Local governments could form agency to manage Indian Creek

Local governments are launching a cooperative effort to manage sometimes-troublesome Indian Creek.

"Keeping those players connected is going to yield benefits, even if that's all we accomplish," said Jennifer Fencl, environmental services director for the East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG). "It's the long view, and it's hard because people just want to go and do things, but with limited resources you do what you can."

Fencl is coordinating the effort to create an Indian Creek watershed management authority and would manage the agency if it's approved by two or more of the local governments in the watershed.

That seems likely: The Robins City Council has already voted its approval for the intergovernmental agreement, and Linn County supervisors were generally supportive during a brief discussion at this morning's work session. They'll vote on the proposal at Wednesday's formal meeting.

"I'm aiming for 100 percent (participation)," Fencil said.

Fencl plans to meet tonight with the Hiawatha City Council, and expects the councils in Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Alburnett to address the proposal soon. The county's soil and water conservation district board will also vote.

Each local jurisdiction approving the plan will assign a representative to the new agency's board.

After early meetings to adopt bylaws, "we'd then have a really good tool to start assessing, prioritizing things we'd want to do," Fencl said.

Among the early business: an application to Iowa Economic Development Authority for a grant to do a detailed watershed assessment and initial planning to address its problems. That process will take about 18 months if the grant, which may be up to $187,000, is approved.

Fencl said the intergovernmental proposal is separate from a pilot project by the state Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Nature Conservancy to gather public input regarding Indian Creek.

"It's going to give us valuable stakeholder input we hopefully won't have to replicate," said Fencl.

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