We must ensure all Iowans are protected with beach advisory signage

On Tuesday, July 25, after making note that Brushy Creek near Lehigh was once again under a microcystin advisory – the fourth consecutive week at that time and it remains under advisory this week! – I made the trek to get a look. Whenever feasible, we try to visit public beaches in Iowa with harmful algae blooms, or HABs, for photos and real-life observation. 

My first order of business: locate the advisory signage the DNR posts publicly during a microcystin or E. coli advisory. I spotted the small sign common to every state public beach; it contains the same general warning and information about how to find water quality information online. But there was nothing larger. Nothing with dates or warnings about the current situation. Most of the text was rubbed away. In fact, the sign warning me that I couldn’t collect snails (!) was bigger and clearer than the signage warning me that I, my children, or my pets could be harmed by getting in this water.

Next order of business: find the bloom. But as I walked onto the beach, I was dismayed to see a family splashing away in the water: several children, including a young baby, with their mother perched on the sand. My anxiety skyrocketed as I considered whether to approach this family enjoying the beach and water on a hot, muggy day and tell them they should really, really, really get out.  

But I did. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t. I had heard the children chattering in Spanish as they played; when I said hello, I learned the mother didn’t speak English and needed her son and daughter to translate into Spanish what I was attempting to share. How was she to know that it wasn’t just gross-looking, but also potentially dangerous? 

What's new in Iowa's water news:

• Des Moines County Public Health: Iowans should test private water sources each year (The Hawk Eye)
• 22 attorneys general oppose 3M settlement over water systems contamination (We Are Iowa)
• Pine Lake news getting worse (Iowa Falls Times-Citizen) 
• Most of Midwest in is drought, there's no simple way to get out of it (The Gazette)
• DNR imposes new requirements on water utility near dry river (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
• Splishing and splashing on the Wapsi (The Gazette)
• Pikes Peak State Park campground back open (Iowa Public Radio) 
• To learn more about rare lake sturgeon, Iowa researchers turn to another prehistoric fish (The Gazette) 

Upcoming water events:                              

• River Clean Up – Webster Co. - August 5 
• Wapsi Through the Seasons - Buchanan Co. - August 5   
• The Art and Ecology of Fly Tying – Johnson Co. - August 5 
• Youth Fishing Cedar Lake - Madison Co. - August 8 
• Prairie Lakes Conference – Dickinson Co. - August 9 - August 11
• Nitrates in Drinking Water Public and Private – Virtual - August 9
• A Future Focused on Water – Virtual - August 9
• Rock River Float – Sioux Co. - August 9
• Mussel Beach Cruise – Clinton Co. - August 9
• R2G2 Fourmile Fest – Polk Co. - August 11
• Okoboji Blue Water Festival – Dickinson Co. - August 12