CEDAR FALLS  – The Cedar River Watershed Coalition Steering Committee announced on Monday that the Fall 2018 Cedar River Watershed Coalition meeting will be from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 6, at the Hartman Reserve Nature Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

The event is free and the public is invited to learn about the state of the Cedar River Watershed in the 10 years since the catastrophic Flood of 2008. Breakout tracks and presentations will highlight recent progress and examine where action is still needed to help achieve flood mitigation and water quality goals for the watershed. The meeting is of relevance to anyone with an interest in improved water quality and flood risk reduction.

The meeting will wrap up with a bus tour of the Dry Run Creek Watershed Project to highlight urban conservation practices. The tour will begin promptly at 1:30 p.m. and the bus will return to Hartman Reserve by 3 p.m.

If you would like to attend, please register by Aug. 30 by emailing Marybeth.stevenson@dnr.iowa.gov.

The full meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. with a keynote presentation from Dr. Larry Weber, Executive Associate Dean at the University of Iowa, with reflections on efforts over the past 10 years to reduce flood risk in the Cedar River Watershed. Additional breakout sessions and topics include:

• Monitoring Water Quality Trends

• Grassroots engagements of citizens and landowners

• Flood mitigation and improving watershed resiliency

• Aligning watershed planning goals and objectives

The Cedar River Watershed Coalition was formed in February 2010 in response to the Flood of 2008. The Coalition involves the collaboration and cooperation of watershed stakeholders to reduce future flood risk and improve water quality.

Sponsors for this meeting include Iowa Corn Growers Association, Hartman Reserve Nature Center, Matthias Landscaping and the Dry Run Creek Watershed Project.