the upper iowa river watershed
Unlike the rest of the state of Iowa, Upper Iowa River Watershed County SWCDs--Soil and Water Estimated county-wide damage to roads and bridges during the 2008 Conservation Districts--in the Upper Iowa River nitrate and phosphorous levels have trended Watershed have worked with producers to flood was more than... DOWN over the course of the last 20 years—thanks to implement more conservation than $1.3 million in Howard County practices put in place by Upper Iowa River Watershed farmers and producers. most other counties in Iowa. $1.5 million in Winneshiek County In a recent survey, 67% of landowners in the $650,000 in Allamakee County Upper Iowa River Watershed report that, within the (Brian Ridenour, Allamakee Co. Engineer; Nick Rissman, Howard Co. Engineer; Lee Bjerke, Winneshiek Co. Engineer) Federal aid helps last 5 years, flooding closed a road or communities rebuild after a bridge they use regularly. flooding disaster, but those funds never cover the full cost of recovery.
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M F T E I E F L R T ID T V O GE A O RD The Upper Iowa Watershed Management Authority O S N
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E E k C e R L I D L e OW LARK RD D MEAD L P r 9 IO CA a EER DR C A N W N O D PIO W E R R I t r O A IDGE te ve I 9 RD I r l M D so i n S G C reek E
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D 9 was founded in 2015 as a formal partnership between cities, counties, and county soil and water WA IO
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quality, educate & empower watershed residents, and increase watershed resilience. T O OW a S N I Upper Iowa River Watershed—compared to 65% statewide. l E n IL U L u R ID C G IO t E RD W C O
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80% of farmers C Decorah I land cover in the Upper Iowa River Watershed
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The members of the Upper Iowa River Watershed Management Authority are: A n o I u PRAIR IE DR
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for adopting conservation practices O o ek r P Cr e T of the Upper Iowa River Watershed t 17% rou City of Decorah T
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LIN COLN HW Y RD E C ek Howard County e C r O C N t O u V o r F E R R T 2 A
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D L L Howard County SWCD R E R O D According to a report by Driftless Area C
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2 I M the late August floods of 2016 caused a 175T H ST
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US 52 half-mile clot of debris to form in
U National Geographic Magazine says into the Driftless region S 52 a flowing backwater channel canoeing the Upper Iowa River is one of Big Slough, According to Iowa DNR, there are 73 animal feeding “America’s 100 Greatest Adventures.” of the Mississippi River near Lansing. operations in the Upper Iowa River Watershed—7 of which are classifed “concentrated animal feeding operations” According to Iowa DNR, there are approximately (CAFOs). A CAFO is an operation that houses at least 1000 Iowa DNR estimates more than 314,000 angler trips per year are made to the Upper Iowa River Watershed. animal units (1 animal unit is the equivalent of app. 1,400 dairy 6,652 sinkholes in the Upper Iowa River Watershed cows), confned on site for more than 45 days of the year. out of 33,967 sinkholes in all of Iowa. Tat’s 20% of the total number of sinkholes in Iowa. The Upper Iowa River Watershed boasts more than Much of the watershed is in the Driftless Region. This area is known for its steep, rugged, karst topography, which is 1,419 miles of streams and rivers, including defined by land that is underlain by soluble bedrock, such as limestone, 152 miles of coldwater streams (Stralhers Stream Order Survey). and characterized by sinkholes, caves, and underground drainage. The Upper Iowa River Watershed is home to more coldwater streams than any other large watershed in Iowa.