Project AWARE is a week long clean-up event in its 8th season this year.  Volunteers can participate in as many days as they'd like from one day to the entire week.  Meals are GREAT!  Canoes are provided on a first come serve basis, and wonderful educational opportunities are presented in the evenings from experts in their fields.  If you've never participated, check out the Web site below, but please note that the deadline is fast approaching.

A letter from the leaders of Project AWARE:

 This is just a friendly reminder that the 8^th Annual Project AWARE is less than 2 months away!!! If you haven't done so already, we encourage you to register today. Some important things to consider include...

• Registration and Refund Deadline: June 25, 2010. Registration forms will be accepted after this date, but participants will be charged a $10 per person late registration fee.
• Registration may be limited, and thus will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
• A limited number of canoes will be available for those who need them, and will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.

We also want to encourage you to check out the Project AWARE website - www.iowaprojectaware.com- for the following information:

• Registration Form
• General Agenda
• Educational Program Schedule
• E-Ride Sign-Up - This Ride Board is intended to assist Project AWARE participants working together to find needed transportation to and from the event.
• Menu
• And coming soon...detailed daily agenda and detailed daily maps!

After heavy spring rains, John Holzmueller and Ned McPartland went looking for some small streams they could paddle at high water.  The North River gauge at Norwalk was reading over 2400 so we decided to check some small tributaries that fed into the North River.  However, the tributaries were too low so they checked the North River itself.  The river had enough water to paddle, but was not as high as 2400 cfs. would suggest.  Later they learned that the gauge seemed to be stuck at 2400 cfs. for several days.  Ned estimated that the real flow was 1200 to 1300 cfs with about 250 to 300 cfs. up stream where they paddled.  At the end of the trip, John's marker indicated that the stream had dropped about an inch during their trip.  

They paddled from Elmwood Ave. to the Ironwood Trail bridge in Madison County which was a distance of about 10 miles.  The river was quite enjoyable with many twisting turns and small, shallow rapids and riffles.  There were exposed gravel bars, lots of pasture lands, woods, and a few small rocky cliffs.  At this water level, the trip was easy and the current did most of the work. 

There were three or four easy portages around fallen trees.  The large log jam three miles downstream from the P57 bridge is still there.    However, John found a much easier portage than the one they had last year.  The previous portage started on a gravel bar on river right, up the bank, through the woods, and down the bank which was a lot of work. 

Over the past year, the river had eroded a path on river left around the largest tree in the jam.  There was just enough space to slide a boat between the root ball of the tree and the bank over about five feet of land (a much easier portage). 

It should be noted that 1200 or 1300 cfs  makes a nice trip if the North River is dropping on the Norwalk gauge.  If the river is rising at that level, it could be much higher upstream causing the current to be much more powerful and dangerous. 

CIP founder, Robin Fortney, set up a CIP table at the Iowa Rivers Revival (IRR) conference.

Attendees included people from the Cedar Falls/Waterloo, Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area, as well as central Iowa.  They're reaching out!