Spotlight Stories

Recently, the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy (NRS) turned five years old. Sean McMahon, Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance Executive Director, reflects on the progress made to date and the work still required to improve water quality. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Iowa’s farmers have made tremendous progress reducing soil erosion by adopting practices such as no-till or strip-till, grass waterways,…

Kevin Sprung had mixed feelings about the two saturated buffers installed last summer on his farm near Osage, Iowa. “At first, I resisted the idea. I spent a lot of time and money on tile and on improving the tile,” he says.  His initial reaction was, “I don’t want to put a shutoff at the…

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Slider_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] John Swanson has a lifelong fondness for Fourmile Creek. “I grew up playing in Fourmile Creek as a kid,” he says. Swanson is the watershed management authority coordinator for Fourmile Creek, along with two other watersheds in the Des Moines area. Following is an overview of improvements planned and underway in each of…

Urban and rural stakeholders continue to work together to determine the right combination of practices needed to form an integrated system that best meets local watershed and priority resource needs. A rusty mailbox is all that remains on a house lot on a nearly abandoned street in Des Moines. It marks one way the city…

One Water Summit 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana By: Sarah Feehan The Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance (IAWA), in collaboration with the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) and the Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA), led a diverse, 30-member delegation to the One Water Summit 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana, last month. The delegation included both expert and…

Partnerships Are Key to Addressing Water Quality Challenges and Implementing Lasting Solutions By Sarah Feehan “Public-private and urban-rural partnerships are vital to implementing the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy,” says Sean McMahon, executive director of the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance (IAWA). “We are all in this together.” Iowa continues to lead the way in building partnerships…

 Across Iowa, it’s people who are building a new green infrastructure to improve water quality. (2nd in a 2-part series) Across Iowa, it’s people who are building a new green infrastructure to improve water quality. People like landscaper Lucy Hershberger, who took a Master Conservation class and told North Liberty city leader Tracey Mulcahey about…

Across Iowa, it’s people who are building a new green infrastructure to improve water quality. 1st in a 2-part series Across Iowa, it’s people who are building a new green infrastructure to improve water quality. People like landscaper Lucy Hershberger. Hershberger took a Master Conservation class and collaborated with North Liberty city leader Tracey Mulcahey…

Nearly 60 percent of Iowa farmland is owned by someone other than the family farmers who operate it. This means that a majority of Iowa farm land-use decisions are made by the owners, while daily conservation management decisions are made by the operators. The way this happens is as unique as farmland in Iowa. It…

Increased Conservation Practices for Increased Profitability These types of comparative field images are helping farmers improve profitability. Top: Aerial field viewed by the naked eye just shows wet and dry areas. Middle: Aerial field view through precision ag technology. The red areas show profit loss; green areas indicate profitable areas of the field. Bottom: Possible range of profitability.…