FlyCID Director Wins Iowa Watershed Impact Award
By Tom Collins
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IAWA) – Marty Lenss, Airport Director for the Eastern Iowa Airport, has won the Individual Impact Award for water quality in Iowa. His efforts include founding a nonprofit for water quality, employing conservation practices on the farmland surrounding the airport, and working to build a network of airports backing the cause. He will be recognized at the Iowa Water Conference in Ankeny on Sept 9 at 10am.
The Individual Impact Award recognizes one person who is demonstrating leadership and impact in their community and/or state for water quality benefit. This can include individuals in the public or private sector such as conservation agronomists, program staff, researchers, community leaders, environmental biologists, etc.
The recognition comes to Marty Lenss for his airport non-profit, Wings2Water, which focuses on raising awareness and funding for water quality efforts. Wings2Water takes a unique approach to fundraising by introducing the option for airport customers to round up their purchases at any point of sale in the building. These rounded up purchases contribute to various water quality projects across the state.
“(Wings2Water) really was an airport-wide team effort so it really means a lot for the organization to receive the award,” said Lenss. “There’s a lot of people in the background, quite honestly, that helped stand this thing up.”
Looking to the future, Lenss hopes to bring Wings2Water’s mission to airports across the nation. He is quoted in his nomination as saying, “why not do this? Why not me? We all need to work toward better water quality, and this is something I can do to help find solutions.”
About the Iowa Watershed Awards
The Iowa Watershed Awards celebrate individuals and organizations making significant contributions to water quality and conservation in the state. The Impact Award recognizes measurable results, collaboration, and innovation that improve Iowa’s watersheds. You can read about past winners here.