Project name: Storm Lake Watershed size: 13,770 acres Year began: 2004 Year Complete: Ongoing SWCD Contact: Buena Vista Phone: (712) 732-3096
Purpose: Improve water quality Soil and Water Conservation District(s): Buena Vista Other partners: Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Farm Service Agency, Environmental Protection Agency, Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, Iowa Lakes RC&D, Trees Forever, City of Storm Lake, Buena Vista University, and others

A combination of farm and urban conservation practices have been installed in the Storm Lake watershed as part of the second Storm Lake Watershed Project through the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

Little-known urban conservation practices including 10 bioretention cells and 14 rain gardens are teaming with traditional rural practices to absorb more rainwater rather than have it wash into the lake.
Practices applied on farmland include 2 wetlands, 680 acres of nutrient management, an acre of riparian buffers and 26 acres of pasture buffers, and an animal waste storage facility.

Those who farm next to the lake know they will be watched closely for their conservation or lack of it. Don Jackson, who built a feedlot runoff control system, says “I feel like I am responsible for having this done right. I want to keep the manure on this land, not in the lake.”

While Jackson has a half-mile between the lake and his feedlot, Rich Langner’s land is right on top of the lake. He’s been using a system of no-till strips on the contour for his corn and soybeans for the past 12 years. “I’ve never had a negative comment from people around the lake. I think this system reduces soil erosion to less than a ton an acre per year,” Langner says.

The second Storm Lake Watershed Project was aimed at reducing sediment and nutrients entering Storm Lake, as well as decreasing turbidity. It included holding urban conservation demonstrations, completing a feasibility study of Little Storm Lake, and educational work.

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.