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Welcome back, mussels! |
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Significant improvements to the land draining into Mineral Creek are giving mussels a chance to once again thrive. Reduced sediment, less application of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers and manure, and stream corridor management are key improvements. Local landowners contributed more than $227,000 conserving their land and reducing the non-point pollutants entering Mineral Creek as part of the Mineral Creek Watershed Project in Jones and Jackson Counties. Working through the Jones and Jackson County Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) Division of Soil Conservation put $643,000 into cost-share and technical assistance for the project. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources added $403,000 in 319 water quality funds. There’s little manure hauled now, and more people are using grid mapping and then applying fertilizer based on what the mapping shows. Buffer strips, terraces, water and sediment control basins, grazing systems, and grassed waterways have been installed within the watershed. Planned grazing systems, fencing along streams, timber stand improvement, and streambank stabilization are other practices landowners are using with assistance from the project. Improved water quality and a restored section of stream including a new pool and riffle have been crucial to sustaining re-stocked native mussels in the creek. |
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One in a series of summaries of watershed projects in Iowa carried out by local conservation districts, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Division of Soil Conservation, and other partners. |
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