NICC Calmar officials show off their land stewardship projects to Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey

NICC dairy science instructor Dave Lawstuen (second from left) discusses a retention pond project with Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey (second from right)

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey toured the NICC Calmar campus Wednesday afternoon to get a look at projects the state has funded as part of the Central Turkey River Nutrient Reduction Demonstration Project.

In the past four years NICC has re-established wetland areas and created rain garden bioswales to reduce storm water and nutrient runoff into the Turkey River watershed.  The school has also created a rock chute wetland to reduce soil erosion near Iowa's Dairy Center and completed work on the water sediment control basin.

Using funding from other sources--grants from Rockwell Collins and the Iowa Living Roadways programs--NICC has created a butterfly garden, savanna, shelter belt and grassland and prairie areas.

Winneshiek County Soil and Water Conservation District project coordinator MIchelle Elliott told Secretary Northey she's excited about the project because "historically we haven't had (demonstration) projects in this part of Winneshiek County."

NICC President Dr. Liang Chee Wee told Northey that doing the projects on a community college campus makes them more visible, since students and others can see the projects in action.

NICC officials discovered that the Calmar campus has a total of 15 acres of space as impervious surfaces.  They learned a one-inch rainfall would lead to 480,000 gallons of runoff.  The use of the cover corps, retention ponds and other techniques has significantly slowed down that runoff.  "We've done a lot," said Dr. Wee.

Northey tells decorahnews.com that he's optimistic the Iowa legislature will vote this spring to increase funding for Water Quality Improvement grants.  The program received $2.5 million in 2014 and $4.5 million in 2015 and is expected to receive $7.5 million for 2016.  Northey says legislators have been supportive of the new budget.

The project has a number of agencies as partners

Several retention ponds slow erosion from rainwater runoff

Cover crops are planted to protect the soil

(Left to right): NICC President Liang Chee Wee, SWCD staffers Michelle Elliott and Corey Meyer and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey