Family-Outdoors

KEOSAUQUA – Volunteers will have an opportunity this summer to spend their vacations cleaning up, learning about and exploring 53 miles of the lower Des Moines River between Eldon and Farmington, from July 11 to 15 with Project AWARE. Early registration ends June 17. Project AWARE, which stands for A Watershed Awareness River Expedition, is the DNR’s annual volunteer river cleanup event. In addition to muscling trash out of the river, participants learn about watersheds, water quality, recycling and other natural resource topics. This year’s expedition marks AWARE’s 14th year. “Project AWARE is the most rewarding project that I have had the privilege to be involved with,” said Seth Zimmermann who has represented the State Hygienic Laboratory at The University of Iowa as event staff for the past 10 years. “AWARE brings together a large group of volunteers with differing backgrounds from across Iowa, all with a shared goal of improving Iowa’s water resources while experiencing the ...

English: Iowa Department of Natural Resources logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) LAKE VIEW, Iowa - The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will discuss its plans to renovate the fishery in Black Hawk Lake during a public meeting on August 30, at 6:30 p.m., at the American Legion Hall, in Lake View.  Black Hawk Lake is in the early stages of a major watershed and lake improvement and restoration effort to improve the water quality and clarity and remove the lake from the Impaired Waters List.  Black Hawk Lake is listed on the state’s Impaired Waters List for algae, turbidity, and bacteria.   The major focus of the lake restoration project has been targeted at improving the watershed.  Local landowners, stakeholders, and other citizens have made great advances in reducing the amount of sediment and nutrient loading into the lake.  While improvements can still be made to the watershed, the internal recycling of nutrients and re-suspension of sedimen...