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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Curious Iowa: How often are the state’s rivers cleaned?
Why is garbage removed and natural debris left behind?
Bailey Cichon
Apr. 15, 2024 5:00 am, Updated: Apr. 15, 2024 9:54 am
- Iowa’s rivers are cleaned by volunteers
- Garbage enters rivers through intentional and unintentional means
- Rivers undergo a natural cleaning process, but that process is affected by the weather
- Natural debris is not usually removed from Iowa rivers
Think of the last time you enjoyed what an Iowa river had to offer. Did you see trash? Were there downed trees in the water?
Jerry Hocken wondered about cleanup of Iowa’s rivers. He wrote to Curious Iowa — a series from The Gazette that answers readers’ questions about our state, its people and the culture. “I see a lot of dead trees and other debris,” Hocken wrote. “Mother Earth would appreciate [cleaning efforts].”
In this installment of Curious Iowa, we look at river cleanup projects and why natural debris is usually left alone.
What efforts are made to clean Iowa’s rivers?
Trash and debris are removed from Iowa’s rivers through volunteer-led cleanup projects. River cleaning projects can range in length from an afternoon to a weeklong excursion, and they attract volunteers of all ages.
One of the most well-known volunteer river cleanup projects is Iowa Project AWARE, which stands for A Watershed Awareness River Expedition.
For 21 years, the annual weeklong river cleanup has brought packs of volunteers around the state to remove trash from Iowa’s rivers. Every year, they pick a different river to traverse. In total, Iowa Project AWARE has cleaned more than 1,400 river miles and picked up 490 tons of trash. Of the trash that has been removed, 81 percent was recycled. The event has inspired 50 additional cleanup events.
The great thing about river cleanup is it allows everybody, regardless of what background you might have, to see how these rivers function … from the seat of a canoe.
The idea started in 2003 after Brian Soenen, who worked for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources at the time, heard Living Lands and Waters founder Chad Pregracke speak about cleaning the Mississippi River. Inspired by Pregracke, Soenen pitched a large river cleanup and the project started within the Iowa DNR.
Today, Iowa Project AWARE operates a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization N-Compass, based in Marion. Iowa Project AWARE maintains partnerships with the Iowa DNR, the State Hygienic Lab at the University of Iowa, county conservation boards and others.
There are other long-running river cleanups. For example, the Cedar River Festival has been around decades longer than Iowa Project AWARE. These annual programs naturally develop camaraderie between volunteers and keep folks coming back. Many say it’s like summer camp. At night, you camp. During the day, you float down a river, experiencing Iowa’s natural beauty, picking up Styrofoam, plastic bottles and tires along the way.
“The great thing about river cleanup is it allows everybody, regardless of what background you might have, to see how these rivers function … from the seat of a canoe.” Soenen said.
Volunteers skim the surface, pick items from the sandbar, or excavate items buried in the river.
Soenen said, “We will go out and scout a river ahead of time … and you get two or three people going down, they’ll be like … we saw a few things, but we didn’t see a bunch and then all of a sudden, you send a couple hundred people down and it’s like, man, where did all that garbage come from?”
Where is the garbage coming from?
Soenen said garbage enters rivers in a few ways. First, there’s what he calls “legacy garbage” that was put into rivers before landfills and transfer stations were organized. There also used to be a practice of using tires for stream bank stabilization. As the structures aged, or if tires weren’t properly installed, hundreds of tires would deposit into rivers.
Natural disasters and floods can sweep items away and other times, people deliberately dump items into rivers. The behavior of these bad actors, Soenen said, is what Project AWARE aims to change.
In 2022, a meat locker filled with rotting meat was pulled out of the Des Moines River. In 2007, volunteers got creative while removing an engine block from the Raccoon River.
“To get it loaded, they flooded the canoe so it sunk down into the water,” Soenen said. “Then they were able to use a little bit of buoyancy, whatever muscle, to get the motor in the canoe and they baled the water out to get it to float again.”
Iowa is known as the most biologically altered state, meaning its land has been changed for cities, roads, cropland and other use. Iowa’s river corridors provide wilderness, but Soenen said garbage in the rivers is a symbol of how we view our rivers.
“We can’t take our water for granted.” he said.
Do rivers naturally clean themselves?
Don Clow has been involved with Five Seasons Ski Team in Cedar Rapids for 40 years. He operates the boats that pull the team while they assemble pyramids and other impressive feats.
The team, Clow said, is on the Cedar River four days a week for hours at a time. This year, he’s noticed several large logs upstream from the team’s show site at Ellis Park. While the team has been able to work around the logs, Clow pointed out that Iowa’s weather and ongoing drought play into river conditions.
“Usually in the spring, floods clean the river out and also ice cleans it out … it’s an annual cleaning process and of course, the last several years, we haven’t had much of an ice out,” Clow said.
Clow also noted that flow rates have been low, which also affects the movement of debris. Additionally, low stream flow negatively impacts the habitat of organisms living in rivers. Annual flooding is important for maintaining a healthy river, but Iowa has been experiencing drought for a few years.
While the ski team has seen some effects of the drought, debris buildup hasn’t caused a show to be canceled. Clow said he’s hoping for a spring flood to help maintain the channel.
“In the spring, we should have flow rates, a couple of flood crests of 30-, 35,000 cubic feet a second,” Clow said. “And this year, I think the highest we’ve been is just a little over 3,000.”
It’s true. According to USGS data, the highest flow rate recorded for the Cedar River this year was April 2 at 3,350 cubic feet per second. In 2023, it peaked on May 20 with 15,100 cubic feet per second.
“We’re kind of in this drought pattern.” Clow said. “We’re losing that cleaning aspect and eventually this will build up.”
Why is natural debris left alone?
While those who use the river, like the ski team, are cautious of logs, natural debris isn’t commonly removed from rivers.
State Conservation Officer Ron Lane said natural debris will be removed if it impedes navigation. Sometimes, recreational groups, like paddling and fishing groups, will conduct river cleanups and log removals.
“When they do these projects, they try to do them in the winter on the ice so it’s easier to cut the logs apart with chain saws, so they are smaller so they sink or break apart,” Lane said in an email.
Soenen said natural debris is left alone during Iowa Project AWARE cleanups.
“Log jams and natural things like that we, in general, do not remove or really modify because rivers are supposed to have that stuff in them,” Soenen said. “That’s a natural part of the river, it’s habitat for the whole food chain.”
Soenen said there are some man-made objects that the project will leave behind, like lumber and bricks. “Those are … made from natural materials. So they’re aesthetically unpleasing, but the idea is that they’ll naturally degrade … if they came out of the river, they go into a garbage can and then fill up a landfill.”
Where are upcoming river cleanups?
Confluence Brewing is hosting a Gray’s Lake Watershed Cleanup on Earth Day, April 20 in Des Moines.
Iowa Project AWARE will be cleaning the Skunk River July 7-12. Volunteers will cover 10-19 miles of river daily and camp in Lake Darling State Park in Brighton and Oakland Mills Park in Mount Pleasant. You do not need to have a canoe, or know how to canoe, to participate. Register and get involved at iowaprojectaware.org.
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Comments: bailey.cichon@thegazette.com