|  | | 19 Beaches with an E. coli Advisory:
Backbone Beach (Dundee, Delaware County, IA)*
Beed’s Lake Beach (Hampton, Franklin County, IA)*
Big Creek Beach (Polk City, Polk County, IA)*
Denison Beach (Black Hawk Lake, Lake View, Sac County, IA)*
Emerson Bay Beach (West Okoboji Lake, Milford, Dickinson County, IA)*
George Wyth Beach (Waterloo, Black Hawk County, IA)*
Lake Ahquabi Beach (Indianola, Warren County, IA)*
Lake Darling Beach (Brighton, Washington County, IA)*
Lake Manawa Beach (Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County, IA)*
Lake of Three Fires Beach (Bedford, Taylor County, IA)*
Lewis and Clark Beach (Blue Lake, Onawa, Monona County, IA)*
Lower Pine Lake Beach (Eldora, Hardin County, IA)*
McIntosh Woods Beach (Clear Lake, Ventura, Cerro Gordo County, IA)*
Nine Eagles Beach (Davis City, Decatur County, IA)*
North Overlook Beach (Lake Red Rock, Pella, Marion County, IA)**
Pleasant Creek Lake Beach (Palo, Linn County, IA)*
Prairie Rose Beach (Harlan, Shelby County, IA)*
Sugar Bottom Campground Beach (Coralville Lake, Coralville, Johnson County, IA)**
Union Grove Beach (Gladbrook, Tama County, IA)* 1 Beach with a Microcystin Advisory:
Lake Darling Beach (Brighton, Washington County, IA)* 13 City and County Beaches exceed the state’s advisory threshold for E. coli.*
View the map on our website to see where they are. Note: Lake Keomah has been completely drained for lake renovations activities and the beach is closed for the remainder of the season. Oak Grove Beach at Saylorville Lake remains closed due to flooding. No sample was collected this week at Lake Macbride Beach. *Data from the Iowa DNR State Park Beach Monitoring Program
**Data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District |
| Drought to Deluge: The 2024 Floods of Northwest Iowa, and Adaptations to Come |
| "Drought to Deluge" was written by AmeriCorps member Nick Blocha as a first-hand reflection of catastrophic flooding in northwest Iowa this summer. Blocha integrates personal accounts of his time in hands-on relief efforts, direct contact with some of those affected, as well as facts and relevant metrics looking at the causes of floods. Travelling west on the road towards Hawarden, we passed a broken railroad. The gravel beneath it had been washed away, leaving the steel rails and ties twisted and suspended over the open air. The flooding from the Big Sioux River was still high in the surrounding fields of early growing corn. By looking at the line of brown and dead stalks, we could tell where the water had been just four days before from the relentless barrage of rainfall. A work train sat on the tracks not far off, and new wooden ties, soaked in black oil, were off to the side waiting until they could be replaced. We met up with Sunday, our contact for the members of the Sioux County Conservation Board, at the Prairie Woods Nature Center. The camping lot was filled with R.V.s, from those lucky enough to have them, taking refuge there where the water hadn’t reached. Despite everything they’d been through, Sunday had a cheery smile. She was elated to see us, glad for the help. Sunday introduced us to Myron, the fellow who we would be working with that day. He led us over to the site, the Big Sioux Recreation Area, right on the Big Sioux River before the border to South Dakota. We drove through Hawarden, not 10 minutes away from the nature center where the people of the town had their waterlogged belongings piled on the side of the road in their front yards, nothing more now than husks still reeking with sewage and the ghosts of their lives. The power and water services remained shut off to most in Hawarden, and many of the surrounding towns. Just before we reached the recreation area, we passed seven grain silos that sat busted open, the pale, golden seeds spilled over the ground. The pink Sioux quartzite road was broken and busted from debris brought in by the irregularly high-water levels. Here, it rose nearly 5” higher than any of the previous recorded floods had reaching multiple feet into the first floor of homes. The bed of a rusted, blue pickup lay upside-down, abandoned, in the ditch on the side of that broken road. The grass of the park itself was stained in dark mud. The ground was soft and squelched underfoot. Big Sioux still covered the road and bridge over to South Dakota, and part of the park. |
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| |  | |  | Okoboji Blue Water Festival The Okoboji Blue Water Festival was founded in 2016 as a venue to promote clean water and other natural resources advocacy in the Iowa Great Lakes. The festival - featuring exhibitors, speakers, fun-filled family activities and a concert - has grown exponentially each year and is now regarded as the premier water quality event in Iowa. On Saturday, August 10th, the Okoboji Blue Water Festival will return at the Preservation Plaza in the Arnolds Park Amusement Park. The festival is entirely free with opportunities to support local water and environmental advocacy groups on site. This year, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Art Cullen and longtime clean water advocate Chris Jones will present on the unique water quality issues facing Iowans today. The event will also feature DNR fisheries biologist Mike Hawkins to discuss lake and river band erosion. After these insightful presentations, the festival will rock the night away with The Nadas and the award-winning trio X Ambassadors. If you're interested in attending or volunteering at the Blue Water Festival, check out their website for more information. |
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 | Iowa Gives Green at Zoo Brew Iowa Gives Green is a day for Iowans to unite in their support for Iowa’s environment. From protecting Iowa’s rivers and lakes, to advocating for clean energy, to organizing Iowans to take climate action, to planting trees across the state, you can find an organization to match your environmental passion. In celebration of Iowa Gives Green, IEC will table at the Blank Park Zoo on August 7th for Zoo Brew! Our staff will be there from 6:00pm to 9:30pm to share information about Iowa Gives Green organizations, raise support for environmental advocacy, and enjoy the park. For those over 21, Zoo Brew provides an opportunity to grab a drink and enjoy this fundraising event featuring live music and local brews. This year's Zoo Brew features artists like Emma Butterworth and Michael Moncada & Whiskey High performing. Tickets to Zoo Brew are $25 and discounted at $10 for Blank Park Zoo members. Learn more about Zoo Brew on the Blank Park Zoo's website and don't forget to support IEC and other environmental nonprofits on August 7th for Iowa Gives Green! | |
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 | Cancer & the Environment Webinar The Iowa Cancer Consortium’s Cancer and the Environment Task Force is hosting a summer webinar series titled “Strategies to Reduce Environmental Cancer Risk". This series highlights actions that can be taken to better understand and reduce environmental and occupational exposures to cancer-causing substances. In the first part of this series, Alicia Vasto, Water Program Director from the Iowa Environmental Council (IEC), discussed the impacts of degraded water quality on human health. She also presented on the advocacy, outreach, and policy changes that are essential to preserving safe, healthy water in Iowa, including IEC's recent publication on health risks of nitrate in drinking water. Did you miss the webinar? Watch a recording on the Iowa Cancer Consortium's YouTube channel. The goal of the Iowa Cancer Consortium’s Cancer and the Environment Task Force is to connect partners with resources, knowledge, and collaboration opportunities that help them succeed in practicing cancer control work through an environmental and occupational health lens, and vice versa. Learn more about the Task Force at canceriowa.org. |
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| |  | | What's new in Iowa's water news: |
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| | |  | | | Iowa Environmental Council
505 Fifth Ave., Suite 850
Des Moines, Iowa 50309-2317
515-244-1194 | iecmail@iaenvironment.org |
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