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Monitoring the world's water
Iowa State students participate in World Water Monitoring Day.
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Last October, the world community got together to recognize the 30th
anniversary of the passage of the Clean Water Act in the United States.
Individuals in locations throughout the globe participated in water quality
monitoring, educational outreach opportunities and water festivals. Over
75,000 people across the United States participate in the program with
over 5,150 different monitoring sites were registered across the country.
The event was such a hit that the America's Clean Water Foundation (ACWF)
decided to make this an annual event and on Thursday, Oct. 16, the second
annual World Water Monitoring Day was held. The event serves as a global
educational platform for watershed leaders, educators and trained volunteers
to help those who are less experienced better understand how the actions
of individuals can impact others.
But the participation in Iowa was lacking and a pair of Iowa State professors
decided to do their own part in making it a success in this state.
"Iowa wasn't well represented last year," said William Simpkins,
associate professor of geological and atmospheric sciences. "So we
decided that the students in our class should participate."
Students in the Environmental Science/Geology 402 course that is - a course
co-taught by Simpkins and Lee Burras, professor of agronomy. Students
enrolled in the course come from a variety of majors including environmental
science, agronomy, geology, horticulture, botany, biology, animal ecology,
political science, environmental studies and natural resources ecology
and management.
In a regularly scheduled lab on that day, the class sampled water in Squaw
Creek at Ames' Brookside Park.
"They did various chemical tests on the water and collected stream
water quality data consistent with the World Water Monitoring Day program,"
Simpkins said.
Seven different student groups took measurements from kits supplied by
the ACWF.
"This is just one of several labs in the course where we actually
go out into the field and collect data and interpret the results,"
Simpkins said.
This year's low rainfall amounts in central Iowa have reduced Squaw Creek
to stagnant pools of water. Despite the low levels in Iowa’s waterways,
Simpkins said that the students' results on Oct. 16 were more than likely
accurate.
"The results we go were pretty standard for surface water,"
he said. "The pH and dissolved oxygen levels were consistent with
previous readings in the Squaw Creek."
Although not a routine part of the World Water Day Monitoring measurements,
the phosphate concentrations are what interested Simpkins.
Phosphate enters Iowa's creeks due to runoff from farm fields, waste treatment
plants and lawn fertilizers.
Recent studies by Iowa State faculty and the Iowa Department of Natural
Resources show that phosphorous concentrations in Iowa’s surface water
are some of the highest found in the Midwest.
"While these results weren't particularly high (in Squaw Creek),
it does indicate that the phosphates are still there," Simpkins said.
After the field tests were completed, the students returned to a campus
laboratory where the entered the location and data into a worldwide database.
They then meet again with their group to interpret the data and write
a short report.
"This gave our students a chance to go out to collect data and actually
have it entered onto a web site where others can see what they have done,"
Simpkins said.
Around LAS
November 3-16, 2003
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