BUCKINGHAM, Iowa – Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig recently joined the City of Cedar Rapids and the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance at “Clean Water in Iowa Starts Here’ tour to kick off the Cedar River Source Water Partnership project.

The $19.3 million conservation project will help improve water quality, protect drinking water, and help manage flood flows in the Cedar River.

“This project is a great example of what we can accomplish when rural and urban partners work together to achieve our shared soil health and water quality goals,” Naig said. “This is one of four regional partnership projects that was recently awarded federal funding from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and that allows us to scale up our ongoing water quality projects exponentially.”

Established in August 2020, the ‘Clean Water in Iowa Starts Here’ campaign highlights 16 conservation projects throughout the harvest season.

“Iowa’s conservation efforts have been successful because we have a science-based strategy guiding our conservation efforts, we’ve prioritized watersheds where we can make the greatest impact, and we have the technical resources and landowner interest to get the practices on the ground.”

The Cedar River Source Water Partnership will link cities in the Cedar River watershed that have vulnerable drinking water supplies to their agricultural neighbors. The project’s overarching goal is to improve water quality and protect source water in the Cedar River watershed.

Other expected project benefits include reduced flood flows to downstream communities, and improved fish and wildlife habitat, according to Clean Water in Iowa Starts Here officials. Financial support will directly assist producers as they implement practices including cover crops, wetlands, bioreactors and saturated buffers.

Moreover, officials said these farmland conservation practices are proven to significantly reduce nitrate runoff from farm fields. In addition to benefiting the Cedar Rapids drinking water supply, these practices will also help the state advance the goals outlined in the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.

Roy Hesemann, utilities director for the City of Cedar Rapids, said Cedar Rapids has been recognized nationally for its work to improve water quality through partnerships with upstream entities.

“The Cedar River Source Water Partnership will scale up our efforts to improve water quality in the Cedar River,” he said.

Sean McMahon, Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance executive director, said, “This a great opportunity to build on several years of work in one of our priority watersheds to improve water quality and expand urban-rural partnerships in the Cedar River Watershed.”

He said the program’s success includes supporting the agricultural retail engagement, communications, and non-operator landowner outreach components of the project.

“The Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance looks forward to supporting these aspects of the project and is especially pleased to help provide funding for a new conservation agronomist position that will be employed by the Iowa Soybean Assoc., and embedded within Linn Co-op,” he said.

The Clean Water in Iowa Starts Here tour also launched the Soil Health Partnership, which is a sustainability program of the National Corn Growers Assoc. and the Iowa Corn Growers Assoc. It collects on-farm agronomic and economic data to evaluate the impacts of conservation practices on the soil, environment and farmer’s bottom line.

The Soil Health Partnership recently released a report, “Conservation’s Impact on the Farm Bottom Line,” which studied how conservation practices affect farm finances at the production level.

Naig said by examining several different growers across a range of geographies and farm sizes, the Soil Health Partnership studied the agronomic and economic impacts of adopting soil health practices, like cover crops and reduced tillage.

“All farmers and landowners should be investing in conservation practices that improve soil health and water quality, and those decisions have to align with the farm’s finances,” he said.

“I am grateful the Soil Health Partnership has done the research and the math to help farmers incorporate the conservation practices that are right for their fields and their bottom lines.”