Meetings

October 20, 2017: Lower Cedar Watershed – Partnerships in Conservation

On Friday, October 20, 2017, around 50 Cedar River Watershed Coalition members gathered in Muscatine at the Discovery Park Environmental Learning Center to learn about partnerships underway to improve the Lower Cedar Watershed. This was the first Coalition meeting held this far down in the watershed, and it was a great opportunity to raise awareness about what steps are being taken by partners to improve conditions. We are grateful to the Muscatine County Conservation Board for the use of their facility, the Nature Conservancy for helping to organize the meeting and paying for the bus tour, and each of the speakers for taking time out of their busy spring schedules.

The meeting kicked off with a presentation from Dr. Kamyar Enshayan, the Director of the Center for Energy and Envionmental Education at University of Northern Iowa. Dr. Enshayan spoke about the Good Neighbor Iowa project, which aims to reduce pesticide use on lawns and in parks to reduce.

Next, a group of panelists provided an introduction to conservation partnerships in the Lower Cedar:

• Lower Iowa & Cedar Valley Conservation Alliance (Josh Spies, The Nature Conservancy)
• Indian Creek Watershed Management Authority (Jennifer Fencl, ECICOG)
• Soil Health Partnership (Elyssa McFarland, Iowa Field Manager, Soil Health Partnership)

Meeting participants then had the chance to visit The Nature Conservancy’s Swamp White Oak Preserve, an ecologically diverse array of protected lands in the Lower Cedar. The Coalition heard from TNC staff about their strategies for managing these lands, and the impact that excessive flooding has had on sensitive species in the region.

The Lower Cedar Watershed demonstrates that through partnerships among farmers, agricultural groups, conservationists, and urban watershed neighbors, it is possible to achieve our goals of reduced flood risk and improved water quality. Each of us has the opportunity to take ownership of our own piece of the watershed puzzle, whether it be to implement practices on our residential or agricultural property, participate in a watershed improvement project, or simply as taxpayers – many water quality projects would not be possible without the strong backing of state and federal cost-share programs.

Agenda: 10-20-17 Final Agenda

Summaries of past Cedar River Watershed Coalition meetings are here.