116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Project AWARE will collect trash on Iowa River
Last year’s cleanup netted 18 tons of garbage, including car parts and a meat locker
Iowa Project AWARE is like summer camp for adults with canoeing, camping and learning about nature.
And don’t forget picking up garbage.
In its 20th year, the Iowa Project AWARE summer cleanup is July 9 to 14 and covers 65 miles of the middle Iowa River from east of Marshalltown to Belle Plaine.
More than 200 volunteers, ages 5 to 81, will paddle the river, looking for garbage they can dig up and haul out to area landfills and recycling centers. The 2022 cleanup netted 18.6 tons of trash.
“It’s very much like a summer camp,” said Nina Marquardt, project manager for Iowa Project AWARE as a Bur Oak Land Trust AmeriCorps member. “It’s family friendly for all ages. Coming back into camp (after paddling) you’ve got educational programs. Our staff make sure all volunteers are having a good time.”
Brian Soenen and Lynette Seigley, both former Iowa Department of Natural Resources employees, started planning the first river cleanup in 2002 after Soenen was inspired by Chad Pregracke, an Illinois resident who founded Living Lands & Waters to clean up nine states that border the Mississippi, Illinois and Ohio rivers.
Just like RAGBRAI gets cyclists out on Iowa’s scenic byways, a river cleanup lets Iowans see some of the state’s 72,000 miles of rivers, Soenen said. The first Iowa Project AWARE cleanup in 2003 was on the Maquoketa River from Backbone State Park to near where the river empties into the Mississippi.
Past Iowa Project AWARE cleanup routes
2022: West Fork of the Des Moines River
2021: Raccoon River
2019: Boone River
2018: Maquoketa River
2017: Cedar River
2016: Lower Des Moines River
2015: Wapsipinicon River
2014: Big Sioux River
2013: Des Moines & Boone rivers
2012: Iowa River
2011: Little Turkey, Turkey & Volga rivers
2010: West & East Nishnabotna rivers
2009: Cedar & Wapsipinicon rivers, Big Creek & Indian Creek
2008: Winnebago, Shell Rock & Cedar rivers
2007: Middle and North Raccoon rivers
2006: Iowa and English rivers
2005: Little Sioux River
2004: Des Moines River Watershed
2003: Maquoketa River
“When Project AWARE started, we had some guiding principles and one was that we always want to move it around Iowa to a different part of the state every year so at some point in time it will be in your backyard,” Soenen said. “By doing that, you’re introducing people to all types of geologic and archaeological and community histories that are in this diverse fabric of our state.”
Cleanup registration still open
Volunteers may sign up for one day of the cleanup or the whole week, with costs on a sliding scale. In past years, Project AWARE staff capped registration, but this year they decided to keep it open as long as they still have enough canoes and other equipment.
The group will spend the first half of the week camping in Otter Creek Park in Toledo. The second half of the week will be in Franklin Park in Belle Plaine. Meals are catered by Redgie Blanco, chef at La Calle Latin American Cuisine in Cedar Falls.
Iowa Project AWARE also includes educational events in the afternoon and evening. Examples this year include a session on how to make your own charcoal from wood and presentations on water quality.
“On Tuesday, our route is going through Meskwaki Settlement,” Marquardt said. “We’ve been partnering with the tribe to do a couple tours of the Meskwaki Cultural Center & Museum. Jonathan Buffalo will be doing a couple of presentations about the history of the settlement.”
If you go
• What: Iowa Project AWARE Summer Cleanup
• When: July 9 to 14
• Where: 65 miles on the Iowa River from east of Marshalltown to Belle Plaine
• Cost: $65 day plus $10 canoe waiver fee or $350 for entire event
• Registration: www.iowaprojectaware.org/register/
Garbage is recycled if possible
But the cleanup wouldn’t be the cleanup without the trash.
As paddlers move down the river, they look for garbage in the water, on the shore or stuck to the river bed. They gather it up, sometimes putting larger items across the bows of two canoes. Last year, volunteers found car parts and a meat locker full of rotten meat, Marquardt said.
Iowa Project AWARE is partnering with the Tama County Landfill to take recyclables and “true trash,” she said. The City of Ames is providing a unit to collect burnable trash and the Cedar Rapids Linn County Solid Waste Agency will accept the glass found during the cleanup.
“We’re working with a couple of scrap metal haulers,” Marquardt said. “Last year, the guy we worked with used the money from the metal to stock the river with walleye.”
High water and low water can present challenges for the cleanup.
“This year, with lower water levels, that’s a little more of a problem,” Marquardt said. “We might have to move the route a little bit. If we don’t get enough rain before the event, we’ll shift the route a little bit. If we’re not going to be able to go on a river, we’ve got lake options.”
Iowa Project AWARE now is run through a nonprofit called N-Compass, based in Marion.
Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com
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