Despite a rainy start to the day, nearly 60 people gathered for a bus tour of the Otter Creek Watershed in Northeast Iowa on June 8. Participants saw rural and urban conservation practices designed and installed to reduce flooding in the watershed.
The tour began and ended in West Union, Iowa, where downtown infrastructure has been upgraded to enhance stormwater management.… Read more ›
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:
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 ›
“An Iowa State University research team has discovered that strategically adding a little bit of prairie back onto the agricultural landscape can result in many benefits – in water and soil quality, habitat for wildlife and pollinators, as well as opportunities for biomass production. Learn more about this new conservation practice and the excitement it is generating both within and outside Iowa.”… Read more ›
A press release by the DNR regarding the permeable paver parking lot in Monona has garnered a lot of attention. The video in the release on February 10, 2015 has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people. The DNR has also fielded many calls inquiring about the project. The permeable paver parking lot was completed in 2014 by the City of Monona in an effort to reduce the water quantity and improve the water quality of a nearby un-named tributary that eventually feeds into the Turkey River. … Read more ›
This article is summarizing the minimal amount of land and cost required to put vegetative buffers along Iowa’s waterways. Currently, there is no regulation requiring such practices. Fifty foot buffers are required in the state of Minnesota.
http://www.ewg.org/research/iowas-low-hanging-fruit
Related Images:… Read more ›Wayne Fredericks says he isn’t a poster child for conservation.
But the 63-year-old farmer near Osage is willing to test ideas, gather data about the results, and see what works best in the field.
“Farmers have been real hungry for data,” said Fredericks, a farmer participating in the Rock Creek watershed improvement project in north-central Iowa. “They want to know what these practices are going to do and how they will affect yields and the bottom line.… Read more ›
8-28-2014 — The City of Monona unveiled the brand new parking lot at the LeRoy & Colleen Darby Family Aquatic Center to a group of partners and citizens. The new parking lot features a new surface made up of permeable pavers designed to eliminate most of the runoff from the formerly gravel parking lot.
In addition to being more environmentally friendly, the revisions make the parking lot more practical. … Read more ›
Between Sunday May 11th and Monday May 12th, 2014, the Turkey River Watershed received on average 2.43 inches of rainfall. Two Iowa Flood Center rain gauges placed in the watershed recorded the 2.55 and 2.31 inches of rainfall(rain gauge data can be accessed here). Attached is a series of pictures that contrasts how agricultural lands in the Turkey River Watershed received and responded to the rain that fell over that 48 hour period. … Read more ›
| ORRTANNA, Pa., May 1, 2014—Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that applications are now being accepted for new, landmark conservation initiatives created by the 2014 Farm Bill. The programs will provide up to $386 million to help farmers restore wetlands, protect working agriculture lands, support outdoor recreation activities and boost the economy.
Vilsack made the announcement at Kuhn Orchards in Orrtanna, Pennsylvania. |
Wind and rainstorms like those that pummeled most of Iowa last week help carry tons of rich, fertile topsoil from its farmland each year — and potentially cut $1 billion in yield from the state’s 88,000 farms, says an Iowa State University agronomy professor.
Read the rest of the article here:
Related Images:… Read more ›
