Watershed Outreach Exhibits—During the first quarter of 2011 exhibits March 2011 A newsletter for Rathbun Land and

arter of 2011 exhibits
Contact Kathleen Chester at 641.774.5940
or by email at chester@sirisonline.com
March 2011 A newsletter for Rathbun Land and Water Alliance Board members Volume 6 Issue 2
were displayed at seven different events—two of which
were at the state capital and three were displayed at trade
shows around the state. The remaining two were at
conservation and water quality conferences.

Alliance Matters and Partner News Protect Rathbun Lake Project

The Alliance is completing a proposal to expand the Protect
Contact Marty Braster at 641.647.2416 Rathbun Lake project into four new targeted sub-
or by email at mbraster@rrwa.net watersheds in the Rathbun Lake watershed. The proposal
will be submitted to the Iowa Department of Agriculture
and Land Stewardship’s Division of Soil Conservation
(IDALS DSC) and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). IDALS DSC and DNR are two of the Alliance’s principal
partners in providing technical and financial assistance for Rathbun Lake protection efforts.

The Protect Rathbun Lake Project currently works

with landowners in 35 of the 61 sub-watersheds in
the Rathbun Lake watershed. The Alliance’s
proposal to IDALS DSC and DNR will request
consideration of support to initiate project activities
in the following sub-watersheds: South Fork
Chariton River #6 and Middle West Jackson Creek
in Wayne County and Lower Wolf Creek and
Lower Five Mile Creek in Lucas County.

Alliance member’s staff has determined that there

are close to 3,300 acres of priority land in these four
sub-watersheds. The Alliance proposes to
assist landowners to apply best management
Rick and Joy Jackson will be featured in the next issue of Wallaces Farmer. They were also practices (BMPs) on at least one-half of this priority
interviewed by Bob Quinn on WHO Radio’s The Big Show. A podcast of the Jackson land. Once installed, the BMPs on this land will
interview is available on the radio’s website. Scheduling is underway for the next interview to reduce sediment delivery to Rathbun Lake by an
take place in April when Bob Quinn will travel to the Rathbun Regional Water Association estimated 5,000 tons per year and phosphorus
plant. Alliance board members will be notified when the date is set as the focus of this delivery to the lake by more than 16,000 pounds per
interview will be the Alliance. year. BMPs that will be most commonly
applied by landowners include terrace systems,
Also soon to travel to the Rathbun Lake area will be Ken Root. He water and sediment control basins, grade stabilization structures, debris basins, and the conversion of priority land to non-row crop uses
and his videographer will obtain footage of the work being done in such as grassland.
the Rathbun Lake Watershed, which will be used as part of a feature
to air at a future date on his Agribusiness Report. The Alliance’s proposal will request funds to share the cost with landowners of applying these BMPs. The proposal will also request
continued support for the project’s technical staff and watershed outreach activities. The Alliance’s proposal will be submitted by April
Gathering of Alliance history is ongoing with the most recent 1, 2011. If the proposal is approved, the Alliance will be able to initiate activities in these four new targeted sub-watersheds in early
information being gathered at the Chariton Valley RC&D. Information from the first organized 2012.
meetings was obtained along with a copy of the Articles of Incorporation filed with the Secretary of State.
Reminder: Look for Request for 2011 Alliance Member and Local Partner Support
We will assist the Rathbun Area Solid Waste with the coordination of a series of five tours of the RRWA plant by local schools. The Alliance’s board of directors would once again like to ask its members and local partners to consider making a contribution of $200
each to the organization in 2011. The funds are used to help the Alliance complete the organization’s financial audit and conduct
watershed outreach activities including our annual Protect Rathbun Lake meeting. In 2010, Alliance members and local partners
contributed $2,600 to help support these activities. The board believes these activities are important for the Alliance to continue to be
an effective, volunteer-based, nonprofit organization. Alliance member RRWA matches the contributions of other Alliance members
T h e R a th b u n L ak e S p e ci a l Pr o j ec t i s a p a r t n er sh i p o f t h e fo l l o wi n g i n d i v i d u a ls , a g e n ci es , a n d o r g a n iz a t i o n s : P ar t ic i p a ti n g l a n d o w n er s i n t h e R a t h b u n L a k e
Wat ersh e d; Iowa De par tm e nt of A gric ul t ure a nd Land S tew ar dshi p’ s Divisi on of S oi l Conser va ti on; Iow a De par tm e nt of Na t ura l Resource s; Iow a S ta te and local partners. Invoice requests for calendar year 2011 contributions are being sent by mail to each Alliance member and local
U ni ve rs i t y; Iow a W a t e rs h e d Im pr ove m e nt R e vi ew B oar d; Sout h e rn Iow a D e ve l opm e nt a nd C ons e r va t i on A ut h or i t y; U S Ar m y C or ps of E ngi ne er s ; U S
Environmental Protection Agency; USDA Farm Ser vice Agency; USDA Natural Res ources Conservation Service; A ppanoose, Clarke, Decatur, Lucas , partner organization. Please ask Marty Braster, on RRWA’s staff, any questions regarding the Alliance board’s request for support.
Monroe, and Wayne Soil and Water Conservation Districts; Appanoose, Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Monroe, and Wayne Counties; Iowa Farm Bureau at the state and county levels; and Rathbun Regional Water
Association.
 Velvet’s View Watershed Improvement Review Table 1: SFY2011 summary of BMPs installed and load reductions achieved in the 35 targeted sub-watersheds
Board Report and Best Management
Contact Velvet Buckingham at 641.872.1350 Practices Update
or by email at Velvet.Buckingham@ia.nacdnet.net July 1, 2010 – Feb 28, 2011
Shown below is the progress of the Watershed
Gross Erosion
Improvement Review Board funding. Tables located Units Acres Reduction Sediment Delivery Phosphorus Delivery
on opposite page summarize Practice Installed Benefited Tons/Yr. Reduction Tons/ yr. Reduction Lbs./Yr.
BMPs installed and load
reductions achieved in the 35 Terraces 136,070 ft. 1275 2583 2805 12,930
targeted sub-watersheds. Water & Sediment Basins 78 no. 190 359 469 1741
Summary of financial support for Grade Stabilization
BMP application in targeted Structures 8 no. 360 140 729 1909
sub-watersheds can be found at Sediment Basin 0 no. 0 0 0 0
Livestock Exclusion 0 ac. 0 0 0 0
the bottom of the page.
Pasture & Hayland Seeding 0 ac. 0 0 0 0
Grassed Waterways 7 ac. 77 29 49 274
WIRB #4 BMP Progress—December 31, 2011 CRP buffer / filter strips 0 0 0 0 0
Fence 0
Practice Grant Obligation Obligated-Unspent Expended Available Balance Heavy Use Protection Areas 0
Pipeline 0
Terraces $104,742.00 $64,457.00 $57,354.85 -$17,069.85
Tanks 0
Debris Basins $50,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 $50,000.00 Brush Management 0
Structures $32,412.00 $0.00 $0.00 $32,412.00 Nutrient Management 0
Basins $19,296.00 $0.00 $10,246.57 $9,049.43 TOTALS 1902 ac. 3111 t/y 4052 t/y 16,854 lbs/y
Waterways $2,643.00 $0.00 $0.00 $2,643.00 Table 2: Cumulative summary of BMPs installed and load reductions achieved in the 35 targeted sub-watersheds
Seeding $3,936.00 $0.00 $0.00 $3,936.00 CUMULATIVE (FFY ‘04–
February 28, 2011
Total $213,029.00 $64,457.00 $67,601.42 $80,970.58
Gross Erosion
Units Acres Reduction Sediment Delivery Phosphorus Delivery
WIRB #5 BMP Progress—December 31, 2014 Practice Installed Benefited Tons/Yr. Reduction Tons/ yr. Reduction Lbs./Yr.
Terraces 1,001,844 ft. 9588 13,174 16,782 77,772
Practice Grant Obligation Obligated-Unspent Expended Available Balance
Water & Sediment Basins 258 no. 735 1036 1607 7163
Seeding $6,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 $6,000.00
Grade Stabilization
Waterways $2,950.00 $437.00 $3,714.30 -$1,201.30 Structures 97 no. 3143 1836 5168 19,593
Terraces $129,000.00 $15,715.42 $93,861.69 $19,422.89 Sediment Basin 10 no. 2175 723 5746 19,682
Livestock Exclusion 8 ac. 8 84 32 158
Debris Basins $250,000.00 $136,980.80 $0.00 $113,019.20
Pasture & Hayland Seeding 1044 ac. 1044 4403 1565 8271
Basins $29,250.00 $10,300.62 $26,502.42 -$7,553.04
Grassed Waterways 44.8 ac. 626 497 510 2607
Structures $51,200.00 $14,257.80 $0.00 $36,942.20 CRP buffer / filter strips 92.7 ac. 110 591 192 1079
Total $468,400.00 $177,691.64 $124,078.41 $166,629.95 Fence 13,022 ft.
WIRB #6 BMP Progress—October 31, 2014 Heavy Use Protection Areas 10 no.
Pipeline 3160 ft.
Practice Grant Obligation Obligated-Unspent Expended Available Balance Tanks 7 no.
Debris Basins $180,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 $180,000.00 Brush Management 280 ac.
Total $180,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 $180,000.00 Nutrient Management 159.7 ac.
TOTALS 17,429 ac. 22,344 t/y 31,602 t/y 136,325 lbs/y

Summary of EPA IDNR

NRCS IDALS-DSC IDALS-DSC WATERSHED SECTION
financial support Total Cost NRCS EQIP AWEP WPF/WSPF IFIP INITIATIVE WIRB 319 IJOBS Landowner
for BMP
application in
targeted Cumulative (FY 04-11) $9,000,609 $2,089,683 $153,600 $1,201,036 $52,412 $460,878 $1,455,973 $695,514 $53,345 $2,838,164
sub-watersheds is
shown at right.
SFY 2011 $1,485,579 $124,609 $125,594 $126,172 $10,220 $0 $262,461 $255,705 $53,345 $527,469