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Unlikely urban conservation demo
Fairfield is not the biggest city in Iowa, but its urban conservation has attracted attention |
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Local conservation leaders thought the rural-urban dialogue on water quality should be taken up a notch. That’s why Fairfield, a smaller city as cities go, created an urban stormwater management demonstration area. “Normally, you’d think of a larger city for this,” says Jim Gevock, a commissioner for the Jefferson County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD). “But we know we have too much water running off the land in smaller developments in our area, and we need to help it infiltrate. So we created an opportunity to transform an old ditch and wasted farmland on the south side of town into something useful, ” he adds. A non-profit entity of the SWCD called ConServe applied for grant funds to establish a number of urban stormwater practices in a compact, urbanizing area on the south side of Fairfield. Practices being demonstrated are those that reduce runoff and downstream flooding, improve water quality, and promote infiltration. Practices implemented include a parking lot with permeable surface that allows rain to infiltrate, and walking trail with infiltration, 5 wetlands, a pond, 2 infiltration trenches, 2 infiltration cells, a rock chute, 2 rain gardens, and 3 acres of prairie buffers. During construction, silt fences and compost blankets were demonstrated. The area is now used for recreation and education. “I think it’s a success. It’s known across the state by conservationists, and this urban demonstration in a rural area has gotten some attention,” Gevock concludes. |
Dave White of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Wilma Johnston of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and Jim Gevock of the Jefferson County Soil and Water Conservation District (above, left to right) cooperated in the urban stormwater demonstration. One of a number of practices used (below) was permeable paving.
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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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