SOUTHERN IOWA — Interest in water quality protection activities in the Rathbun Lake Watershed drew Sen. Tom Harkin Senior Council Philip Buchan to the area recently for a tour.

He was accompanied by a host of state department heads and area water quality protection advocates which included Natural Resources Conservation Service State Conservationist Rich Sims; Conservation Districts of Iowa Executive Director Deb Ryun; Appanoose County District Conservationist Margaret Cope; Rathbun Regional Water Association Environmental Management Specialist Marty Braster; RRWA CEO John Glenn; and Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Department of Soil Conservation Environmental Specialist and Protect Rathbun Lake Coordinator Velvet Buckingham.

The Rathbun Lake Watershed was of particular interest to Buchan because the Rathbun Land and Water Alliance recently received $800,000 in funding through the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program, which he helped Sen. Harkin develop.

The Alliance was a good fit for AWEP funding as the purpose of the program is to improve water quality and to help producers implement water quality protection practices on their land.

Braster explained that since 2004 the Alliance has worked with nearly 250 landowners in the six county watershed to apply best management practices to protect Rathbun Lake water quality.

“Together with financial support received from Alliance members and partners, the AWEP funding will help share the cost with landowners to apply BMPs on priority land in the three new targeted sub-watersheds,” says Braster.

Like the name states, installing practices on this land is given priority because GIS has identified it as having the most potential to deliver contaminants to Rathbun Lake.

Buchan said that improving water quality in Iowa is a priority for Sen. Harkin, and encouraging improved conservation practices on agricultural land is critical to achieving that goal.

“We’re pleased that the AWEP funding we included in the farm bill is being used so effectively by the Rathbun Land and Water Alliance to keep the water of Rathbun Lake clean,” adds Buchan.

One of the tour stops was to view two completed sediment control basins on the Daryl and Karen Tisue farm in Appanoose County. The structures, built using funds awarded by the Iowa Watershed Improvement Review Board, are located just a few miles west of Rathbun Lake.

Buckingham says the combined total of the two structures reduces sediment delivery to the lake by 1,483 tons per acre each year.

“The two structures also reduce delivery of phosphorous by 3,113 pounds per acre each year,” she says.

“BMPs installed in the Rathbun Lake Watershed since the Alliance began working with landowners five years ago have reduced sediment delivery by nearly 24,000 tons per year and by more than 100,000 pounds of phosphorous per year,” Buckingham adds.

For more information, contact Buckingham at (641) 872-1350, or your local Soil and Water Conservation District.