Jake Slobe| December 21, 2016
On Tuesday, State Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey announced an additional round of funding to state funding for projects targeted at improving water quality in Iowa.
The eight watershed-based demonstration projects funded in 2013 that were set to end this year will now receive a second round of funding totaling $4.09 million over the next three years. In addition to the state funds, the eight projects will access about $6 million in matching funds to support water quality improvement efforts as well as other in-kind contributions.
The projects will build upon previous demonstration objectives and continue working towards implementing practices that will improve Iowa water quality.
The additional funding will allow the projects to focus on continuing to implement conservation practices that have been identified within the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. The new funding will also allow the projects to continue to build additional assessment, monitoring, and evaluation methods. $250,000 of the funds will be used for implementation of select priority nutrient reduction conservation practices including saturated buffers, and bioreactors, and wetlands.
The projects receiving funding extensions include:
The Benton/Tama Nutrient Reduction Demonstration Project
Boone River Watershed Nutrient Management Initiative
Central Turkey River Nutrient Reduction Demonstration Project
Demonstration of Targeted Nutrient Reduction Systems for Clayton County
Miller Creek Water Quality Improvement Project
Van Zante Creek Water Quality Improvement Project
West Branch of the Floyd River Water Quality Initiative
West Fork Crooked Creek Water Quality and Soil Health Initiative
The Iowa Water Quality Initiative was established in 2013 to help implement the Nutrient Reduction Strategy, which is a science and technology based approach to achieving a 45 percent reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus to Iowa waterways. The strategy brings together both point sources and non-point sources to address these issues.
