DES MOINES –Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey today (Monday) announced that four successful watershed-based demonstration projects funded in 2014, and set to end this year, will receive a 2nd round of funding. The locally-led projects will build upon previous demonstration objectives and continue working towards accelerated implementation of practices that improve water quality. Among the projects receiving extensions, is the Walnut Creek Watershed Project (Montgomery County). More details about each of the projects can be found at https://www.cleanwateriowa.org/farm-1/.

Northey said “Extending these projects will allow us to build on the strong foundation that has been created in these watersheds and continue to learn more about the best ways to get water-quality-focused practices on the land.  These projects create a great opportunity for farmers to see practices up close and better understand how they might work on their own farm.”

The projects will receive a total of $1.88 million in additional funding through the Iowa Water Quality Initiative over the next three years. In addition to the state funds, these four projects will access approximately $4.1 million in matching funds to support water quality improvement efforts as well as other in-kind contributions.

The funds will allow the projects to focus on scaling up implementation of conservation practices identified in the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy and continue to build on existing assessment and evaluation methods.  Also, an additional $200,000 has been allocated for these projects which will be targeted towards implementation of select priority nutrient reduction conservation practices including wetlands, saturated buffers and bioreactors.

These four projects will continue to build upon existing partnerships as well as expand efforts to include new partnerships developed during the first three years.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship also has been successful in securing additional federal resources for several of these projects through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Project (RCPP).  Northey says those funds, when paired with Iowa Water Quality Initiative and partner investments, do more than what any one group or organization can accomplish alone.