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Pasted below is the June 28, 2007 edition of EcoNewsWire, published by
the Environmental Services Division of the Iowa Department of Natural
Resources.
If your e-mail address has changed, or you would like to be added or
removed from the EcoNewsWire distribution list, please contact Jessie
Brown at [log in to unmask] Our news releases are also
available online at www.iowadnr.gov/news/
- - - -
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
June 28, 2007
For immediate release
1. DNR awards $105,000 in grants to groups to reduce storm water
runoff, improve water quality
2. Manure runoff to blame in Louisa County fish kill
3. Citizens asked to share concerns at illegal dumping forums
DNR AWARDS $105,000 IN GRANTS TO GROUPS TO REDUCE STORM WATER RUNOFF,
IMPROVE WATER QUALITY
MEDIA CONTACT: Bill Ehm at (515) 281-4701 or Jessie Brown at (515)
281-5131
DES MOINES - The DNR is helping 15 organizations across the state
improve urban lakes and streams by awarding more than $105,000 in
grants.
The grants, awarded over the past two weeks, will help install
conservation practices that reduce the amount of storm water runoff
reaching streams and lakes. Conservation practices, such as bioswales,
rain gardens and permeable pavement, help slow and filter rain water as
it runs off urban surfaces. As it runs across lawns and pavement, storm
water can pick up pollutants like soil, fertilizers, pet waste and oil.
That storm water washes into storm sewers, which dump the water into a
local stream or lake without any treatment. Most urban conservation
practices help storm water soak directly into the ground rather than
runoff into storm sewers.
“Runoff from urban sources is a large source of pollution in Iowa,”
said Bill Ehm, the DNR’s water policy coordinator. “We’re excited
to work through these grants with local communities, businesses, schools
and groups to improve Iowa’s streams and lakes.”
The DNR selected grant applications based on innovative conservation
practices and education efforts. Once the practices are installed, they
will be accessible to the public.
The following groups, listed by county, received grants:
Black Hawk County
The Black Hawk County Conservation Board received $7,450 to help
install a rain garden and bio-retention cell to manage runoff from the
parking lot at Hartman Reserve Nature Center in the Cedar Falls -
Waterloo area.
Dubuque County
The Dubuque County Conservation Board received $7,500 to help install a
pervious parking area and a permeable grass paver walkway to reduce
storm water runoff entering Catfish Creek from the Swiss Valley Nature
Center near Peosta.
Johnson County
The City of Iowa City Landfill and Recycling Center will use a $7,500
grant to help install bioswales, native vegetation and pervious paving
at its new east-side recycling center and environmental education
center.
As part of its renovation of Mushroom Park, the City of Solon will
replace the park’s current parking lot with a porous paving parking
lot and crosswalk with the help of a $7,500 grant.
Marion County
Central College, of Pella, plans to develop an eco-friendly plaza on
the campus that will restore landscaping and install storm water
conservation practices. The $7,496 grant will help install permeable
concrete block pavement, meadow and natural plants.
Mills County
The Malvern Public Library Trustees will use a $7,360 grant to help
install storm water practices at the library, including native
landscaping, soil quality restoration, rain gardens, a grass channel and
dry swale.
The Mills County Secondary Road Department, with the assistance of a
$7,500 grant, plans on resurfacing a gravel parking lot with pervious
concrete and installing a rain garden at its Glenwood facility to reduce
storm water runoff reaching Keg Creek.
Polk County
The City of Altoona will demonstrate native turf grass options for
residential homes at its fire station and will also redesign a storm
water detention basin in the Falcon Ridge housing development with help
from a $6,232 grant.
Luther Care Services, of Des Moines, will install a rain garden to
reduce storm water runoff from its parking lot with the assistance from
a $4,125 grant.
Regency Land Development Services, of West Des Moines, will create two
dry swales within the parkway of the new Deer Creek housing development
in Ankeny with the help of a $7,444.75 grant. Regency will dedicate the
swales to the City of Ankeny upon acceptance of the associated final
plats in the development.
Pottawattamie County
Golden Hills Resource Conservation and Development, of Oakland, will
use a $7,500 grant to host seminars and a conference on low impact
development, as well as create educational pieces on low impact
development for local officials, realtors, developers, engineers,
landscape architects and contractors in the Loess Hills.
Scott County
The City of Bettendorf Public Works Department will create a series of
conservation practices to treat runoff from the city-owned Palmer Hills
Golf Course with the help of a $7,500 grant. The practices will include
infiltration trenches, rain gardens and pervious pavement.
Story County
Iowa State University (ISU), of Ames, plans to expand an existing storm
water project with a $5,465 grant. ISU will construct storm water
management gardens in a residential area to reduce storm water runoff
into College Creek.
Prairie Rivers of Iowa Resource Conservation and Development, of Ames,
plans to install rain gardens in Ada Hayden Heritage Park and at the
Ames Water Treatment Plant with the help of a $7,500 grant to encourage
local water conservation and water quality efforts.
Union County
Creston Livestock Auction, Inc. plans to construct a bioretention storm
water control system with the help of a $7,500 grant to improve storm
water runoff entering Hurley Creek.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provided funding for the DNR
grants.
Writer: Jessie Brown
# # #
MANURE RUNOFF TO BLAME IN LOUISA COUNTY FISH KILL
MEDIA CONTACT: Don Kline at 319-694-2430 or Josh Sobaski at
319-653-2135
COLUMBUS CITY - DNR fisheries biologists have completed a count of fish
killed near Columbus City June 18 in a small creek that flows into
Monkey Run Creek.
The DNR estimated 3,399 fish were killed along a 1.83 mile-long stretch
of stream starting west of Columbus City and ending where the creek
flowed into Monkey Run Creek on the north side of Columbus Junction.
Most of the fish killed were minnows, darters and sunfish. Eighty-one
catfish were also reported dead.
“These smaller streams that are tributaries to larger streams are a
vital part of our aquatic ecosystem,” DNR Biologist Don Kline said.
“Several species of fish use them for spawning and nursery sites
that contribute to the larger streams.”
The manure entered the unnamed creek from a discontinued pig
confinement operation owned by Randy Wood of nearby Columbus Junction. A
manure pit underneath a demolished confinement building was still
holding manure, and the pressure from the fill dirt caused the manure to
discharge from the storage structure and flow into the tributary.
Restitution for the dead fish is estimated at $7,086.90. The cost of
the fisheries investigation was $496.60. The DNR will seek to recover
both amounts from Wood.
Wood has cleaned up the areas leading to the stream and has installed
two earthen terraces to prevent any further leakage to the stream, said
Josh Sobaski, a DNR environmental specialist who participated in the
original investigation. The DNR will continue to monitor the situation
until clean-up is completed.
State law requires manure from discontinued confinement operations to
be removed and land applied within six months. Manure spills should be
reported to the DNR within six hours of when they occur or are
discovered. Reports of spills may be directed towards the 24-hour
emergency spill line at (515) 281-8694.
Writer: Holly Williams
# # #
CITIZENS ASKED TO SHARE CONCERNS AT ILLEGAL DUMPING FORUMS
MEDIA CONTACT: Tom Anderson at (515) 281-8623 or
[log in to unmask]
DES MOINES - The DNR is hosting three forums across Iowa to gather
input from citizens, local governments and businesses about how illegal
dumping and tire piles have impacted their communities. The forum will
also focus on recommendations for policies and practices to prevent
illegal dumping and tire stockpiles. This information will help the
department craft a new statewide effort to fight these problems.
The public is invited to attend any of the forums. The first will be
held in Des Moines July 17 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Wallace State
Office Building, Second Floor Conference Room, 502 E 9th St. The second
will be held the evening of July 17 in Cedar Rapids at the National
Czech and Slovak Museum and Library at 30 16th Avenue SW from 6:30 p.m.
to 8:30 p.m.
The third forum will be broadcast July 18 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
over the Iowa Communications Network from an origination site in
Atlantic, Iowa. Citizens can participate at the Atlantic Middle School,
Room 109, 1100 Linn St, Atlantic, or attend one of six other meeting
sites: Albia High School, Room 302, 503 B Avenue East, Albia; Great
River Area Education Agency, 3601 West Avenue, Burlington; DMACC -
Carroll Campus, Room 144, 906 North Grant Road, Carroll; Eastern Iowa
Community College, Room 300, Kahl Educational Center, 326 West 3rd
Street, Davenport; University of Dubuque, Jackaline Baldwin Dunlap
Technology Center Room T201, 2000 University Avenue, Dubuque; or North
Iowa Area Community College, Activity Center Room 106, 500 College
Drive, Mason City.
For more than a decade the DNR has partnered with local governments and
like-minded organizations to curb this blight on property and
communities, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars each year on
cleanup and enforcement activities. Surveys and focus groups reveal that
indifference and the unlikelihood of getting caught are the chief
reasons people illegally dump tires, appliances, construction and
demolition waste, and even hazardous chemicals. Reporting, enforcement,
and publicized convictions are vital to curbing illegal dumping or
stockpiling of tires.
“Iowa governments are faced with a lack of adequate funding for a
concerted coordinated effort to prevent and clean up illegal dumping and
tire stockpiles.” said Jeff Geerts, program planner for the
Environmental Services Division of the DNR. “Yet illegal dumping has
serious effects on our quality of life. We need everyone aware of the
problem and willing to help solve it. Attending these forums, telling
their stories, and helping us with planning will build commitment to
solutions.”
For more information about remedying illegal dumping in Iowa, go to
www.iowadnr.gov/waste/sw/illdump.html.
Writer: Mindy Kralicek
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latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent
editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/
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