Quarterly Meeting to Address Local Water Quality Issues in the Watershed
Iowa Watershed Approach partners will join the Upper Iowa Watershed Management Authority (WMA) for their quarterly meeting. As a result, this meeting will be on April 6th at 7PM at the Decorah City Council Chambers. Cities, counties, and soil and water conservation districts make up UIRWMA. It addresses local water quality issues in the watershed.
The WMA is an opportunity to stay involved in the activities of the IWA and also ask questions about the program. Open to the public are meetings. Therefore, anyone is welcome to attend!
For more information about the Upper Iowa WMA meeting, contact Kate Giannini at kate-giannini@uiowa.edu.
The Upper Iowa River Watershed Management Authority (WMA) formed in November 2015 and is a board of directors from cities, counties, soil and water conservation districts (SWCDs) within the Upper Iowa River basin who have agreed to work together in order to:
- Assess and reduce the flood risks and improve water quality in the watershed;
- Monitor the federal flood risk planning and activities;
- Educate residents; and
- Allocate monies for purposes of water quality and flood mitigation.
Recap of UIRWMA Meeting:
Ross Evelsizer presented on RC&D’s work including resiliency planning regarding soil health, flow control, and riparian work. The entire watershed is worked on, not just the sub-watersheds selected. A recommendation was made to look into forming a technical committee to begin reviewing the sub-watersheds. Further information from RC&D can be found here and look at the WMA page.
Members of the Iowa Flood Center presented on varying topics. Larry Weber outlined that we will be building an overall plan that will encourage continued funding opportunities even after the use of the HUD based grant. Mr. Weber also stated that at this point, it is likely all sub-watersheds will hydrological needs, therefore initial review can begin. Furthermore, Antonio Arenes continued the hydrological analysis and is currently building models to refine the data for sub-watersheds. Arenes elaborated on the different assessment tools used. He is seeking two sites for the placement of weather stations and soil moisture meters. Lastly, Felicia Campbell of IDALS informed the group that IDALS will provide assistance on technical aspects, funding use, and process development for the Project Coordinator. Ms. Campbell provided a WMA Laundry List to generate ideas of what actions they’ll take.