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Its all about infiltration in the city
Urban conservationists control runoff with practices that infiltrate rainwater |
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The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s (IDALS) Division of Soil Conservation has funded conservation projects and employed conservationists since its beginning to improve natural resources on farmlands. More recently, IDALS has put more resources into helping cities deal with soil and water problems. “The Department has years of experience working with farmers and believes this is just the beginning of efforts to assist urban areas,” says Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey. “Urban conservationists will help communities install new systems and retrofit existing infrastructure in a way that will move the water off our streets while keeping soil and pollutants out of our waterways. Our goal is to have urban and rural areas working together to protect our soil and improve water quality in the state.” IDALS hired 4 urban conservationists to work with city, county and other officials––as well as private citizens and contractors––to use a combination of urban conservation practices in developing areas. The conservationists have multi-county responsibilities, working with all soil and water conservation districts across the state. They have experience with rain gardens, infiltration trenches, prairie plantings, infiltration parking lots and trails, flood detention dams, wetlands, compost blankets, terraces, and a whole host of other infiltration and conservation practices. For more information, go on the Web to www.iowaagriculture.gov/FieldServices/UrbanConservation.asp |
Jennifer Welch is an urban conservationist with the Polk County Soil and Water Conservation District in a position funded by IDALS. She encourages developers and homeowners to use urban conservation practices such as prairie plantings (above) that beautify the landscape, incorporate wildlife habitat (below) and facilitate infiltration of rain water.
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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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