Deep Creek Water Quality Initiative Project
2014-Present
Project Partners
About
Grant award
$730,600
Total project
$1,491,600
Description
The Deep Creek Water Quality Initiative Project promotes and demonstrates conservation practices that address the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy (NRS). This project includes significant efforts to provide information and education on water quality concerns and the conservation practices which aid in solving these problems. The Deep Creek Water Quality Initiative showcases nutrient reduction practices with a special emphasis upon accelerating the adoption across a broad portion of the agricultural community in Plymouth County. The project engages both public and private agricultural entities to foster voluntary adoption of a variety of conservation practices, for the improvement of agricultural water quality and drinking water quality. Examples of conservation practices approved to be implemented with this project include: terraces, cover crops, no-till, grassed waterways, filter strips, nutrient management, nitrifcation inhibitor, and subsurface P (manure) placement.
Goals
The use of cover crops, the installation of vegetative filters, nutrient sequestration strategies, and the application of other buffer practices have been proven to provide water quality benefits. Demonstrating how these practices can be a viable component of functioning farm operation is key to influencing widespread adoption of the NRS practices and distributing them across the watershed. When possible, efforts will be made to conduct strip trials for comparison between demonstrated and conventional practices. Field days, letters, and articles will provide information and prompt discussion in the watershed, as well as the county as a whole.
Conservation Practices
