Water quality projects expand in central Iowa

Water quality practices are scaling up in central Iowa.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is partnering with the city of Ames and the Story Soil and Water Conservation District to implement more conservation strategies in the South Skunk River watershed.

The project builds on the success of a similar project model that added more than 50 water quality practices in the Des Moines and Raccoon River watersheds in 2021.

"This project demonstrates the importance of partnerships and collaboration to achieve our shared water quality goals," Secretary Naig says. "Together, we are implementing new, more efficient ways to implement conservation practices and accelerating our progress toward the goals outlined in the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. We've proven this model in the Des Moines and Raccoon River watersheds and look to expand it to even more priority watersheds across the state."

Phase one of the project is designed to install 25 edge-of-field conservation practices, including bioreactors and saturated buffers.

Once installed, the saturated buffers and bioreactors will reduce nitrogen losses by at least 40% with some sites realizing even greater efficiencies.

Bioreactors and saturated buffers are just two of the science-based practices outlined in the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy to protect water quality and reduce nutrient loss.

"This project is a great example of how municipalities can work together with landowners to improve water quality and increase source water protection," Neil Weiss, assistant director with the cty of Ames water and pollution control department says. "This project would not be possible without the partnerships and support from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Story Soil and Water Conservation District, Polk County, Story County, Heartland Co-op, and many others."

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the city of Ames are streamlining the project management process to make it easier for farmers and landowners to add conservation practices to their fields.

The city of Ames will serve as the local partner to manage contractor(s) to install batches of conservation practices on multiple farms instead of building projects separately for individual landowners as has traditionally happened in the past.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, city of Ames, and Story County will cover the construction costs of the project. The Story Soil and Water Conservation District will provide ongoing technical support and design and installation oversight.

The first phase of the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.