NICC staff and volunteers tackle bioswale project

NICC staff members and volunteers have completed a bioswale conservation improvement at the Calmar campus.

The group planted 5,200 individual native Iowa plants representing 25 different species in a space near the Industrial Technologies Building.  The project, which received nearly $20,000 in grant funding, was done by the NICC Calmar Landscaping Committee in partnership with the NICC Foundation, the City of Calmar and the Winneshiek County Soil and Water Conservation District.
 
The completed bioswale will capture a portion of the estimated 423,000 gallons of water run-off in the area annually and allow the water to percolate into the ground to reduce flooding, recharge underground aquifers and mitigate the college's environmental impact on the property.

Previous grant funding through the Iowa's Living Roadways Project Program helped NICC to integrate native wetland, savannah and prairie plants, as well as sedges and grasses, for the college's public garden, butterfly garden, shelterbelt, oak savanna and native prairie areas as part of the college's master sustainability plan.

Iowa's Living Roadways provides funding for landscape enhancement projects along transportation corridors.  Program partners include Trees Forever, the Iowa Department of Transportation and its Living Roadway Trust Fund, and the Federal Highway Administration.