A Day with the Brushy

With Summer in full swing, the Iowa Soybean Association's Environmental Team is out in the field testing water quality around the state. Recently, the Soybean Review followed E-Team staffers, Dan Dreher and Anthony Seeman, around one afternoon as they sampled Brushy Creek in Carroll County.

The creek is a tributary of the Raccoon River, the source of drinking water for over 500,000 Iowans and since 2008 has been monitored as part of a Watershed Improvement Review Board grant. Working with ISA on the project is Agriculture's Clean Water Alliance (ACWA), Des Moines Water Works (DMWW), and the local Natural Resources Conservations Service office. Other aspects of the grant are working with livestock producers to install improved runoff controls and management evaluation of nutrients in row crops.

The day's task was to collect 12 samples from different points along the creek and then drop off the samples at Des Moines Water Works, which handles the testing. Below are some photos of the day's activities, including a trip to a bioreactor.

[caption id="attachment_614" align="aligncenter" width="402" caption="Dreher filling the first of 12 samples taken that day. Once filled, the bottles are stored on ice until they arrive at the water lab. The ice is used to discourage biologic activity."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="396" caption="The first stop of the day. Dreher pulls a sample from Brushy Creek with a bucket."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="The bucket is rinsed three times before a sample is taken to ensure an accurate reading at the lab."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Another site along Brushy Creek. This one utilizes a sedimentation basin to slow water from downcutting."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Using a small claw, Dreher dips a bottle into the fast moving water to collect a sample. Most times, Dreher would have to wade through tall grass and thick pockets of mud to reach the banks."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="266" caption="Large slumping caused by a washout. This area of Brushy Creek was heavily impacted this spring when a a large buildup of snow and ice melted and caused this fallout."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Dreher and Seeman search for the best spot to grab a sample."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="One of the stops of the day included checking up on a bioreactor installation. Here Seeman opens a water control structure to take a sample."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="In the second control tower of the bioreactor Dreher and Seeman attempt to take another sample."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="However, the water level was low in this one. Unable to take a sample with the small claw they had, the two came up with a quick solution."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Dreher quickly closes the lid on the sample to prevent contamination."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="The quick thinking allowed them to reach far enough down to grab a sample. Seeman remarked that the water was "tea" colored, an indication that it is being filtered through the mulch-like filter surrounding the control tower."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="The Environmental team has set up remote electronic rain event sampling stations on the Brushy. Here, Seeman is inspecting one of the stations. Once the creek reaches a specific water depth (typically during storms), the computer inside will begin to test the water. "][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="While downloading the most recent data he discovered the creek, during a storm, had reached up to 16ft deep. Within 12-14 hours the stream had returned to its normal 2ft depth."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Driving around rural Iowa we saw a lot of interesting things and snapped this photo of a flower in bloom."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="A helicopter makes a low pass over a field to treat some crops."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="After the 12 samples had been collected, they were taken to the Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) laboratory. Here are the samples laid out on a table."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Gordon Brand, senior chemist at DMWW, begins working with the samples. He will eventually compile the data into a database that will be used by the Environmental Team to improve the watershed."][/caption]