With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson….
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (9.3MB)
Subscribe: RSS
The Missouri River Recovery Program is launching a new interactive online tool designed to provide insight to the river’s natural environment and efforts being made to preserve it. Steve Fischer, the program’s senior manager, says the tool is called the Missouri River Basin Explorer. It lets computer users explore the waterway’s different regions, from the Rocky Mountain foothills, along Iowa’s western border to the lowlands of Missouri. “You can take a look at each one of those different regions on the river,” Fischer says. “You can click on different tabs on the website and it’ll show links based on whatever topic you might have selected. It’s helping to show folks how things are interacting together.”
He says the tool was developed with plenty of input from stakeholders all along the Missouri River Basin. Fischer says the tool can help the public to better understand what takes place on the river. “As we engage with the stakeholders in a variety of different venues up and down the river, for example our Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee, our 70-member stakeholder group that we work with,” he says. “It’s a tool for them to go back and share with their constituents as well as for us to share with other basin stakeholders.”
The river serves many interests, including: agriculture, commerce, energy, natural resources, navigation, recreation and water supply. Overuse of the river, the group claims, has led to problems with the ecosystem — 51 of 67 native fish species now rare, uncommon or decreasing; reproduction has largely ceased for cottonwoods, historically the dominant floodplain tree; and aquatic insects, a key link in the food chain, have been reduced by 70-percent. The group says three-million acres of natural river habitat have been altered. Learn more at the website: www.MoRiverRecovery.org
(Radio Iowa)
8-Man
Class 3-A
Class 3-A First Round
Class 2-A First Round
Class 1-A First Round
While the weather outside isn’t exactly frightful yet, some Iowans may need a reminder that wind chills will plummet and snow will fly one day very soon. Today (Thursday) is Winter Weather Awareness Day, according to Jeff Johnson, the warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Johnson says, “Winter Weather Day is a day to think about the hazards we face here in the state from winter weather, particularly, we’ll look at the winter storms, blizzards, extreme cold episodes and ice storms and for each of those, how to deal with each threat.”
The National Weather Service is offering that information on its website, weather-dot-gov. “We want people to know how to get a watch, warning or advisory,” Johnson says. “Safety things everyone should do, like making sure your winter weather emergency kit is ready in your car. Exactly what to put in that is on our website.” Some items should include: blankets, a flashlight, extra batteries, a radio, a shovel and non-perishable food. After this year’s prolonged drought, everyone’s wondering about the winter ahead. Johnson says predictions are still inconclusive.
“Last year, we had a fairly tranquil winter that was punctuated by an extremely warm March, holy cow, with temperatures in the 80s, it was a record month,” Johnson says. “Prior to that, we had a few snow episodes and some ice but nothing significant.” As for naming this season’s winter storms like what’s done with hurricanes, Johnson says that’s a gimmick being offered by the Weather Channel, not the National Weather Service.
(Radio Iowa)
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
RSS