Iowa agriculture department receives $8M for habitat, water quality projects

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has acquired $8 million to develop habitat and water quality projects within the state. The funding got here from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service and can goal precedence watersheds, together with the North Raccoon, Boone, Middle Cedar and South Skunk rivers. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig mentioned the funding will assist add conservation practices in areas that may have the largest affect on habitat and water quality. “The Department is continuing to work alongside our public and private partners to build upon the progress and construction of wetlands and other proven water quality practices outlined in the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy,” Naig mentioned within the launch. According to the discharge, the Iowa Partners for Natural Infrastructure Project is proposing the addition of 35 wetlands and 200 edge-of-field practices in precedence watersheds within the state. Once put in, these practices will scale back the quantity of nitrogen runoff by an estimated 500,000 kilos per yr and sequester about 2 million kilos of carbon, the discharge acknowledged.