116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Iowa’s state level water-quality funds announced, refunding current projects
DES MOINES - State Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey on Tuesday announced another round of state funding for projects aimed at improving water quality in Iowa.
Eight watershed-based demonstration projects funded in 2013 that were set to end this year will receive a second round of funding totaling $4.09 million over the next three years, Northey said. In addition to the state funds, the eight projects will access about $6 million in matching funds to support water quality improvement efforts as well as other in-kind contributions.
The locally led projects will build upon previous demonstration objectives and continue working towards accelerated implementation of practices that improve water quality, he added.
'Extending to these initial projects will allow us to continue to expand the reach of the Iowa Water Quality Initiative and continue to learn more about the best ways to get water-quality-focused practices on the land,” according to the ag secretary. 'These projects create a great opportunity for farmers to see practices up close and better understand how they might work on their own farm.”
The funds will allow the projects to focus on scaling up implementation of conservation practices identified in the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy and continue to build additional assessment, monitoring and evaluation methods, he noted. Also, $250,000 of the funds have been targeted for implementation of select priority nutrient reduction conservation practices including wetlands, saturated buffers and bioreactors, he added.
'We know that it will take time to accomplish all that is needed for significant improvements within a watershed,” Northey said in a statement. 'These projects are hitting their stride in terms of engaging farmers, getting practices on the ground and coordinating with partners and stakeholders.”
The projects receiving extensions are the Benton/Tama Nutrient Reduction Demonstration Project; Boone River Watershed Nutrient Management Initiative; Central Turkey River Nutrient Reduction Demonstration Project; Demonstration of Targeted Nutrient Reduction Systems for Clayton County; Miller Creek Water Quality Improvement Project; Van Zante Creek Water Quality Improvement Project; West Branch of the Floyd River Water Quality Initiative; and West Fork Crooked Creek Water Quality and Soil Health Initiative.
The Iowa Water Quality Initiative was established in 2013 to help implement the Nutrient Reduction Strategy, which is a science and technology based approach to achieving a 45 percent reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus losses to Iowa waterways, according to the state agriculture agency. The strategy brings together both point sources, such as municipal wastewater treatment plants and industrial facilities, and nonpoint sources, including farm fields and urban storm-water runoff, to address these issues.
(File Photo) A saturated buffer of native prairie grasses borders a creek at the Weber farm north of Dysart on Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2016. Governor Branstad heard from farmers and members of several area watershed conservation initiatives, as well as representatives from the city of Cedar Rapids, about conservation practices in the large watershed area that encompasses Waterloo and Cedar Rapids, known as the Middle Cedar watershed. Branstad praised the Middle Cedar Partnership Project, which is a collaboration between the city of Cedar Rapids, upstream conservation groups and local farmers who are working together to both reduce nitrate levels in the Cedar River and improve soil health within the Middle Cedar watershed. He said there is a need to incentivize the adoption of conservation practices such as cover crops and saturated buffers, but he hopes that the positive outcomes seen in Benton, Tama and Black Hawk counties will also encourage farmers to take action on their own. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
(File Photo) Shannon Mitchell, Project Coordinator at the Benton/Tama Benton/Tama Nutrient Reduction Demonstration Project speaks to a small group of farmers and government employees at the Weber Farm north of Dysart on Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2016. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Daily Newsletters