Polk County launches new river cleanup program

Details: Supervisors allocated $250K of the county's federal pandemic relief funds to Iowa Rivers Revival (IRR) for the project.

• The money will be used over the next three years to organize dozens of cleanups along 250 miles of shorelines.
• Much of the work will be done by volunteers, IRR director Luke Hoffman tells Axios.

Of note: The nonprofit has coordinated other river cleanups across the state.

• Plastics and general trash are the most common items pulled out of the water, but volunteers have also discovered large items like cars that require equipment operators, Hoffman says.

Get involved: A "Service Squad" kickoff event is Friday at downtown's Big Grove Brewery, 5pm-7pm.

• Or sign up to volunteer online.