A list of some of the Best Management Practices promoted through the grant period are listed at the bottom of this article.
Since 2004, the Rathbun
Land and Water Alliance has partnered with supporting agencies, organizations,
and Rathbun Lake Watershed landowners to implement soil saving and water
quality protection practices.
During this time, more
than 600 landowners in the Rathbun Lake Watershed counties of Appanoose,
Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Monroe, and Wayne have worked with the Alliance to
apply conservation practices on 30,000 acres.
These measures have been
successful, resulting in the reduction of annual sediment delivery to Rathbun
Lake by 57,000 tons per year and 249,000 pounds of phosphorous.
Rathbun Lake is the
water source for Rathbun Regional Water Association’s 90,000 customers who rely
on the lake for their drinking water.
In addition to the IPC
grant, $235,125 is provided by the Alliance and supporting partners which
includes the Iowa DNR and ISU Extension.
John Glenn, RLWA
president and CEO of Alliance partner RRWA says most of the conservation
practices applied to date have been structural measures such as terraces, grade
stabilization structures, and water and sediment control basins.
“This funding serves to strengthen conservation efforts in the watershed by broadening the range of
practices used by landowners,” states Glenn. “These practices include
conservation cover, crop rotation, cover crops, forage harvest management,
forage and biomass planting and prescribed grazing.”
Rathbun Lake Watershed
Coordinator, Brian DeMoss, is an environmental specialist with the Lucas County
Soil and Water Conservation District. He says this funding gives landowners more options with converting some of the land that came out of
marginal pasture and went to row crop in 2012-2013 when commodity prices were
high, and get them back to a pasture/ hay setting.
“These practices address resource concerns in the watershed related to soil health, grassland
performance, and wildlife habitat as well as water quality,” explains DeMoss.
Funding also provides
for ten field days and workshops, and to disseminate water quality protection
updates.
“This gives producers a
few more options to consider that work hand in hand with the structural
measures that they install on their lands. I always look forward
to working with landowners and encourage them to contact me,” says DeMoss. He
can be reached at the Chariton field office at 641.774.2512.
The
following individuals, agencies, and organizations partner with the Rathbun
Land and Water Alliance to Protect Rathbun Lake: Participating landowners in
the Rathbun Lake Watershed; CoBank; Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land
Stewardship’s Division of Soil Conservation; Iowa Department of Natural
Resources; Iowa State University; Iowa Watershed Improvement Review Board;
Southern Iowa Development and Conservation Authority; US Army Corps of
Engineers; US Environmental Protection Agency; USDA Farm Service Agency; USDA
Natural Resources Conservation Service; Appanoose, Clarke, Decatur, Lucas,
Monroe, and Wayne Soil and Water Conservation Districts; Appanoose, Clarke,
Decatur, Lucas, Monroe, and Wayne Counties; Iowa Farm Bureau at the state and
county levels; and Rathbun Regional Water Association.
Want to know more?
The following Best Management Practices expand the scope of conservation practices used by Rathbun Lake Watershed landowners. Click the links for more detailed information provided in technical documents by Alliance project partners.
Conservation Cover
Crop Rotation
Cover Crops
Forage Harvest Management
Boosting Pasture Production
Prescribed Grazing
Want to know more?
The following Best Management Practices expand the scope of conservation practices used by Rathbun Lake Watershed landowners. Click the links for more detailed information provided in technical documents by Alliance project partners.
Conservation CoverCrop Rotation
Cover Crops
Forage Harvest Management
Boosting Pasture Production
Prescribed Grazing
I think I read something about an uptick in global CO2 levels that didn't show up in the records from previous inter-glacial cycles existing that happened around the same time that agriculture was first developed in the fertile crescent and the earliest rice farming regions in eastern Asia. If I'm remembering right that'd be a first global impact from thousands of years before the Maya, although it'd still be human land use driven.
ReplyDeleteEdit: Found a cite: link