Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced a new state-funded conservation cost-share pilot project supporting farmers and landowners in the watersheds upstream from the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids metropolitan areas. The Streamside Buffer Initiative encourages farmers and landowners living in these priority watersheds to add perennial buffers to fields along streams to prevent nutrients from entering these important source water areas. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is initially allocating $3 million from the state’s Water Quality Initiative (WQI) fund to support this pilot project.
Secretary Naig announced the pilot project during the Conservation Districts of Iowa Annual Meeting in Ames.
“I am excited to introduce this new pilot project to accelerate the adoption of streamside buffers in fields and watersheds where they can support downstream water users,” said Secretary Naig. “The Department has invested more than $65.8 million in conservation practices and technical support in the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids basins since 2003, and we’re proud of the work that’s been done and the progress that’s been made to implement the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. We recognize there’s still a tremendous amount of work to do, especially in these watersheds because they provide source water for the state’s largest metropolitan areas. The Streamside Buffer Initiative is yet another example of my commitment to empowering farmers and landowners to adopt the conservation practices that are right for their fields in a way that has meaningful impact on soil health and water quality.”