The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is offering a series of volunteer water quality monitoring workshops around the state the is summer. Jackie Gautsch is one of the coordinators for the IOWATER program. She says anybody who wants to sign up can come to a workshop and learn all about water quality.

Gautsch says once you get certified you are given equipment and can take measurements, and you get an I-D and password to go on-line and submit your measurements to the database. Gautsch says the workshop teaches several ways to test water quality.

There is a chemical assessment that tests for dissolved oxygen, a test for P-H, a nutrient test and a test for salt. She says they also do a physical assessment that can tell how wide the stream is and how fast it is flowing. They also learn to do a habitat assessment to see how the water may accommodate wildlife needs. Gautsch says this is the tent year for the workshops.

The dates and locations vary each summer depending on where they haven’t been, or where they have more demand for volunteers to help with watershed improvement projects. The locations for the workshops include Ankeny on May 26th and 27th, Ogden on June 2nd and 3rd, Webster City on June 26th, Council Bluffs on July 24th, Bellevue on August 21st and Toledo on August 28th.

You can register on line at www.iowater.net.