Water Quality Monitoring Program: The Rathbun Land and Water Alliance in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa State University, and US Army Corps of Engineers conducts water quality monitoring for pesticides, nutrients, bacteria, and sediment in Rathbun Lake and the lake's tributaries. The monitoring program provides the Alliance and its partners an understanding of water quality conditions in Rathbun Lake and watershed to support decision-making regarding the protection and management of the lake for its multiple uses which include drinking water supply, recreation, fish and wildlife habitat, flood damage reduction, downstream water quality improvement, and storage for supplementing navigational flows. The monitoring program consists of monthly and event sample collection and analysis from 15 tributary sites in the watershed, four sites in the lake, and one site at the lake outlet in the Chariton River. Monitoring results indicate that continued high sediment, nutrient, and pesticide loading in Rathbun Lake and its tributaries poses a serious threat to the water supply, recreational, and habitat uses of these water bodies. Additional information about the water quality monitoring activities at Rathbun Lake is available through the links listed to the left.