The state of Iowa is expanding a water quality program to try to clean up a northwest Iowa river.
The Deep Creek Water Quality Initiative Project started in 2014 with a focus on adding cover crops along the Floyd River and tributaries in Plymouth, Sioux, O’Brien and Cherokee counties.
Plymouth County District Conservationist Ben Brady says the Floyd watershed is one of the more impaired in the state.
"So we're targeting select sub-watersheds of the Floyd,” he said.
Iowa’s secretary of agriculture recently announced a new grant for a larger area. More than $660,000 is available for farmers to add buffers and bioreactors to help filter water from fields. Terraces will also be used to try to improve water quality.
Brady helps oversee the project.
“Water quality is a long-term goal. It's going to take years to get there; it's not something you can fix overnight," he said.
Brady said there’s even more federal funding available for farmers to take part in the program.
“I think every watershed is different, and what's needed in that watershed might vary, but you know that at some point, they're all going to need improvement," he said. "If you look at the hypoxic zone and stuff like that, I mean, a majority of that, they're saying, is coming from Iowa."
Brady said a high number of livestock confinements in the region contributed to the Floyd River’s high pollution rates, but noted the water quality initiative is working. He encourages farmers who live in the program’s district to contact their local NRCS office to sign up.
“We still have a way to go. This project will be here until we get to that point,” he said.
