Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced that the state’s Water Quality Initiative will fund 17 urban water quality projects.
“These projects will help show the conservation progress we can make when rural and urban citizens and public and private partners work together,” said Secretary Naig in the news release. “They are a good example of how Iowa’s cities and communities can make a meaningful impact on water quality for their residents and neighbors downstream while providing a blueprint for others to follow.”
According to the news release, the Department is investing over $2 million from the Water Quality Initiative (WQI).
The projects require the evaluation and reporting by a team of independent researchers.
The projects entails:
- $100,000 for Ioway Creek - Brookside Water Quality Project in Ames, which will restore two oxbow wetlands to, reducing nutrients in and along the Ioway Creek stream corridor within Brookside Park. New native vegetation areas and signage will also be planted.
- $78,500 for storm water management at Cedar Falls High School, which entails implementing water quality components to benefit the Cedar Valley community, Dry Run Creek, and the Middle Cedar River watershed.
- $150,000 for Bloomfield Square improvements in Bloomfield to replace the Historical Bloomfield Square sidewalks, which are causing water to settle and flow back towards the buildings, foundations and basements. There are plans to install permeable pavers and add a bioretention cell.
- $35,000 for Bondurant Recreational Sports Complex Soil Restoration in Bondurant, which entails completing a 13-acre soil quality restoration covering five fields dealing with runoff issues.
- $100,000 for the Garden Corridor Edible Arboretum Urban Conservation Demonstration Project in Charles City for the second phase of the Edible Arboretum development, which includes adding a bioretention cell, interior walking paths with grassed pavers, gravel pavers, permeable pavers, rain gardens and native plants.
- $100,000 for the Soil Quality Restoration Pilot Program in Clive to improve soil health on 100 existing residential lots.
- $96,000 for the Greenbelt Storm Water Improvement and Demonstration Project in Decorah for implementing urban storm water conservation practices by infiltrating runoff from existing industrial and new development sites.
- $79,110 for a Student-Led Storm Water Improvement Project at Drake University to identify best management practices for the visible site adjacent to Cline Hall to improve water quality. The project will implement bioretention cells and provide academic and research opportunities for Drake students and faculty.
- $111,000 for water quality improvements in Hartford to install permeable pavers that intercept and treat flows from adjacent rooftops and parking lots in town.
- $60,464 for a water quality project in Hospice of Washington County to construct a new building project on their existing property that incorporates water quality features.
- $59,242 for a Community Center Green Infrastructure Project, Lake View for West Des Moines to renovate the aging Crossroads Park to include storm water management practices including a series of bioretention cells, soil quality restoration practices, and enhancing the stream corridor.
- $250,000 for the Iowa Street Storm Water Wetland in Perry to install two hydraulically-connected constructed wetlands.
- $150,000 for Shadle Park Pond Improvements in Pleasantville to improve Shadle Pond and surrounding recreational areas.
- $250,000 for Polk County Creekview Storm Water Wetland in Ankeny to redirect several hundred acres of storm water drainage from the City of Ankeny into a storm water wetland for water quality improvement before entering Fourmile Creek.
- $100,000 for the Sundown West Marina Storm Water Wetland Project in the Sundown Lake Rural Improvement Zone to construct a storm water wetland at the Sundown Lake West Marina for the purpose of treating runoff prior to discharging into the lake.
- $100,000 for storm water quality improvements in Waukon to include a storm water wetland that will improve the water quality of Indian Springs Pond and Paint Creek.
- $125,000 for Nature Center Water Quality Improvement Projects, Webster County Conservation Board to incorporate a storm water treatment wetland and several biofiltration areas.
