An annual conference is happening tomorrow that concerns water quality on the Raccoon River.
The Raccoon River Watershed Association is hosting “Something in the Water? The Environmental Quality of Iowa’s Waters” conference virtually this year. The event will be held from 9:30-11:30am via Zoom.
The conference features five guest speakers with topics including an update on the Iowa Stream Nitrate report, monitoring cattails species the impacts that invasive species has on local wetlands, using aquatic drones to document changes in stream water quality, songbirds in agriculture fields, and a look at Iowa’s history as it pertains to agricultural conservation policies and practices.
Cooper resident Chris Henning serves as the RRWA President and will open the conference with some brief remarks. Also serving on the RRWA Board is Bob Rye of Jefferson as the chair of the Citizen Science Committee. There’s no cost to participate, but pre-registration is required to receive the link to the conference.
The link to register, as well as the program schedule can be found below.
Program schedule:
9:30 am Opening remarks: Chris Henning, RRWA President
- 9:35 am Iowa Stream Nitrate: 2020 Update
Dr. Chris Jones IIHR-Hydroscience and Engineering, University of Iowa
- 10:10 am Monitoring Cattail species and environmental conditions leading the establishment to
invasive species in local wetlands.
Paul Weihe: Biology & Environmental Science, Central College
5 -minute break
- 10:30 am. Using Aquatic Drones to Explore Changes in Stream Water Quality..
Peter Levi, Environmental Science & Policy, Drake University
- 10:50 am Songbirds in Agricultural Fields and Along Fencerows
Adam Dixon: Postdoctoral fellow
- 11:10 am A Brief History of Iowa’s Agricultural Conservation Policies and Practices
Silvia Secchi: Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences, University of Iowa