(West Okoboji)– Some water quality protection projects in the Iowa Great Lakes are being scrapped as the result of state budget cuts.
Orville Berg of the Dickinson County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Cleanwater Commission tells KUOO news several projects that hadn’t gotten beyond the engineering stage are being done away with.
Berg says it’s the result of funding for the D-N-R’s REAP program being eliminated. It means they will no longer be receiving matching funds through the Environmental Protection Agency’s 319 program. That money helped pay the salary of Tim Terrell, who coordinated cleanwater projects through the Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS office in Spirit Lake. Berg says that position has been eliminated and Terrell will move to another area of the state.
Berg says they’ll rely more heavily on help from the various lake protective associations, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and the D-N-R to take up the slack.
The cuts will be a topic of discussion at Monday’s meeting of the Dickinson County Water Quality Commission.
