IMRivers Urban Water Uses

IM Rivers, powered by Mappler interactive mapping and Mappler Mobile smart phone apps, has allowed organizations to address topics such as:

Pollution Prevention
Storm water Management Planning
Recreation/Trails and Amenities
Invasive Species
Planning and Land Use
Membership Mobilization
River Clean Up (Resources)
Education (Water quality monitoring)

The detailed functions of past projects and pilots are listed below. Some of these functions listed under particular topics could creatively be applied in various combinations to whatever topical work you are trying to do. What can you imagine from the list below?

General

• School, community, and organization groups can be involved in collecting information and fostering relationships with watersheds
• Public health and awareness
• Identify water quality concerns and water-dependent natural resources, such as:
  • Habitats
  • Human impact
  • Water quality
  • Wetlands
  • Erosion
  • Fish kills
  • Fishing violation
  • Pollution violations
  • Bacteria monitoring
  • Location of Volunteer sites/resources
  • Geologic site
  • Water flow
  • River source
  • Tributary confluence
  • Protected lands
  • Dams

Pollution Prevention

• Provide a platform to promote community involvement, activism for site cleanup, pollution monitoring, development and implementation of sustainable policies and practices
• Pin-point how, where, and high levels of pollution are coming from and test sites with a graph displaying water-treatment testing variables
  • Nutrient testing
  • Turbidity
  • Dissolved oxygen
  • pH
  • temperature

River Cleanup (Resources)

• Publically monitor existing pollution and waste disposal
• Identify areas with high trash and waste accumulation to concentrate on cleanup and assess root causes of pollution
• Protect, restore and enhance natural wildlife habitats

Recreation/Trails and Amenities

Recreation/Trails

• Map trail route, assets and key locations
• Identify and connect cultural, historic and recreation locations
• Promote sustainable environment and healthy lifestyles
• Tourism
  • Canoe Put-ins/Take outs
  • Food and lodging
  • Wildlife refuge
  • Parks
  • Heritage site
  • Campsites
  • Trail
  • Scenic views
  • Observation point
  • Fishing area
  • Waterfalls
  • Beaver activity

Invasive Species

• Pin-point location and spread of known locations of invasive plants and animals
• Locate known removal activities of invasive species

Planning and Land Use

• Plan for infrastructure and water protection
• Overlay protection zones, conservation zones and planned community zones to identify threatened areas
• Smart –Growth
• Protection/preservation of historic sites
• Land Trusts

Stormwater management

• Flood plains and latest flooding impacts
• Impervious surfaces
• Shoreline conditions
• Identify Storm waterfalls and pipes for more effective clean up

Water Alliance/Membership Mobilization

• Display guardian groups that protect streams and rivers
• Identify common resources and lands that impact waterways

Education

• Interactive education for conservation efforts for clean air, healthy forests, clean water, sustainable communities
• Source to sea identification
• Adopt-A-Stream