116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Wings 2 Water awards $25K in water quality grants
Money came from sales of Big Grove specialty beer
Wings 2 Water, a water quality not-for-profit linked to The Eastern Iowa Airport, this week awarded $25,000 in grants to local environmental projects.
The Indian Creek Nature Center, in Cedar Rapids, got $10,000 to install prairie buffer strips in a 38-acre field for organic crops at Etzel Sugar Grove Farm, a 190-acre farm northwest of the Tuma Sports Complex in Marion.
“These buffer strips will border the field and run along the field's contours to mitigate water runoff and control erosion, both critical issues impacting Iowa's water quality,” Indian Creek Executive Director John Myers said in an email Friday. “Regenerative and organic agriculture can help solve some of the critical water issues the country is facing, and Wings2Water's vision is an important one for our entire area.”
Wings 2 Water also awarded the following grants Thursday:
- $7,500 to Linn County Conservation to be used for a wetland at the Bird Preserve, a newly added natural area along Ellis Road NW
- $5,000 to Iowa Rivers Revival to help plan, support, coordinate and execute a series of river cleanup events across Iowa
- $1,500 to Friends of the Lakeside Lab in Okoboji to help with shoreline restoration
- $1,000 to Iowa State Extension in Johnson County for two workshops for women in agriculture. One program is on tile drainage; the other is on water quality.
Money for the grants came from a fundraiser with Big Grove and GreenState Credit Union to sell Greener State of Mind, a specialty beer, last fall at Big Grove locations and area grocery stores, including Hy-Vee and Fareway.
What is Wings 2 Water?
The Eastern Iowa Airport Director Marty Lenss launched Wings 2 Water in 2019 as a nonprofit focused on improving water quality in rivers and streams with the goal of reducing pollutants sent down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.
Airport travelers can read about water quality and donate coins through a special “parking” meter. Lenss said in 2019 he hoped airports in states along the Mississippi would join in the program.
The Cedar Rapids Airport Commission, which owns large swaths of agricultural land in Linn County, also started requiring farmers to implement practices shown to reduce erosion and fertilizer runoff.
New Raygun shirt
Wings 2 Water and Raygun on Thursday debuted four new T-shirt designs with water quality messages, including “Water You Waiting For?” and “Clean Rivers Start With Me.”
Raygun will donate $10 from the sale of each shirt to the nonprofit. T-shirts are available for sale at Raygun’s Wings 2 Water store online.
Iowa BIG Students also created a custom display for Wings 2 Water. It features a large plastic water drop with hand-carved plant and animal figurines inside.
Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com
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