Boone River Watershed: Strategic Partnerships, Multiple Benefits, and Getting to Scale

Boone River Watershed Partners: Iowa Soybean Association, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Iowa State University, Local landowners and producers, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Fishers and Farmers Partnership, Hamilton, Wright, Humboldt, Webster, Kossuth, and Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation Districts, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Practical Farmers of Iowa, Leopold Center, Women, Food, and Agriculture Network, The Nature ConservancyIntroduction and Project History

Project Vision

Outreach and Farmer-Led Demonstration

Monitoring

In-Field, Edge-of-Field, and In-Stream Practices

Accelerating Implementation

Supply-chain Initiatives

The Boone River watershed covers 580,000 acres of the Des Moines Lobe – the most recently glaciated landform in Iowa. This region is dominated by low relief and poor surface drainage consisting of glacial drift in flat till plains, prairie pothole areas, and sand and gravel deposits in floodplains of larger streams and rivers. Like in many places throughout the Midwest, over the years the watershed has transformed into a highly productive agricultural landscape (85% corn and soybeans) to meet a demand for more food production. This had led to draining and converting the wetlands and even redirecting portions of the river to make room for rows of corn, soybeans, and other crops. These modifications have led to increasing amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other pollutants entering the Boone River and waters beyond.

Boone River Watershed PartnershipThe Nature Conservancy identified the Boone River as a top priority for aquatic conservation and began working in the Boone in 2003 with an ecological assessment that led to completion of a full Conservation Action Plan in 2008 . In 2004, the convergence of environmental and agricultural interests in the Boone River Watershed brought The Nature Conservancy (the Conservancy), Iowa Soybean Association (ISA), and Prairie Rivers of Iowa RC&D together to initiate a fresh approach to watershed improvement and management. Watershed meetings with local stakeholders were held and questions about the current state of water quality in the Boone arose. At that time there was just one long-term water quality monitoring site along the Boone River. The Iowa Soybean Association and Agriculture’s Clean Water Alliance, with financial assistance from the Conservancy, initiated biweekly sampling at the base of all 30 HUC-12 watersheds within the greater Boone River. This effort coupled along with on-the-ground stream assessments enabled the partnership to target portions of the watershed most in need of conservation practices to prevent erosion and leaching of nitrogen. The Boone River partnership has continued to expand and in 2013 formalized as a watershed management authority.

Improve water quality, hydrology, biodiversity, and habitat of the Boone River while maintaining or increasing agricultural productivity.

Cover Crops – A form of continuous living cover –more than 5,000 acres of cover crops have been implemented over the past three years, which help prevent the erosion of soil and fertilizers from washing away with rain. Boone River partners have held field days, workshops, and demonstrations to highlight both the benefits of cover crops and the logistics of implementing this practice.

Strip Tillage – Tilling only a small strip of soil 6-10 inches wide requires fewer passes over a field, resulting in less erosion, lower fuel costs and reduced soil compaction from driving as well as more residue left on the field. Farmer champions in the Boone are encouraging neighbors to try this practice.

Bioreactors – With funding from partners and the federal MRBI program, farmers in the Boone River watershed can receive assistance with implementing these underground trenches filled with woodchips to process nitrate-laden tile water resulting in cleaner water entering local waterways.  Oxbow Restoration – Iowa Soybean Association, The Nature Conservancy, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Fishers and Farmers Partnership, and Sand County Foundation inventoried and assessed oxbows in the watershed and completed the first restoration in 2011. As of the fall of 2013, five oxbows have been restored in the Boone with funding for up to six additional oxbows already secured.

Photo descriptions, clock-wise from top left: a Pocketbook mussel documented during a 2009 mussel survey of the main stem of the Boone River (© Kristen Blann); collecting water samples from White Fox Creek (© Adam Kiel); conducting an infiltration test during soil quality sampling in July 2012 (© Bruce Voigts); automated water sampling equipment in the Lyons Creek watershed (© Tony Seeman)

The Boone River watershed benefits from one of the most extensive monitoring networks in the state of Iowa – made possible by the on-going commitment of multiple partners to provide performance feedback to farmers’ individual operations in addition to long-term watershed-wide baseline water quality data to ensure that progress in the watershed can be documented and understood. As outlined above, conservation practices need to be implemented at multiple scales throughout the watershed – within farm fields, at the edge of fields to capture nutrient and soil leaving a field, and in-stream (or within the riparian corridor) to capture nutrient and soil that do escape from fields and provide habitat for fish, mussels, and other aquatic organisms. Monitoring efforts include: water quality samples gathered bi-weekly at the base of all 30 sub-watersheds within the Boone, edge-of-field sampling to understand the impact of conservation practices at the field scale, soil quality sampling to gather data on the changes in soil structure and biology over time following implementation of conservation practices such as cover crops, a paired watershed study ( to answer the question, “how much is enough?”), biodiversity sampling, and individual farm sustainability assessments.

Partners in the Boone River watershed continue to pool staff and resources to provide workshops and field days highlighting the benefits and logistics of various conservation practices as well as available financial assistance. Boone River partners have helped cultivate local producers to serve as “farmer champions” by leading and promoting conservation efforts throughout the watershed.

Cover crops growing in a strip tillage field on March 28, 2012

Restored oxbow in June 2012, 6-months after restoration

The Boone River watershed project continues to gain momentum and many milestone successes have been accomplished. However, the biggest challenge of watershed work is building upon successes to achieve long-term conservation goals, for example, measureable water quality improvements. The state of Iowa has recently drafted an ambitious state-wide nutrient reduction strategy to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus in our rivers and streams by 45%. To accomplish such an ambitious goal, we will need to work at a scale never before realized.

An emerging mechanism for accelerating the implementation of best management practices in agricultural watersheds is collaboration with companies along the agricultural supply-chain. Companies such as Walmart and Coca-Cola, in addition to numerous agribusinesses, are establishing sustainability initiatives that aim to reduce the environmental impacts of food production along the entire length of the supply-chain. Many of these companies are already engaged in watershed work and supporting partner efforts in the Boone River watershed. This work has the potential to engage thousands of farmers and landowners managing millions of acres throughout the entire Mississippi River Basin.

© Christopher Jones

© Jason Whalen

© Eileen Bader© Eileen Bader

© Eileen Bader

© Eileen Bader

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