More than nine tons of abandoned tires, old refrigerators, rusted car parts and a motley assortment of other debris was removed from the East and West Nishnabotna Rivers during the July 10 - 17, 2010 Project AWARE (A Watershed Awareness River Expedition). Five members of the Hygienic Laboratory staff were part of this effort.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources orchestrates the annual event, now in its eighth year. The Hygienic Laboratory is also an event sponsor. Veteran AWARE volunteers from the Hygienic Lab who devoted a part of their summer to the cleanup are limnologists Mike Birmingham, Todd Hubbard, Travis Morarend and Seth Zimmermann, along with chemist Lynn Aldridge.

"Staff (members) from the State Hygienic Lab were once again invaluable in the planning and implementation of this year's Project AWARE," said Lynette Seigley of the Iowa DNR Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Program.

"Responsibilities included getting volunteers and canoes on and off the water, unloading and sorting trash at halfway and takeout locations each day, shuttling volunteers throughout the week, setting up and breaking down camp each day, and making the experience for the volunteers an enjoyable and rewarding one."

Temperatures that soared into the 90s and river banks that at times were thick, tar-like bogs did not deter 223 volunteers from scouring 100 miles of the waterways located in southwestern Iowa. It was the higher-than-normal water levels, though, that hid much of the trash lodged under the water, and limited the total catch to 9.27 tons.

"This number is less than the 40- plus tons that were removed during each of the previous two Project AWAREs," Seigley said. "The reduced volume of trash was due to the high water levels on both rivers. Ideally, river cleanups are most effective when water levels are lower and the trash is visible."

The fruits of this labor are not only visible to those who use these cleaner waterways. They are also on display at the Iowa State Fair as newly created gates in the courtyard area of the Iowa DNR building. The first two of five planned sets of gates were created by artist David Williamson who melted and forged scrap metal pulled from Iowa rivers during past Project AWARE voyages.

Williamson created a third set of gates made from this year's Nishnabotna trash. These were installed prior to the 2011 State Fair.

The Iowa DNR maintains a Project AWARE website with information about the 2010 project and links to sites from past years. Search on the iowadnr.gov website.