Meet a Monitor: Keith Hanson
By: Heather Wilson, Save Our Streams Coordinator Keith Hanson has always been drawn to water. Growing up in the land of ten thousand lakes, “water was always around.” As a…
‘Water testing sets record in 2025, with Iowans leading the way’
Reporting from the Cedar Rapids Gazette explains how Iowans participated in a record-breaking year for volunteer water testing in 2025. The Izaak Walton League’s Nitrate Watch program saw more requests…
Small Wins, Big Impact: Saving Reston’s Streams from Salt Overload
By: Abby Hileman, Salt Watch Coordinator With so much heavy news about our local waterways lately, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But this past week, a “small win” in Reston…
‘Iowans drive record nitrate test requests’
Summary statistics from the Nitrate Watch 2025 annual report are shared in reporting from Axios Des Moines. These statistics tell a story of high nitrate concentrations in waterways across Iowa…
Less Salt, Safer Water: Highlights from Winter Salt Week 2026
By: Abby Hileman, Salt Watch Coordinator Winter Salt Week 2026 (January 26-30) just wrapped up, and what a week it was! Originally a local Wisconsin initiative, this movement has evolved…
‘In Iowa, many rivers and lakes improve briefly, then fall back into impairment’
The article from Investigate Midwest reports that while some Iowa rivers and lakes occasionally show short-term improvements in water quality, most remain persistently listed as “impaired” due to pollution from…
Major Sewage Spill in the Potomac River
By: Maggie Dombroski, Mid-Atlantic Save Our Streams Coordinator A catastrophic sewage spill, described by officials as one of the largest in U.S. history, is currently ongoing into the Potomac River.…
Meet a Monitor: Grace Corbett
Growing up in a rural area surrounded by rivers and creeks, Grace has always been interested in the relationship between communities and waterways. So, when it came time to choose a topic for her senior capstone project, Grace decided to focus on water pollution…
As Impacts of Nitrate Pollution Loom Large, Volunteers Step Up
By: Heather Wilson, Save Our Streams Coordinator Across much of the United States, nitrate is perhaps the most widespread and dangerous contaminant in our waterways. This colorless, odorless, tasteless compound…
Your kit will include a bottle containing 25 nitrate test strips which you can use to test your water source(s) throughout the year. You’ll also receive postcards explaining how to use your nitrate test strips and how to share your Nitrate Watch results on the Clean Water Hub.
Your kit will include four test strips so you can test your waterway throughout the season. You’ll also receive a chart to help you interpret your results and a postcard with instructions for completing a Salt Watch test and reporting your findings.