Project AWARE 2017

Capture
 Photo of Cedar River Coalition partners. Photo from @IWAReduceFloods, the Twitter account for the Iowa Watershed Approach.

Getting Down and Dirty for Cleaner Iowa Rivers

Last week we participated in cleaning up an Iowa river alongside the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and other water partners across the state for Project AWARE. This event is a week-long outdoor expedition to clean up a selected Iowa river. The purpose of this event is to increase awareness of and engagement with Iowa’s public waters. It gives Iowans the opportunity to make a difference in water no matter who they are and what they do in the state. Participants have the opportunity to do the cleanup for one day or stay and camp the whole week.

This year, the event was held on the Cedar River in Mitchell and Floyd Counties from July 10-14. Hundreds of water partners and community members across the state joined for this year’s cleanup. We attended the fourth day of the event. Our starting point was about 19 miles up river from Charles City, Iowa. Once we arrived in Charles City, we had the opportunity to go inner tubing down the Charles City Whitewater course to the campsite to receive a t-shirt and join in on evening fun at the site.

While we only attended one day of the trip, we found many canoe-loads of trash that does not belong in a river, such as barrels, tires, and even a couch!

See photos below for the highlights!

2017. Photo by Nicholas Longbucco, The Nature Conservancy.
2017. Photo by Nicholas Longbucco, The Nature Conservancy.
2017. Photo by Nicholas Longbucco, The Nature Conservancy.
2017. Photo by Nicholas Longbucco, The Nature Conservancy.
2017. Photo by Nicholas Longbucco, The Nature Conservancy.
2017. Photo by Nicholas Longbucco, The Nature Conservancy.
2017. Photo by Nicholas Longbucco, The Nature Conservancy.
2017. Photo by Nicholas Longbucco, The Nature Conservancy.
2017. Photo by Nicholas Longbucco, The Nature Conservancy.
2017. Photo by Nicholas Longbucco, The Nature Conservancy.
2017. Photo by Nicholas Longbucco, The Nature Conservancy.
2017. Photo by Nicholas Longbucco, The Nature Conservancy.
2017. Photo by Nicholas Longbucco, The Nature Conservancy.
2017. Photo by Nicholas Longbucco, The Nature Conservancy.
2017. Photo by Nicholas Longbucco, The Nature Conservancy.

IWC Debuts New Logo

The Iowa Water Center is pleased to unveil our new logo!

It’s been five years since the Iowa Water Center last redesigned the logo, and it’s amazing how things have changed in that time. New staff, new projects, and a reinvigorated commitment to enhanced water management across the state have better defined our focus as originally laid out in the federal Water Resources Research Act (WRRA) of 1964.

Through this legislation, we are tasked with conducting a statewide research program that supports four critical needs on a local level:

  1. improvements in water supply reliability;
  2. the exploration of new ideas that address water problems or expand understanding of water and water-related phenomena;
  3. the entry of new research scientists, engineers, and technicians into water resources fields; and
  4. the dissemination of research results to water managers and the public.

We are also called to “cooperate closely with other colleges and universities in the State that have demonstrated capabilities for research, information dissemination, and graduate training in order to develop a statewide program designed to resolve State and regional water and related land problems.”

We don’t take these directives lightly. Through our conducted research, robust online presence, and role as a connector for collegiate and credible water-related agency and organization work, we strive to foster efficient, effective advances in water management for the state of Iowa. Every project we take on has to pass this test, so it is only fitting that our new logo symbolizes what we so highly value.

The water droplet, of course, is a familiar emblem for our industry. However, our water droplet takes subtle cues from an ear of corn to tie into Iowa’s agricultural roots. The four colors of the droplet represent those four critical needs defined in the WRRA. Additionally, these sections cross over and into each other, symbolizing the connective nature of our work. The font is a nod to our administrative home at Iowa State University.

IWC_Logo_Stacked_FullColor

We look forward to our stakeholders becoming familiar with the new look as we also look to improve our website so that it better reflects our Center. We’d also like to give a special thank you to Zao525 for their expertise, attention to detail, and guidance in this process.