| Work Detail |
State and local ag leaders gathered here Thursday to celebrate the beginning of work on a new water quality project in the headwaters of the North Raccoon River. The project is a collaboration of several agencies and landowners that is designed to help manage the level of nitrates and other nutrients that enter the river and other water sources. These in-field and edge-of-field practices are scientifically demonstrated to reduce nutrient loss and improve water quality, Sean McMahon, executive director of the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance, said in a news release. During the event, hosted by Farm Nutrients, attendees learned about cost-sharing opportunities to implement conservation practices such as strip-till/no-till, cover crops, denitrifying bioreactors, saturated buffers and others. Water quality in the Raccoon River watershed gained notoriety in 2015, when the Des Moines Water Works sued drainage districts in Buena Vista, Sac and Calhoun counties, claiming the districts are violating the federal Clean Water Act by not doing enough to reduce the high nitrate levels of water running into the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers and their tributaries, the primary source of water for Des Moines. The case is scheduled to go to trial in June in U.S. District Court in Sioux City. |
