Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced today that the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has formed a partnership with Jasper County and the Jasper County Soil and Water Conservation District to launch the first phase of the South Skunk River Edge of Field Project.
The goal of the first phase of this water quality project is to install more than 25 edge-of-field conservation practices, including bioreactors and saturated buffers, in the South Skunk River watershed. These science-based practices, which are outlined in the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, are proven to improve water quality and reduce the loss of nutrients into Iowa’s waterways.
Iowa’s innovative “batch and build” model modernizes the project management process by installing batches of conservation practices on multiple farms at once, therefore allowing a faster acceleration of water quality progress. Prior to utilizing this more efficient and cost-effective model, projects would be designed and built separately for each individual landowner.
“We are thrilled to partner with Jasper County and the Jasper County Soil and Water Conservation District to get the first phase of this important water quality project moving.” said Secretary Naig. “Edge-of-field practices like bioreactors and saturated buffers help to keep nutrients out of our waterways, and this new partnership with Jasper County will accelerate the installation of these proven practices. We invite farmers and landowners to learn more about how they can join this important effort.”