Project name: Tete des Morts Creek Watershed size: 30,433 acres Year began: 2008 Year Complete: Ongoing SWCD Contact: Jackson Phone: (563) 652-2337 Purpose: Improve water quality
Soil and Water Conservation District(s): Jackson, Dubuque Other partners: Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service

The beautiful countryside surrounding Tete Des Morts Creek is deceiving, in a way. Conservationists would expect a landscape in Iowa with more than 80 percent grassland and timber, with very little row crop, to be relatively well protected and not a serious contributor to water pollution.

However, the stream that flows for 16 miles through Dubuque and Jackson Counties before emptying into the Mississippi River is on Iowa’s 303(d) list of impaired waters. Several fish kills have contributed to the placing of the stream on the list.

The very steep, hilly terrain in the watershed accounts for most of the land being classified as highly erodible. While average soil losses are relatively low because grass and timber protects large acreages, soil losses can be high in rills and gullies that form in the steep terrain. The steep terrain also means unprotected soil, manure, and farm fertilizers can very quickly be washed into Tete Des Morts Creek.

The Jackson and Dubuque Soil and Water Conservation Districts, with technical and financial assistance from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, are assisting landowners as part of the Tete Des Morts Creek Watershed Project. Water quality improvement measures include building manure containment structures, excluding livestock from streams, stabilizing streambanks, establishing riparian buffers along streams, and installing grassed waterways, grade stabilization structures, and other practices.

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.