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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Linn County Conservation preparing for several wetland projects in 2026
Wetland restoration efforts will begin at Morgan Creek Park, Wickiup Natural Area
Dec. 19, 2025 5:30 am
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TODDVILLE — In a fast-paced world, Iowa’s wetlands are a place to slow down.
Pause where water pools, and you’ll find one of the most unique, productive ecosystems on earth: From the heavy layers of saturated soil all the way up to the tallest tree, wetlands are absolutely teeming with life.
It’s a particularly distinctive landscape, said Linn County Conservation Deputy Director Daniel Gibbons, but one that is becoming harder to find in Iowa.
Wetlands serve “an important natural function, but it’s one we’ve started to lose,” Gibbons said. “We still have some wetlands in Iowa, but we’ve lost most of them due to either (agriculture) or urbanization.”
Wetlands act sort of like a natural sponge, slowing the flow of water and sediment that otherwise would rush into a creek or other water source. That deceleration allows time for sediment and debris to settle and for related increases in filtration and water quality.
Despite those benefits, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources estimates that nearly 95 percent of Iowa’s natural wetlands have been drained since the state was first colonized by European settlers in the 19th century.
As part of a broader response to that trend, the Linn County Conservation Board this week approved two new wetland developments on county-owned land to continue its ongoing efforts to restore and protect Iowa’s wetlands.
The department regularly pursues wetland projects using a mix of grant funds and tax dollars collected through the voter-approved Linn County Water and Land Legacy 20-year bond program. Prior projects have included wetland construction, oxbow restoration, rock-check dams and more.
Here’s what’s next.
Wetland developments planned at Morgan Creek, Wickiup Hill
The first development approved this week by the Linn County Conservation Board was a wetland construction project at some recently acquired land north of Wickiup Hill Learning Center in Toddville.
Gibbons said the land is well-suited for a wetland project given its low-lying topography and significant capacity for water storage. The site is also unique in its capacity to create areas of flooded timber.
“It’ll be a little bit of a different ecosystem compared to some others,” Gibbons said of the Wickiup North site. “There should be a lot of diversity in this one little package that we’ll be able to provide for wildlife there.”
Most of the county’s current wetlands exist in prairie-adjacent environments, so the introduction of a more wooded wetland will increase the diversity of the county’s overall environmental catalog.
Board documents state construction should begin next year on the roughly $20,000 development, which is being completed in collaboration with the Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Indian Creek Nature Center nets $25K grant for wetland restoration
County conservation staff are not the only ones working toward wetland restoration in Linn County. Several private landowners have taken on their own wetland projects while still others have been spearheaded by nature advocacy groups and nonprofits like the Indian Creek Nature Center.
Earlier this month, the Cedar Rapids nature center received a $25,000 grant from Athletic Brewing Co.’s Two for the Trails program for a wetland restoration and enhancement project of the Lynch wetland.
Indian Creek Land Stewardship Director Jean Wiedenheft said the funds will be used to support the removal of invasive plants that are encroaching on the wetland, resurfacing of the nearby access trail and installation of a new windmill funded in part by private donations.
“We first constructed this wetland in the ‘90s, and it’s great but it’s also older. And as things get older, they start to wear out and need some help,” Wiedenheft said. “This lets us get in and do that work.”
Also starting next year is construction of a new wetland area near Morgan Creek Park on a 7.7-acre parcel of land donated to Linn County Conservation this spring by the Cedar Rapids Community School District.
With an overall cost of $646,000, the project is larger than many of the county’s other wetland developments. Natural Resources Manager Mitch Ahrendsen said most of the cost can be attributed to additional amenities within the site plan, however, rather than the wetland itself.
The project calls for features such as a wraparound bridge, for example, as well as fishing piers, jetties and an accessible trail.
“We wanted to make sure that it was an area that people could access and enjoy for recreation,” Ahrendsen said. “One of the big components of our programming is education, and it’s a lot easier for someone to learn about stuff when you can walk right up to it.”
Linn County received $177,625 in state funds for the project, $5,000 from the city of Cedar Rapids and another $15,000 donation from Wings2Water, an environmental nonprofit that promotes water quality initiatives within the Mississippi River watershed.
Construction on the project is slated to begin in the spring with completion expected next fall. Once complete, it should reduce erosion, provide flood protection and improve water quality near Morgan Creek Park.
Linn County Conservation also is seeking to restore several oxbows at locations including the Linn Learning Farm north of Palo and at Rehrauer Natural Area southeast of Coggon, the latter of which was approved just this week.
Oxbows are restored wetlands that create a “U” shape that splits off from the flow of a stream or river to store excess water that otherwise might lead to flooding.
Both projects are a collaboration between the county, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Nature Conservancy and should take place next year, Ahrendsen said.
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