Navigating Drainage + Water Quality |
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Welcome to Rural Waters, ISG's e-newsletter dedicated to supporting rural drainage, lakes, streams, streams, rivers, agriculture, and the environment.
With a balanced approach, ISG designs surface water systems with the latest technology to deliver multi-benefit solutions that mitigate flood damage and maintenance costs while enhancing yields, efficiencies, and water quality.
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| Sustainable Water Resource Management Planning + Implementation
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Sustainable water management is no longer a future goal—it's happening now! ISG is making a difference in flood control, water quality, and environmental sustainability. Dive into our latest blog to discover how we’re turning plans into action with One Watershed, One Plans (1W1P) and Multi-Purpose Drainage Management (MDM) Plans.
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Issues Facing Rural Drainage |
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| Iowa's Funding Solution to Achieving the State's Nutrient Reduction Strategy
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When you hear the word drainage, you probably do not think of conservation, funding, or grants. ISG is working to change that. Proper drainage is essential for current farming operations, and ISG recognizes this need. However, we also understand the importance of clean water and healthy soil for future generations. Multipurpose Drainage Management addresses both needs: providing adequate drainage for agriculture while incorporating water and soil conservation elements into the design. MDM also opens opportunities in Iowa to leverage funding for soil and water conservation, reducing costs for Drainage District improvements.
In 2013, the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy (INRS) was created in collaboration with Iowa State University, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS), and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). It outlines an approach to reduce nutrients, specifically nitrate and phosphorus, entering water sources and lakes via water and eroded soil. Over the INRS's lifetime, funding for water quality and conservation has increased as nutrient reduction's importance is recognized.
This funding can support District improvement projects incorporating MDM practices, such as wetlands and ponds that temporarily store water and release it slowly. This storage addition often allows downsizing of downstream facilities, saving costs for the District. Other eligible conservation practices include terraces and Water and Sediment Control Basins (WASCOBs). Discussions are also underway about making two-stage ditches eligible for water quality funding. In addition to agricultural conservation, ISG has successfully obtained funding for drainage projects from grants and loan programs targeting municipalities.
Cities in Iowa must meet EPA and Iowa DNR regulations for drinking water, stormwater, and wastewater, limiting nutrient discharge into the environment. Publicly funded grants and loan programs help communities update infrastructure and ensure cleaner water in the future. In areas where agricultural drainage contributes to the drinking water source, or where city infrastructure drains to District facilities, ISG has assisted communities and Districts in leveraging these funds to improve drainage and address nutrient
reduction simultaneously.
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Let's Connect: Upcoming Conferences
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| Overcoming Barriers to Solve Flood Concerns: Fostering Collaboration for Positive Environmental Impact
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What is one word that comes to mind when you hear the term 'ag drainage'?" Chuck Brandel posed this and other questions at the Soil and Water Conservation Society conference in July, a gathering of thought leaders presenting cutting-edge ideas in soil health, water quality, and resource management. A key theme from his presentation was collaboration—advocating for partnerships based on trust to improve water quality for everyone.
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ISG's funding specialists excel in securing grants, having obtained over $21.3 million in public and private funding across the Midwest. Our connections with local, state, and federal agencies ensure swift, tailored grant applications that meet criteria and boost acceptance rates. Continuously updated on federal and state funding, our team navigates evolving programs, guiding clients toward optimal opportunities. With a focus on legislative awareness, we maximize funding, leveraging every available dollar for impactful projects.
Check out the list below for upcoming funding opportunities, success stories, and resources on navigating the complexities of grant applications for your drainage and water quality initiatives.
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Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship
Water Quality Initiatives (WQI)
Urban Conservation Projects
- Funds projects that demonstrate strong ties to the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy (INRS) by focusing on the adoption of urban conservation practices that provide nutrient load reductions to water resources in combination with outreach and educational components
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Applicants should demonstrate how the practices have established strong partnerships and leveraged a variety of resources
- Pre-applications due in December each year, full applications due in February (must be invited to apply)
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Maximum grant award of $100,000; applicants must provide 50% matching funds
REAP Grants
Soil and Water Enhancement
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Funds are available to landowners for soil and water conservation and enhancement projects and practices
- Funding directed toward protecting Iowa's surface and ground water resources from point and non-point sources
- Applications are typically due each August
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Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
Land and Water Conservation Fund
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Program provides matching funds (50%) for outdoor recreation area development and property/land acquisition for recreational uses
- Application deadline typically each March
Wildlife Habitat Promotion with Local Entities Program
- Program provides the development of lands for wildlife habitat
- Lands must be open to hunting and trapping
- Applications due each May and November
- 75% cost-share funding to County Conservation Funding
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Iowa State Revolving Fund
Local Water Protection Program
- Low-interest loans are available to landowners for soil and water
conservation implementation - Project must be approved by the local Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD)
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$5,000--$500,000 15-year loans with no more than 3% interest rate for the life
of the loan - Rolling application
Livestock Water Quality Program
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Low-interest loans are available to landowners for prevention, minimization, and/or elimination of non-point source pollution from animal feeding operations
- Limited to animal feeding operations with less than 1,000 total animal
unit capacity (AUC) - Project must be approved by the local SWCD
- 15-year loans with no more than 3% interest rate for the life of the loan
- Rolling application
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Drainage Summit & Crumbling Infrastructure: Why Collaboration is Key
The Water Table Podcast
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During the Soil and Water Conservation Society conference in July, Chuck spoke with Trey Allis from The Water Table podcast about why collaboration is key in developing drainage infrastructure solutions. Click below for the full interview.
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From Ontario to Minnesota: An Inspirational Journey of Rural Drainage + Water
Quality Practices
Guest Writer: Mel Luymes, Executive Director of the Land Improvement Contractors of Ontario
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I had been intrigued by ISG’s work in Minnesota since I met Chuck Brandel at the International Drainage Symposium in 2022. When he invited some of us out-of-towners to join ISG’s Spring Field Tour at the end of May, I didn’t hesitate.
I live in Ontario, Canada and our landscape was forged by massive glaciers that left us highly productive soils with poor drainage, and some truly Great Lakes that give us excess precipitation most years. Our Drainage Act is much like Minnesota’s, providing landowner rights to outlet that are managed by lower tier governments and supported by engineers, with project costs assessed across each sub-watershed.
It was a long drive and at some point within the Driftless Region of Wisconsin, with its gorgeous, contoured fields and intricate network of grassed waterways, I left my Great Lakes watershed and entered the Mississippi’s mighty catchment area. Apart from all those small lakes, it turns out that southern Minnesota doesn’t look all that different from Ontario: same crops, same farm equipment, same topography.
But there is something different about the drainage projects that I saw there, because they left me inspired for the future of rural drainage and water quality back here in Ontario, and around the world, really.
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Our first stop on the bus tour was Martin CD 28, and a 10-acre nutrient treatment wetland that also solved drainage issues for farmers on the hundreds of acres above it. In both Minnesota and Ontario, many of our enclosed county ditches were installed several decades ago and are now under-sized. But instead of simply upsizing a pipe, ISG engineered a win-win solution that provides outlet capacity for farmers while it improves drainage water quality and attenuates flooding. The water is treated through a wetland with a controlled outlet and variable depths for both sediment deposition and for vegetation and wildlife habitat, followed by a two-stage ditch with a low-flow channel and vegetated high flow banks to protect fields from flooding and banks from slumping. Landowners who lost farmland to these features were compensated by their upstream neighbours as project costs were assessed. Because more of our focus is on phosphorus treatment in the freshwaters of the Great Lakes, this is a solution we can bring to Ontario.
Next, we saw the Loren Benz Restoration in Faribault County–an impressive 150-acres of wetland and native prairie habitat undertaken by a private landowner and made possible by Minnesota’s wetland trading program. Then we saw the world’s largest (perhaps) nitrate filter on Faribault CD 62, a three-chamber bioreactor filled with woodchips that support denitrifying bacteria.
Our last stop of the day was a two-stage ditch on CD 64 with grade stabilization and rock riffle structures. It seemed to me so large and over-sized, until I saw photos just one month and 13 inches of rainfall later. As southern Minnesota got record-breaking rainfall in June, it stressed the importance of proper design and construction of stormwater management infrastructure, and the importance of water storage on the landscape.
We out-of-towners even got a tour of the water quality projects around Lake Washington the following day, so I drove back to Ontario just buzzing with ideas. A huge thank-you to Chuck and all the staff at ISG for a warm welcome to Minnesota and a truly inspiring tour of your projects.
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Architecture + Engineering + Environmental + Planning
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