By Posted on Posted in Uncategorized

The Daily Erosion Project (DEP) estimates precipitation, runoff, sheet and rill erosion, and hillslope delivery in near real time, on over 2000 watersheds in the Midwest (Figure 1). It does this by running the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model with a combination of remotely-sensed precipitation weather stations, remotely-sensed crop and residue cover, remotely-sensed topography, and soils databases.

It is an update and expansion to the Iowa Daily Erosion Project (Cruse et al.,… Read more ›

By Posted on Posted in Clean Water, Flood Mitigation, Watershed Management Authority

In September 2016, the Iowa Watersheds Project ended with the completion of over 150 built structures including ponds, terraces, wetlands, water and sediment control basins, and on-road structures. The Iowa Flood Center received $4.5M from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the five-year project aimed at mitigating flood risk in select Iowa watersheds.

The specific goals of the project aimed to:

  •     Maximize soil water holding capacity from precipitation;
  •     Minimize severe soil erosion and sand deposition during floods;
  •     Manage water runoff in uplands under saturated soil moisture conditions;
  •     Reduce and mitigate structural and nonstructural flood damage
Phase I – Hydrologic Assessment

Hydrologic assessments were completed to further understand the hydrology, assess risk, and prepare a plan to minimize future losses in watershed participating in this study.… Read more ›

By Posted on Posted in Farming

Farmers and landowners in the Turkey River Watershed are invited to a farm profitability workshop on Friday, Feb. 24 from 8:00 a.m.-10:00 am at the Fayette County Fairgrounds Dance Pavilion in West Union.

As profit margins get tighter, farm profitability is more important than ever. Attendees will learn about profitability analysis as a way to evaluate and improve farm performance.

At the workshop, Dan Bahe, AgSolver precision business planning specialist, will explain the profitability analysis process and the basic information needed to get started.… Read more ›

By Posted on Posted in Uncategorized

October 20th, 2016

Fayette County Conservation has been awarded a $100,000 grant from Iowa Resource Enhancement and Protection, commonly referred to as REAP.

REAP invests in projects that enhance and protect Iowa’s natural and cultural resources.  15% of REAP is set aside for grants to cities and counties for projects that help establish natural areas, and encourage outdoor recreation and resource management.… Read more ›

By Posted on Posted in Uncategorized

With farming margins tighter than ever, farmers in the Turkey River Watershed can get help identifying areas of their operations dragging their bottom-line.

The Iowa Soybean Association, in conjunction with the Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D), is leading a project in the Turkey River Watershed to offer farmers a confidential profitability analysis at a discounted price of 25 cents/acre.… Read more ›