2024 - Jesup Stormwater Wetland

Project Partners

• McClure Engineering

• Iowa Department of Natural Resources

• Iowa Finance Authority

Grant award: : $175,000 - WQI  

Total project: $350,000       

Applicant/Partner Contributions: : $175,000

Summary
The Jesup wastewater treatment plant was recently updated including taking one settling basin offline. The decommissioned basin was transformed into a stormwater wetland.  The depressed area is an ideal location for constructing a stormwater wetland to treat a 33-acre drainage area. The wetland manages all the small and large storm events due to the size of the current basin. The project will directly improve the water quality of the adjacent tributary to Spring Creek and ultimately improve water quality for downstream water bodies, including the Cedar River.

Description
This project is the first stormwater wetland project in the city of Jesup.   It is a unique demonstration showing the conversion of a wastewater treatment basin to a stormwater wetland.  The watershed consists of primarily agricultural land use. The project will be used to show area farmers and landowners what is possible and what impact they can have. The stormwater wetland meets the full unified sizing criteria meaning that every storm event between the 1.25 inch and the 100-year storm is treated and slowly released.

Project Status
Completed (Feb. 2026)

Practices
Pre-treatment sediment forebay; 2.5 acre stormwater wetland and 4.5 acres of native seeding.