Conservation Connection
What’s carried with snowmelt?
When snow melts, salt applied to melt snow on sidewalks, roads, and parking lots can make its way to streams. Freshwater critters don’t like living in saltwater.
What’s in a (creek) name?
“Squaw Creek” in Story, Boone, and Hamilton County is now “Ioway Creek.” We discuss why this should be a welcome and uncontroversial change.
Weather whiplash
Cover crops could be especially important next spring if we get rain. Weather whiplash (a dry fall followed by a wet spring) can flush accumulated nitrogen out of the soil, leading to elevated nitrate concentrations in rivers.
Too close to call
There are plenty of parallels between polling and water, so if you’re looking to water quality monitoring to tell you whether or not conservation efforts in your watershed or your state are succeeding, read on. Short-term water quality trends are usually too close to call.
Fall 2020 Water Quality Snapshot finds sensitive critters
Thirteen volunteers braved the cold on October 24 to test water quality in Squaw Creek, the South Skunk River, and their tributaries. For some, this was their 14th Fall Water Quality Snapshot. For others it was their first time doing stream monitoring. What we found defies easy categorization.
Prairie Rivers of Iowa and Story County Officials are Organizing County-Wide Water Quality Monitoring Effort
Story County leaders are beginning to develop a ten-year water quality monitoring program for the county. The program will be the first of its kind in Iowa in which a county, its jurisdictions...
5 ways to get more conservation bang for our buck
On any field in Iowa, cover crops will improve soil health, sequester carbon, and prevent nutrients from washing down to the Gulf of Mexico. There are at least six situations where...
2020 Spring Water Quality Snapshot
Stream monitoring turned out to be compatible with social distancing!
28 volunteers monitored 43 sites
May showers bring awesome graphs!
Last weekend’s rains (5-17-2020) provide a clear illustration of how water and nitrate make their way to Squaw Creek.