaging, sustainable, beautiful, and healthy place that will not only serve pollinators, but the people and visitors of Ames.

You can read the plan in its entirety on the Pollinator-Friendly Ames webpages!

Do you live in the Ames area? Are you excited to be a part of this vision for Ames? If so, click the blue button to fill out our volunteer form! You can also contact Katelyn Rinicker at krinicker@prrcd.org or call 515-232-0048 to let us know you are interested in volunteering!

Pollinator Team Volunteer Form

Step Into the Sankot Garage for Treasured Bits of Lincoln Highway History

by Shellie Orngard | May 8, 2023

To get to Sankot Motor Company, or Sankot Garage as it’s known in Belle Plaine, find the Lincoln Café where the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway crosses 8th Avenue in the middle of town. Treat yourself to the lunch special – it was fried fish the Friday when I was there – then walk east on the Byway barely half a block. The big red Case sign, the neon long gone, reaches out from the old red brick building to show you where you’re going. As you get closer, you’ll notice the large plate glass windows and the plaque that reads Sankot Motor Company has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior. Registered 1995.

To step into Sankot Garage in Belle Plaine today is to step into the bits and fragments of small-town Lincoln Highway history. A massive safe rests alongside a beaten-up wooden table with worn, ornate hardware; racks of aging car parts line the walls up two stories. On one side of the building, a skylight allows the sun’s rays to illuminate bins of car parts, hoists hanging from beams, and a partial tractor body waiting for repair.

Bill Sankot Outside of His Historic Garage

Dust and the faint scent of oil hang in the air. Over a century old, Sankot Garage is a place where the parts and pieces of the decades intermingle.

Owner Bill Sankot greets me. Dressed from neck to ankles in overalls, he’s taking a break from his current Case tractor restoration project. Bill is great-nephew of O.B., Charles, and Sid, the brothers who owned the company back in the 1920s, those heady years when the country’s major coast-to-coast highway ran through Belle Plaine. This was the era before interstates facilitated travel bypassing towns and their amenities. Before the interstate rest stop, roads were designed to angle through towns, where travelers could stop for gas or get a bite to eat at a local café.

If it was late in the day, they might decide to stay the night at a local campground, spend a dollar for a motel room, or splurge for a room at the Herring Hotel. The Lincoln Highway eventually brought enough travelers to keep 19 gas stations in business, according to Mitch Malcolm from the Belle Plaine Area Museum, “and they all were a going concern.”

Sankot sold Chrysler cars and auto parts and did repairs in the 1920s and 30s. In those days before paved roads, Iowa had the dubious distinction of having both dirt roads that turned into “gumbo,” sucking in automobiles in inclement weather, and the resistance to modern paving methods.

Every town needed a good towing service. Sankot Garage was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and offered all-night towing and wrecker service. A poster on the wall displays photos from Sankot history. It shows a tow truck hauling a Model T Ford and some of the famous people who stopped by on their travels west from Chicago, including heavyweight boxer Kingfish Levinsky, crouching in a boxing stance for the camera.

Sankot Garage self-made wrecker made from a 1929 Cadillac chassis.

Over the decades, while so many other family-owned businesses disappeared, Sankot Garage continued to reinvent itself to serve the changing needs of its customers. Back in the day before rural electrification, Sankot rebuilt and recharged batteries needed for autos, lights, and radios. People usually brought batteries in for recharging on Saturday, the day they went to buy groceries. Bill shows me one of the claim checks customers were given.

Bill’s dad, F.L. Sankot, purchased the business in 1937, and it switched from selling and fixing automobiles to Case and Oliver tractors and implements. Bill and his brother Jerry bought the garage in 1985, and they continued to repair a variety of autos, trucks, tractors, and farm implements. Once Interstate 80 sapped clientele, things got quieter, but there is still enough business to keep Bill busy.

What’s next for Sankot Garage? None of Bill’s children are inclined to take over the business, but as long as Bill’s there, he’s minding the store … and the history.

Sankot Garage Vintage Battery Repair Ticket

Sankot Garage National Register of Historic Places Plaque

Bill Sankot in his garage with a Case tractor restoration project.

Highlights From the 2022 Monitoring Season

by Dan Haug | May 8, 2023

Our 2022 Annual Report for the Story County 10-Year Water Monitoring and Interpretation Plan shares findings from the third year of a locally-led effort to monitor water quality in streams and lakes across Story County, Iowa.

Visit here to view the full report.

Water Quality Monitoring in Story County Iowa.

The size of the volunteer program more than doubled in 2022.

Story County Conservation provided 40 volunteers and staff with kits to monitor 54 lakes and streams. Over 800 data sheets were entered into the Izaak Walton League’s Clean Water Hub.

A coordinated volunteer event in May gave us a snapshot of water quality at over 150 sites in central Iowa.

Streams in Story County tended to have higher nitrate, but lower chloride and phosphate than streams in neighboring Polk County.

Volunteers observed high nitrate at many sites this year and identified some streams with poor water quality that need further attention.

Nitrate was as high as 20 mg/L at 74% of sites tested this year.
West Indian Creek in Nevada has poor water quality by several metrics—including biological monitoring, dissolved oxygen, and phosphate.
Chloride and phosphate are especially high during drought at sites downstream of wastewater treatment plants.

With laboratory support from the City of Ames, we now have three years of monthly data at 15 streams. By combining multiple years of data, we can look separately at wet and dry periods and narrow down likely pollution sources and effective conservation strategies.

Ten out of eleven streams with enough data to evaluate in 2022 exceeded the primary contact recreation standard for coli bacteria. E. coli is especially high in West Indian Creek when water levels are normal, and in College Creek across all conditions.
Nitrate tends to be highest in the Headwaters of the South Skunk River watershed when water levels are normal.

We have over 14 years of baseline data at several sites on the South Skunk River. By comparing recent data to the baseline, and making sure we’re comparing similar weather conditions, we can begin to see some encouraging trends.

During wetter weather, nitrate was lower in 2020-2022 than during the baseline period at one of the sites. This could be related to conservation efforts in the Ioway Creek watershed.
During drier weather, E. coli was lower in 2020-2022 than during the baseline period at one of the sites. This could be related to improvements to wastewater treatment systems in Ames and Gilbert.

The Good, the Bad, and the Alternatives to No Mow May

by Jessica Butters | May 7, 2023

A long-horned bee visits a coneflower.

If you’re involved in any kind of pollinator or wildlife hobbies, you’ve probably heard of “No Mow May”. An initiative that started in the United Kingdom, No Mow May is a campaign aiming to encourage people to stop mowing their lawns during the month of May to help pollinators. The idea is that leaving your mower parked for a month in spring will allow dandelions and other lawn-associated flowers to grow, providing food for emerging pollinators at a time when there aren’t many flowers blooming yet. This sounds easy and beneficial, but is it really? Are there better options, or is this the answer to pollinator-friendly yarding? Let’s mow through the jargon, discuss different viewpoints, and offer simple alternatives.

There are many positive and negative opinions surrounding the No Mow May campaign.

Let’s start with the positives:

No Mow May is a catchy slogan.
It allows dandelions, clover, violets, and other flowers to bloom.
Generalist bees, such as honey bees, may have more food options.
It keeps neighborhoods more peaceful.
You save money on gas, and maybe on fertilizers/pesticides as well.
31 days of no fertilizers or pesticides is good for the environment (and water quality!).
Ground-nesting bees may be disturbed less.
You’re contradicting the status quo about what yards “should” look like.

A hairstreak butterfly on a dandelion.

Now for some cons to consider about No Mow May:

It’s only for 31 days. Pollinators are active at least from April to October (which is 184 days).
Only honey bees and other generalist bees can benefit.
You may spread invasive species such as dandelions and dutch white clover.
Dandelion and clover provide sub-par nutrition compared to native flowers.
Weeds can perpetuate the image that eco-friendly lawns are just careless and messy.
It may upset your more traditional neighbors.
Some may use more herbicides after No Mow May to get their lawn “back to normal”.
Cutting a large amount of grass length in one go can stress the lawn, if you keep it.

A mining bee on a dandelion.

Many articles will discuss these different viewpoints, but few tell you exactly how to start a pollinator garden. Or they do tell you, but it’s pretty heavy reading, or tells you to start in fall. This article is for those needing simple steps and instant gratification. While yes, in most cases it is best to start in the fall (for seeding), if you’re willing to buy potted plants and plugs you can get outside now, while you’re excited to, and have some happy pollinator plants this summer. We’ll start with steps to selecting plants and container gardening, and then dive into in-ground gardens.

A pollinator container garden.

Start easy with container gardening

The easiest thing you can do is to buy a potted plant and stick it on your porch or patio. You probably do this already – why not choose one that will make both you and pollinators happy? To start considering which plants to bring home, first ask if the store or nursery has any certified USDA organic plants; if they do, these plants are less likely to make pollinators sick as they will have little to no harmful chemicals. Next ask if they have any native plants.

The art of observation

Once you are in the organic and native section (or sadly, in a random flowering section because there are no such plants available), the key to narrowing down the plants you should get is observation. Walk slowly through your plant options and watch the plants to see which ones are visited by pollinators. Those are the plants you want to look at. You may notice that nothing ever visits a pansy or petunia, but sunflowers or tube-shaped flowers are all a-buzz. While it is best to buy native plants, some plants such as irises and sedum will attract pollinators even though they are in a pot, and you can easily find them at local nurseries and big box stores (keep nonnatives in a pot to keep them from spreading).

Cultivars and creepers aren’t keepers

Be mindful of plants labeled as “double bloom” or ones that have fancy names, even if they look like a native plant. These are likely cultivars, and pollinators won’t visit them very much, as those extra-big flowers normally don’t have any pollen or nectar. If they do have some sort of food, pollinators have a hard time pushing through those extra petals to get to it. Try to stay away from anything that has the word “creeping” or “spreading” in its name, and check the label to see if it’s “aggressive” or needs a large area for its “spread”. This will keep you from bringing an invasive plant home that could escape your patio. Do keep in mind, however, that it’s going to be a lot more fun for you if you buy native plants, as they will likely attract many more pollinators! Lastly, try to choose at least three flowers – one that is currently in bloom, one that will bloom in summer, and one that will bloom in early fall. This will ensure you are supporting pollinators throughout the year, and also allows you to enjoy flowers during the entire growing season.

Large flowers and unnatural color, with the name “Pardon My Purple” signify a cultivar.

Pots are easy; finding native plants isn’t

It isn’t as easy to find potted native plants as it is nonnative plants, but it’s better than it used to be! Semi-local native seed companies such as Allendan Seed Co. and some local nurseries may sell native plugs during the growing season. You can also scope out Facebook for local native plant swaps. When buying or swapping plants, ask them if they are likely to bloom this year or the next; some perennial plants take two years to bloom, even if you buy a plug and not seed; it’s good to set your expectations. Also ask where the person got the seed to grow the plant, or if it’s been treated with chemicals recently. If they can’t answer these questions, find a polite way to exit. In terms of native plants that grow well in a pot, beardtongue is an earlier bloomer, and bee balm as well as black-eyed Susan are great plants that will bloom later on.

Bumble bees love beardtongue flowers.

Borders are an easy space to add pollinator habitat.

Gardens attract and support the most pollinators

Carving out a piece of your lawn to create a garden is the best thing in the world that you can do for pollinators. Start a small, manageable garden this year with some plugs from a reputable plant supplier (Allendan, Iowa Native Trees and Shrubs, Blooming Prairie Nursery, Prairie Moon Nursery) for instant gratification. You can create a small garden on the side of your house that’s annoying to mow. Or maybe there’s an awkward corner in the back of your yard that the kids don’t really play in. Those areas are great places to start.

Natives are a must

Choosing plants for a garden follows the same rules mentioned above for container gardening, except it is much more important to have native plants that were grown relatively local. Putting a plant of dubious quality in the ground lowers the chance it will survive and flower for you later. Or worse, planting a nonnative plant in the ground could lead to it doing too well and spreading across your yard, forcing you to hack away at it all next year (remember those lilies of the valley your friend can’t get rid of? You don’t want that).

Replace the grass

To start planting your native plugs, you’ll have to kill the grass. A good tilling deep into the turf is a quick way to get started. A few rounds of glyphosate or roundup will also do the trick, but that’s a pretty nasty chemical. Covering the area with cardboard and compost on top for a year is a great way, but it’s obviously a better method for a fall planting rather than an immediate one. After you’ve removed the grass, plant your plugs. Grouping the same flower species together will attract more pollinators and make the garden look more intentional. Choosing different flowers that have different shapes and colors will attract and support a higher diversity of pollinators. After planting, water your new garden well for the next few weeks! Leaving some bare dirt may encourage native bee nesting; however if you’d like to mulch, use natural, undyed and untreated wood chips and leaves to keep turf grass and weeds at bay. Adding a natural wood border or rocks can add more nesting habitat. Lastly, be sure not to fertilize or use pesticides on or near your pollinator garden. Fertilizer will only encourage weeds, and pesticides will harm any pollinators that visit.

Tilling is an easy way to remove grass.

Enjoy your handiwork!

Creating a pollinator garden is infinitely more rewarding than merely pausing the mower during May. By adding native plants to your yard, you will not only start seeing bees, but possibly new kinds of birds, butterflies, fireflies, and other wildlife. You’ll be able to enjoy your handiwork for not one month, not two, but years to come.

Mayflies Should Be Normal

by Dan Haug | May 4, 2023

In April, I joined a class of Ames High School seniors to survey benthic macroinvertebrates in Ioway Creek. If you had asked me “what on earth are you doing?” here’s what I would have said:

Hello! I’m Dan and I work on water quality for a local non-profit. And these are environmental science students from Ames High School. Why are we standing in the middle of the creek wearing hip waders and doing what looks like a funny dance? Why, this is a perfectly normal thing to do! We are citizen scientists and we are “science-ing”! The dance is called the benthic shuffle, and is an important part of the protocol for biological monitoring. We are dislodging aquatic insects from the rocks and catching them in our net.

And look at what we have caught from a mere 1 square meter of rocks! 170 mayflies! This too is normal! We are at Brookside Park, and here is a brook babbling over rocks and gravel. It would be strange if we did not find a healthy population of mayflies in such inviting habitat!

No, they don’t look like the mayflies that spatter windshields in Dubuque. But this is indeed Baetis, the blue-winged olive mayfly, imitated with success by many a trout fisherman. In its larval form, we call it the “small minnow mayfly”, for its quick swimming. They live about a year in the creek before they pupate and get their wings, assuming a fish doesn’t eat them first!

benthic macroinvertebrates in Ioway Creek

As I was saying, what you see here is perfectly normal, though maybe not as common as it should be in Iowa streams. If you find a riffle in the stream with no mayflies, well, that would mean something is not right. Perhaps insecticides have washed into the creek from upstream farms and lawns and killed them. Perhaps we’ve inadvertently fertilized the algae in the creek, turned the water a shade greener and the making the water a little less oxygenated at night. There are other insects that can make a living under these conditions. In the creek near the Story County Fairgrounds, you can find plenty of these net-spinning caddisflies, but no mayflies! If all you find are these wriggly little midge flies, well, that’s a sign of more serious pollution.

Nice to meet you! Time to get back to counting bugs!

Results from Ioway Creek (Ames) in 2023

Results from W. Indian Creek (Nevada) in 2022

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