Survey finds Iowans regularly use waterways for recreation

When Iowans go fishing or boating on one of the state's many rivers, it's likely to be the one closest to their home.

"Proximity to home is reported as the most important factor when people select a river for recreation,” said Joseph Herriges, an economics professor at Iowa State University and the lead author of a recent river-uses study conducted for the Department of Natural Resources.

Other highly rated factors, he said, include water quality and availability of good fish and wildlife habitat.

The study, paid for by the DNR and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, examined Iowans' river usage patterns and identified river and stream characteristics of most direct interest to them. It also indicated which Iowa river segments receive the heaviest use by Iowa recreationists.

“The first phase of the study shows Iowans place a high value on their rivers and streams and use them extensively,” said Steve Hopkins of the DNR's Watershed Improvement Section.

With more refinement in a second study phase to be completed this summer, the data also will help the DNR target conservation resources to specific rivers and prioritize streams for protection and restoration, said Hopkins, the DNR's liaison to the researchers.

The DNR also expects the study findings to help document the economic and health benefits of river recreation and aid implementation of total maximum daily load regulations for improving the quality of streams on the impaired waters list.

Similar earlier studies conducted on Iowa lakes provided data that helped persuade the Legislature to fund the DNR's successful lake rehabilitation program, Hopkins said.

---- Herriges and his ISU colleagues - Catherine Kling and Yongjie Ji - collected and analyzed questionnaires from more than 4,100 randomly selected Iowans. They found that about 48 percent of the respondents made at least one trip to one of the 73 river segments identified in the study.

Among all the respondents, including those who had not visited a river at all in 2009, the average number of annual river visits was six.

Among the 1,976 respondents who had visited a river in 2009, the average number of visits was 13.

The researchers found that the most popular river stretches were not necessarily the wildest and most pristine; they were the ones nearest heavily populated areas.

The most heavily used stretch - named by 7.23 percent of respondents - was the Des Moines River segment flowing through the state's largest city. One of the most scenic but remote stretches, the Upper Iowa River above Decorah, ranked 16th in usage and was named by just 2.51 percent of respondents.

The stretch of the Cedar River from Waterloo to Cedar Rapids ranked as the seventh most popular, named by 3.92 percent of the respondents.

The Iowa River from Marshalltown to the Coralville dam ranked ninth, named by 3.87 percent of respondents, and the lower Iowa River ranked 11th, named by 3.63 percent of respondents.

Four stretches of the Mississippi River along Iowa's eastern border ranked among the top six Iowa river segments in user popularity, according to the survey.

Respondents also liked the lower Wapsipinicon, ranked 12th, and the Maquoketa, 13th.

Respondents said 52 percent of their river trips involve relaxation. Other popular activities included fishing (44 percent), wildlife watching (40 percent), boating (21 percent), swimming (21 percent), camping (18 percent) and canoeing (12 percent).