Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Researchers say Polk County rivers exceed recreational E. coli thresholds about 20%–30% of the time
Summary
Researchers presenting a Central Iowa source water assessment told Polk County officials that monitoring sites in the Des Moines and Raccoon River watersheds exceed EPA recreational E. coli thresholds roughly one-fifth to one-third of the time, identified seasonal pesticide 'spring flush' spikes and flagged nutrient overload and erosion tied to manure application practices; a full technical report and a short executive summary are due in March.
Researchers leading a Central Iowa source-water research assessment reported preliminary findings to Polk County officials, saying monitoring sites in the Des Moines and Raccoon River watersheds exceeded EPA recreational E. coli thresholds about 20%–30% of the time and that the patterns vary by water-body type.
Project manager Jen, who is overseeing the two-year study, told the briefing the team has logged "almost 4,000 hours of research" and has worked with about 70 organizations to gather data; she said the full technical report (about 250 pages) and a 2–4 page executive summary will be released in March. "We don't want this report to be something that just sits on a shelf," she said, stressing outreach and targeted materials for different audiences.
The study's scientist Elliot Anderson (IIHR Hydrology Institute, University of Iowa) explained that the health risk the team is tracking is associated with recreation — activities such as swimming or kayaking in untreated water — and that researchers use E. coli as an…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
