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6001 Norfolk Creek Subwatershed
This project would target Norfolk Creek Subwatershed for land treatment practices. The Norfolk Creek Subwatershed is 14,035 acres located southwest of Waukon. The landscape is characterized by rugged karst topography and is marked with hundreds of sinkholes, providing direct drainage into the water table, affecting wells, springs, and community water sources. The surface groundwater runoff from this karst landscape eventually flows into the Yellow River. The potential point and non-point pollution sources are complicated and expensive to resolve. Extensive water quality monitoring has been completed on Norfolk Creek and has tested high in many parameters. We hope that with the upland treatment included in this grant request, terraces, grade stabilization structures, sediment control basins, and livestock manure management systems, these will improve. Continued water quality sampling will monitor this. This application has been reviewed and approved by the Allamakee County Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioners.
6003 Upper Catfish Creek Watershed
Upper Catfish Creek is located in a 9,300-acre watershed that flows through two significant natural resources, Swiss Valley Park and Swiss Valley Nature Preserves, one of the largest nature preserves in the Midwest. According to DNR’s 2002 305(d) report, that portion of the creek within the park and preserve is classified as a Class B(CW) cold water stream of which a portion has naturally reproducing trout (one of only 30 in the state of Iowa with this capability). Urban sprawl is a real threat to the Upper Catfish Creek Watershed. Currently, 10% of the watershed is residential, but 27% is zoned residential or commercial. The watershed is near Dubuque city limits but the jurisdiction is in the county. Differing criteria for land development between city and county jurisdictions further entices developers to build in outlying areas. County leaders agree there is more that needs to be done and will work with municipalities on uniformity of regulations and follow-up measures.
We propose to set up key urban conservation practice models that will address storm water runoff and water quality which can be learned about and viewed by city and county officials, engineers, developers, etc. This would be part of a larger initiative including an educational campaign, inter-jurisdictional planning, the development of a land use GIS database, and agricultural conservation practices. The successes coming out of and learned about this watershed will serve as a model to spread county-wide.
6004 Big Sioux River
Controlling and managing manure-contaminated runoff is a responsibility of every livestock producer. The minimum requirement of all confined feeding operations in Iowa, regardless of size, is to settle solids. Two separate watershed assessments conducted in 2003-2004 by the Lyon SWCD of 141 feedlot sites indicated only 29% have solid settling basins in place. Regulating agencies generally recommend a holding pond followed by irrigation land application which require large capital investments, specialized machinery and additional management skill sets. Producers are looking for more cost-effective alternatives for controlling feedlot runoff and regulating agencies need to know these alternatives will protect the environment.
6009 Price Creek Watershed
Price Creek is a 13 mile long stream located in SE Benton County and the NE corner of Iowa County. It ends below the village of Amana where it flows into the Iowa River. The Iowa and Benton County Soil & Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) applied (and were tentatively approved) for 319/WPF/WSPF funding to treat livestock and water quality issues in this watershed over the next three years. That project’s funds were allocated for a Project Coordinator, information and education activities, and cost share for Best Management Practices (BMPs) directed toward livestock issues and nutrient issues.
Soil erosion and sedimentation are also problems in this 18,838 acre watershed. It is 64% HEL (highly erodible land) and 58% of it is cropped. With a coordinator working with Price Creek producers, this would be an excellent time to also address the soil loss and sedimentation issues in this watershed. We will offer additional cost share incentives on BMPs targeting soil erosion on the critical areas we’ve identified. We are applying to IWIRB for additional funding to allow us to cost share specific BMPs up to 75% to treat soil loss in these critical areas of the Price Creek Watershed.
6010 Holiday Lake Watershed
Holiday Lake is included in the Walnut Creek watershed, which is listed on the 303(d) list of impaired water bodies. Research indicates that the causes of impairment are sedimentation and habitat alterations. To improve water quality, the goals of this project are to reduce the sediment delivery into Holiday Lake by 50% and assist in educating watershed residents about cost-effective ways to control sediment and nutrient contaminates. The best management practices will be installed to filter the water, reducing sediment and chemical loading into the lake. When all practices are installed, nearly 100% of the lake’s drainage area will be controlled.
6012 Lime Creek NPS Project
Lime Creek is a sub-watershed of the Cedar River above; approximately 25 miles from Cedar Rapids. The lower half of the stream is on the Iowa 2004 Section 303(d) impaired waters list. Monitoring by the Cedar River Watershed Monitoring Coalition documents that Lime Creek delivers above average amounts of nitrate+nitrite-N, ammonia-N and total phosphorus (above the 90th percentile) compared to other Cedar River sub-watersheds. The Cedar Rapids water utility is concerned about increasing delivery of nitrate-nitrate to the Cedar River, which provides drinking water for about 125,000 people in the area. A group of local citizens has formed the Lime Creek watershed council with the goal of reducing pollutant delivery to the creek and promoting sustainable, watershed-wide action by producers, urban and rural residents for improved environmental management. The council has established a performance-based program that rewards cooperators for improvement in research-based test and index scores which directly measure environmental impact of BMPs. The Iowa Corn Association is funding the performance rewards. The Watershed Coalition is contributing in-kind monitoring. Council and performance cooperators participate primarily with commitment of their own resources. WIRB funds will be used to increase program cooperators and for staff support. In addition to improvement of water quality in Lime Creek, the project will establish baseline values for a market-based approach to valuing pollutant reduction by intensive livestock operations in eastern Iowa.
6014 Lower Coldwater-Palmer Creek
Lower Coldwater and Palmer Creeks in Butler and Floyd counties are subwatersheds of the Cedar River, which provides drinking water to Cedar Rapids, IA. The increasing concentration of nitrate+nitrate in the river is of concern to the Cedar Rapids water utility, and IDNR snapshot monitoring shows Coldwater and Palmer to be significant potential sources (above the 90th percentile for subwatersheds monitored). Both creeks are also on the Iowa Section 303(d) list of impaired waters (aquatic life). Citizens of these predominantly agricultural watersheds organized the Coldwater-Palmer Watershed Improvement Association to deal proactively with nonpoint source pollutants from crop and livestock operations through a performance-based environmental management program. The locally-adapted program implemented by the Coldwater-Palmer watershed council rewards participants for environmental accomplishments – soil quality improvement and nutrient source reduction as measured by accepted, scientifically-based tests and models. Most of the locally-appropriate BMPs used to improve performance are undertaken voluntarily at participants’ initiative. WIRB funds will be combined with funding from the Iowa Corn Growers Association and significant in-kind support from the Cedar River Watershed Monitoring Coalition, Iowa State University Extension and other partners. The project will result in sustainable reduction in nutrient loading achieved with voluntary participation of a majority of watershed farm operators.
6015 Big Bear Creek
Big Bear Creek is the upper portion of Bear Creek which drains 26,734 acres and ends at the Highway 136 crossing of Bear Creek. Bear Creek flows into the section of the Maquoketa River, which is on the EPA’s 303(d) List of Impaired Waters. Monitoring by the Iowa DNR indicates that Bear Creek is contributing significant amounts of sediment and nutrients to the Maquoketa River. The primary use of land in the Big Bear Creek Watershed is row crop production. A roadside survey completed by Anamosa Field Office Staff indicated that 123,747 tons/yr. of sediment was being lost due to sheet and rill erosion only. The sediment delivered to Big Bear Creek is 24,447 tons/yr. Based on this data, 34,226 lbs. of Phosphorus is reaching the stream per year. With the added amount of sediment and phosphorus delivery through gully and stream bank erosion, one can clearly see that the water quality in Bear Creek is severely impaired. The Big Bear Watershed Project will work to reduce the sediment and phosphorus delivered to the stream by 30% through the installation of practices that trap sediment and reduce erosion.
6017 Saylor Creek
With the Saylor Creek Watershed Improvement Project, Iowa Heartland RC & D and other area stakeholders have an opportunity to display how “best management practices” (BMPs) can reduce storm water runoff and improve the quality of that runoff in an urban setting. Conservation design is a new approach to storm water management that addresses the negative impacts of storm water runoff and turns them into a positive. The master plan for the Prairie Trail development surrounding the watershed project will incorporate bioretention cells, biowales, buffer strips, rain gardens, as well as native plant landscaping to slow storm water runoff and naturally clean sediment out of the water before it reaches Saylor Creek. In addition to conservation design elements, the project will utilize storm water detention ponds and creek bed restoration to develop a complete storm water “treatment train” system within Prairie Trail. The extensive use of conservation storm water management for Prairie Trail is unique for urban development in Iowa.
6018 Storm Lake Watershed
The purpose of this project is to develop a management plan to address the City of Alta’s storm water runoff. Currently, there is no management plan and the city is growing, so there are increased runoff problems from both residential and industrial sources. A large assortment of pollutants flow from these areas, examples include various forms of sediment, paper, plastic, gravel and metal as well as less visible potentially toxic pollution from lawns, streets, gas stations and other commercial and industrial areas.
The goal for this project is to construct two infiltration/detention basins to protect water quality and reduce the peak volume of the City of Alta’s urban runoff. Each basin is designed with two functions: Control gully erosion and surface erosion with detention, while incorporating water quality through infiltration.
The downstream erosion control provided by detaining runoff will reduce sediment delivery to Powell Creek and protect downstream agricultural land from urban runoff. The infiltration features designed into the basins will capture pollutants commonly associated with urban storm water runoff such as: sediment, sand, gravel hydrocarbons, particulate matter, heavy metals, and nutrients.
6024 Joint Drainage District No. 93 & 100
Construction of an alternative drainage system to enable closure of two agricultural drainage wells which now provide the only drainage outlet for approximately 887 acres of cropland and 13 acres of state and country roads in Joint Drainage District No. 93 & 100. The project will direct the alternative drainage system outside the district to a nearby suitable outlet. This outlet redirection substantially reduces the cost and complexity of the alternative outlet project first envisioned by the IDALS for these two ADWs in a 1999 IDALS-commissioned study. The project will cause Hancock County and the Iowa Department of Transportation to provide cost share toward the road crossings and culverts as is required in Chapter 468, Code of Iowa. Alternative drainage is essential to enable landowners to keep the land in its current use and to use, improve and nurture that land to generate cash flows needed to pay their share of the project. Closure of agricultural drainage wells is a high priority for state and federal regulatory agencies. The United States Environmental Protection Agency classifies agricultural drainage wells as Class V injection wells—the category with the greatest potential to pollute groundwater. One of the ADWs that will be closed in this project sits in the road ditch of Highway 17. That location has greater than average risk of groundwater pollution by accidental spills along the highway. The water supply of nearby Corwith, Iowa is also vulnerable to pollution from the ADWs.
6025 Rathbun Lake Watershed
The Rathbun Land and Water Alliance and partners have implemented a unique approach to water quality protection through the Rathbun Lake Special Project. This approach is achieving a significant reduction in the sediment and phosphorus that impair water quality in Rathbun Lake and its tributaries as a result of the targeted application of best management practices (BMPs) for priority land in the watershed. This project application proposes to assist landowners to apply BMPs that will reduce sediment and phosphorus delivery from priority land in two targeted sub-watersheds as part of the Rathbun Lake Special Project. Features of this project are: (1) use a geographic information system (GIS) analysis to identify priority land that requires BMPs; (2) assistance for landowners to apply BMPs on more than 2,200 acres that will reduce sediment and phosphorus delivery by 3,300 tons and 13,300 pounds per year respectively; (3) evaluation of the benefits from BMP application using GIS analysis and water quality monitoring; (4) watershed outreach activities that encourage landowners to apply BMPs for priority land to protect water quality.
6027 Leisure Lake Watershed
Leisure Lake is approximately a 67-acre water body located in northwest Jackson County with a 2,681 acre drainage area. The watershed including the lake is a tributary to Lytle Creek which drains into the North Fork of the Maquoketa River. Portions of the Lytle Creek and North Fork Maquoketa River are on the 303(d) impaired water bodies list. The project area includes a community of 370 residential properties and one business that currently has no central wastewater collection and treatment system. The purpose of this project is to construct a wastewater collection and treatment facility to improve water quality in the creek and river. The project will eliminate the non-permitted septic systems and construct a new wastewater system to properly treat wastewater prior to its discharge into the waterways.
6031 City of Carpenter Sewage Treatment System Project
The Mitchell County Soil and Water Conservation District is applying on behalf of the incorporated community of Carpenter to construct a wastewater collection and treatment system to assist in the environmental cleanup and protection of Deer Creek. IDNR water monitoring of the community tile line has shown consistently elevated levels of fecal coliform bacteria indicating the presence of untreated sewage water. These are obvious health threats to the downstream users and wildlife in Deer Creek and the Cedar River. A new sewer system for the community of Carpenter will eliminate illegal discharges into the creed and be the first step in the overall protection of the stream.
6033 Fox River
With WIRB funding the Fox River Ecosystem Development board will install prioritized practices identified by assessments within the impaired segment of Fox River that currently will not be funded by Iowa section 319 or Watershed Protection Funds. The FRED board is also asking for funding for a 3 year position for continuing assessment, planning, and technical assistance. Through various funding sources local work groups have been able to address some of the critical and high priority areas. But, as further assessments are made, commitment, and need expressed from landowners grow, the FRED board and SWCD districts in both Iowa and Missouri are committed not only to seek funding to continue water quality efforts for more practices but also enhance and protect existing practices and investments that protect our water quality and economic viability in both states.
6034 Lake Colchester/Middle Creek
In-lake management can be a critical need for water quality improvement for impaired recreation lakes. Biomanipulation practices to achieve the proper balance of predatory fish, zooplankton grazing of algae, and native aquatic vegetation can sometimes restore water clarity of turbid, nutrient enriched lakes. Lakewood leaders have a renovation plan for Lake Colchester, involving several common and three innovative practices. Lakewood is prepared to pay for proven practices, but seeks WIRB grant support to test innovations in collaboration with Iowa DNR biologists, and ISU limnologists, serving as advisors and monitors for the entire project.
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