Iowa Invests $5.7 mil in Water Quality

Four projects focused on water quality improvement through increased conservation practices by farmers will receive nearly $3.1 million in state funding, the Iowa Department of Agriculture

Four projects focused on water quality improvement through increased conservation practices by farmers will receive nearly $3.1 million in state funding, the Iowa Department of Agriculture said Monday.

Businesses and agriculture and conservation groups will provide $2.59 million in matching money or in-kind contributions, the state said.

"Broad adoption of a variety of practices is necessary to reach the aggressive goals we all share for water quality," said Bill Northey, Iowa's secretary of agriculture. "These four new projects are focused on helping us learn more about the best ways to get these practices on the land and creating demonstration opportunities so farmers can see how a new practice might work on their farm."

All the projects will focus on expanding the use of conservation practices identified in the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, the state said. The projects include strong outreach components that will "promote increased awareness and adoption of practices and technologies to reduce nutrient loads to surface waters," the state said.

The projects started on Wednesday with 13 partners. They were reviewed by a committee including representatives from state ag department and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. The committee made recommendations that were used to select the projects to be funded.

The state has funded 16 watershed demonstration projects, statewide cost-share funds, and nine urban conservation projects.

Here are summaries about the newly funded projects:

Advancing Nutrient Reduction in the Rock Creek Watershed

Grant award : $275,190

Total project : $387,190

Project leader : Iowa Soybean Association

Partners : Mitchell Soil and Water Conservation District, Mitchell County Conservation Board and Iowa Agricultural Water Alliance

Project details : Working from a watershed plan developed by farmers and stakeholders in the Rock Creek watershed, the effort will deliver installation assistance for edge-of-field practices, specifically bioreactors and saturated buffers. Once complete, the watershed will have the largest concentration of these practices in Iowa. This effort will serve as a pilot site for new and innovative ways to expand implementation of these practices in other areas of the state.

Source: The Des Moines Register

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• Agriculture
• Water Quality
• Conservation
• Financing