(Des Moines)– A pilot project to improve water quality in the greater Des Moines Watershed is being expanded.
The Streamside Buffer pilot project was started in August of last year to assist farmers and landowners in establishing perennial buffers along streams, creeks, rivers and drainage ditches to reduce nutrient runoff.
The pilot project is now being expanded to 22 counties, including Buena Vista, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Kossuth, Palo Alto and Pocahontas in our area. The program provides payments on new buffers that are currently in row crop production.
Funding for the expanded project is coming from the Farm to Faucet water quality initiative signed into law on June 1st. More information can be found at CleanWaterIowa.org or by contacting your local USDA Service Center.
