DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey will be attending a groundbreaking ceremony for a water quality wetland that is being built through the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). The wetlands remove 40-90% of the nitrate and 90+% of the herbicide in tile drainage water from upper-lying croplands.
In addition to reducing nitrate loads to surface waters, the wetlands provide wildlife habitat and increased recreational opportunities. Currently, 35 of these wetlands have been constructed or restored and 33 more are currently being designed. These planned and constructed wetlands will protect 85,000 acres of watersheds in Iowa.
Who: Bill Northey, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture
What: CREP Water Quality Wetland Groundbreaking
When: 11:00 a.m., Thursday, July 30, 2009
Where: Floyd County Wetland Site, Northeast of Charles City
Take Hwy 18 east from Charles City to Underwood Ave. Follow Underwood Ave. north to the site.
How: For more information please contact Dustin Vande Hoef with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship at 515-281-3375 or 515-326-1616 (cell).
The event will be held rain or shine and may require walking through tall grass, please dress accordingly.
The effectiveness of these wetlands were recognized by the Gulf of Mexico Program, which is underwritten by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is dedicated to protecting, restoring and maintaining the health and productivity of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and USDA Farm Service Agency in Iowa were nominated by the Iowa Farm Bureau and received a “Gulf Guardian Award” in 2008 for their work to reduce nutrients traveling to the Gulf of Mexico and the effectiveness of these wetlands in removing nitrates. Iowa was the first non-Gulf state to win the award.
Additional groundbreaking ceremonies marking construction of water quality wetlands are also being held this summer in Marshall, Palo Alto, Dickinson, Buena Vista, Kossuth, Webster and Emmet Counties.
