The Skunk River Navy, a group of volunteers that cleans and monitors the Skunk River, will kick off its fall river cleanup season Saturday.

The Navy, led by “Admiral” James Colbert, associate professor of ecology, evolution and organismal biology, has been involved with Skunk River cleanup for nine years.

The amount of trash removed from the river typically exceeds several tons each year. Along with the daunting task of garbage removal, the Navy performs various field tests to assess the river’s health.

“The Navy isn’t just about picking up trash,” said Colbert, who explained the volunteers perform various chemical and biological tests during the cleanup days.

The Navy volunteers, made up of ISU students and community members, examine water quality and clarity, soil quality, bank conditions and plant and animal health. Colbert said the Skunk River is an “average” Iowa river.

“Iowa has very bad water,” said Colbert, who said two big problems Iowa waters face are high levels of sediment and nutrients, such as nitrate and phosphate. “It’s related to how we use the land.”

Colbert said although agriculture contributes to many of those problems, urban centers are also heavily involved in trash accumulation and poor water quality.

“Trash is just the tip of the iceberg,” Colbert said.

He said trash is often an indication of the low value that humans place on streams, and he hopes people realize that streams are “worth protecting.”

The Navy submits all of its findings on the river’s health to IOWATER, a program started by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources that maintains a database of information about water health at various sites throughout the state.

IOWATER Program Coordinator Brian Soenen has “nothing but praise” for the Skunk River Navy.

“Navy cleanups are a good way to bring people into understanding the river,” Soenen said.

Soenen said people currently don’t think about rivers and their importance as much as during earlier eras. However, he said that volunteers get to see the fruits of their labor and that they know they’ve done something good for the environment when they take trash out of the river.

“We depended on rivers long ago; the youth will need to protect them,” Soenen said.

The Navy’s fall cleanup dates are this Saturday, then Sept. 23, Sept. 30 and Oct. 7. For more information on volunteering, contact Colbert at (515) 294-9330 or [email protected].