DES MOINES - In two weeks, an armada of trash-seeking canoeists will float through southeast Iowa during the fourth annual Project AWARE (A Watershed Awareness River Expedition).

Registrations are still being accepted for this weeklong river cleanup. This year, the event will bring hundreds of volunteers to the Iowa and English rivers. On Saturday, June 17, the expedition will set out from a site near Iowa City, arriving at the Mississippi River on June 24.

Along the way, participants will fish pop cans and plastic sacks from the water, wrench tires and barrels out of muddy embankments and spend their evenings learning about natural resources. Check www.iowaprojectaware.com for registration forms, and evening program list and more.

Volunteers can join the expedition for one day, the entire week or anywhere in between. The program provides canoes, free camping, low-cost meals and evening "infotainment" programs.

In addition, look for trash from this year's project at the Iowa State Fair. Ogden artist David Williamson will help fairgoers turn some of that recovered garbage into a sculpture.

Since its first outing on the Maquoketa River in 2003, Project AWARE has brought volunteers to a different Iowa watershed every June. Making a public stand for water quality, the program lets everyday citizens make a difference - one stretch of river, one piece of trash at a time.

Project AWARE advocates a perspective based on the "watershed," or the region of land draining into a body of water. As Project AWARE volunteers learn, much of the trash, chemicals and other materials used on the land will eventually end up in the water.

This year, in response to public demand, Project AWARE's organizers are offering an additional service. Local groups wishing to put on cleanups can apply for CLEAR (Community Leaders Enhancing Area Rivers) mini-grants worth $1,000. Find more information at www.iowater.net.

Two volunteer programs within the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) - IOWATER and the Keepers of the Land - work with numerous sponsors to organize AWARE.

For more information, contact Brandon Harland at (515) 281-3150 or at brandon.harland@dnr.state.ia.us.