Iowa commits $10 million to watershed projects

Iowa will commit $10 million to watershed management projects and education in an effort to minimize erosion, manage runoff and mitigate future flood damage, officials announced this morning on the University of Iowa campus.

The $10 million will come from the $84.1 million in Community Development Block Grant money the state received in August from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, part of Disaster Recovery Enhancement Funds awarded to 13 states.

The $10 million will be spent on watershed management pilot projects in several small watersheds around the state, to establish local watershed authority groups and on education efforts about flood mitigation, officials said. It will mean coordinated planning at a more local level, officials said.

The projects will better prepare Iowa for future natural disasters through better floodplain and watershed management, Gen. Ron Dardis, Rebuild Iowa Office executive director, said.

Of the $10 million, $8.8 million will be used for one or more watershed demonstration pilot projects, overseen by the Iowa Flood Center, which is housed at the UI. These projects will be done in small watersheds, 10,000 acres to 40,000 acres in size, of which there are about 1,700 in Iowa, officials said.

Watersheds will be invited to apply, and likely two or three will be chosen to implement tactics and enhancements to maximize soil water holding capacity from precipitation, minimize severe soil erosion and sand deposition during floods, manage water runoff in uplands and reduce and mitigate structural and nonstructural flood damage. Those initiatives will be monitored for benefits, Larry Weber, UI's IIHR director, said.

Another $800,000 will be used to establish two to three Watershed Management Authorities on a pilot basis. The authorities will be created by an agreement between two or more local governments that share a common watershed, and will be tasked with assessing flood risks and water quality, and options to improve them. For example, the UI and Iowa City could take the lead on establishing a Watershed Authority for the Iowa River Watershed, officials said. These  pilot projects are aimed at larger watersheds – 500,000 acres to 2 million acres in size.

“Watershed Management Authorities are perfect vehicles for community leadership,” Bill Ehm, water quality director for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said.

Future flooding will happen, but future flood damage is not inevitable, state Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, said.

“This is a critical down-payment on the comprehensive watershed management we need in Iowa,” Hogg said. “We need to manage our water better so we can deal with the droughts and the floods of the future. Iowans need to know that … Iowans have to lead that effort.”"

Also, $400,000 will be used for a flood education marketing campaign, to educate the public about floodplains, flood risks and basic floodplain management principles.