New Upper Iowa River Watershed Management Authority receives $5.5 million in grant funding
Flooding concerns addressed through conservation
by Lissa Blake
A newly formed group concerned with controlling floodwater received a recent shot in the arm.
The newly-formed Upper Iowa River Watershed Management Authority (UIRWMA) received news it was awarded $5.5 million as part of a National Disaster Resiliency Competition grant, which allocated a total of $96.8 million to eight watershed authorities across the state of Iowa over the next five years.
HISTORY
In response to extreme statewide flooding in 2008, the Iowa Legislature established the Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa to serve as a technical resource for Iowans. In 2010, the Legislature created watershed management authorities, a mechanism for cities, counties, soil and water conservation districts (SWCDs) and other interested parties to cooperatively engage in watershed planning and management.
Entities join together to request federal Housing and Urban Development funds and to oversee usage of those funds to manage water flow within the watershed.
Winneshiek County Supervisor and landowner John Beard helped spearhead the organization of the UIRWMA, which consists of nine partner entities: the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors, the Allamakee Soil and Water Conservation District, the Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors, the Winneshiek Soil and Water Conservation District, the City of Decorah, the Howard County Board of Supervisors, the Howard Soil and Conservation District, the City of Lime Springs and the Upper Iowa River Drainage District, located out of New Albin.
The organization has just started meeting and is working toward organizing a formal board structure to oversee the UIRWMA. Recently, Larry Weber, director of the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research - Hydroscience and Engineering, located at the University of Iowa, which oversees the Iowa Watershed projects, met with the UIRWMA.
At the time of the meeting, the grant had not been awarded, but the group was working on hashing out the details of how the organization will work.
GRANT DETAILS
Following notification that the state/UIRWMA had received the federal funding, Weber explained more about how it will be used. The $5.5 million will go toward construction of conservation practices on private land.
A little more than $4 million will be used for conservation practices. In addition, UIRMA was awarded $200,625 for design; $375,000 to hire a watershed coordinator (to administer the funds over five years); $200,000 to create a plan for the watershed and $750,000 to install sensors for stream flow, water quality, soil moisture and rainfall.
SEAMLESS
Weber, who will help provide support to the UIRWMA, said the creation of the local organization couldn’t have come at a better time. He commended the cooperative efforts of the nine partner entities. “The formation of the WMA for the Upper Iowa has been seamless,” he said.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Weber said in the near future the UIRWMA will set up meetings to explain more about the program to landowners.
“It will be important to get the right information out to people. Sometimes there can be misinformation out there… like people are worried about the government’s ability to condemn their property in the watershed. We want to make sure people know this program is 100-percent voluntary. No farmer or landowner will be asked to do anything they don’t want to do,” said Weber.
Weber explained land improvements/modifications will be approved on a 75/25 basis, with the federal grant paying for 75 percent of projects and the landowners matching 25 percent.
BRINGING IT HOME
John Rodecap, retired Iowa State University Extension coordinator of watershed projects in northeast Iowa, recently helped organize a meeting for both urban and rural landowners within the watershed and plans to coordinate more meetings. He said a key component to watershed management is education. “The whole idea is to break the information down into bite-size pieces and work with the entire watershed, from Leroy, MN to New Albin,” said Rodecap.
He said history has shown that farmers who employ a conservation systems approach experience a rise in profits as well.
“There are 15 sub-watersheds in Winneshiek County. If we can educate a handful of good conservation leaders, this conservation won’t end when the money ends,” said Rodecap. “Our goal is to get people engaged and involved… neighbors talking to neighbors. If people see the benefits, they are not likely to abandon this approach once the money ends.”
For more information about the grant, visit hud.gov.
