But heat conquered and, keeping my head up, I also got in the water. Fecal matter was observed being discharged directly into the river. Current monitoring Unbelievable as it seems, in Iowa's current surface water monitoring network, only 27 sites are monitored in any one year. Public lakes, reservoirs, ponds, and wetlands are not included in the monitoring network. There is no regular monitoring of the Missouri or Mississippi Rivers.
Little information is gathered in vulnerable areas, such as near ag drainage wells.
Very little is known about the presence of waterborne organisms that cause disease through drinking water or swimming. We have virtually no data on the biological health of our waters, that is, the ability of our waters to fully support aquatic and streamside life. Pesticides are regularly monitored at only seven surface water sites in the entire state. Groundwater monitoring is only slightly better, with 90 wells used to monitor the water in the six regional aquifers that underlie Iowa's 35.8 million acres. This is of particular concern because groundwater is a source of drinking water for more than 70 percent of Iowans.