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Environmental News
Dale Armstrong
(913) 551-7003
armstrong.dale@epa.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 19, 2004
IOWA WATERSHED PROJECT TO GET $1 MILLION GRANT FOR NITRATE REDUCTION
An Iowa project to reduce nitrate pollution will receive a $1 million grant from EPA, one of 14 awarded under the national 2004 Targeted Watershed Grants program announced today by EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt at a ceremony in Des Moines.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS), the award recipient in EPA Region 7, will use the grant for a nitrate reduction project in the Upper Mississippi River watershed. The five-year project will be done in collaboration with Iowa State University, the Iowa Drainage District Association, and the Pocahontas and Palo Alto county boards of supervisors. (Contact information for IDALS and ISU is listed below.)
The project partners will develop and implement new technologies for reducing nitrate movement through drainage systems to streams. Nitrate reduction will help protect Iowa drinking water supplies, address hypoxia (dead zone) in the Gulf of Mexico, and retain the economic vitality of Iowa and its farm families. Hypoxic waters are deficient in dissolved oxygen, which is necessary for marine life to survive and reproduce.
The goal of the Targeted Watershed Grants program, formerly known as the Watershed Initiative, is to build on the successes of strong partnerships working hard to improve the state of our waterways.
The 14 selected watersheds cover more than 20,000 square miles of the nation’s lakes, rivers, and streams. The grant recipients will use the money for a variety of restoration, protection and trading projects. Grants range from $700,000 to $1.3 million. Recipients obtain an additional 25 percent leveraged from other sources.
The program focuses on achieving incremental but tangible on-the-ground results in a relatively short time. Grant nominees were required to set clearly articulated goals that include strong monitoring components. Watershed plans and project proposals were judged on criteria such as innovation, environmental results, broad support, outreach, and financial integrity.
Leavitt and EPA Region 7 Administrator Jim Gulliford were joined by invited guests including Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation President Greg Lang, and Iowa State University Associate Dean Gerald Miller. The event at South Gray’s Lake Park was hosted by L.D. McMullen, CEO and general manager of the Des Moines Water Works.
| Additional contact information: | Machelle Shaffer Susan Thompson |
Visit www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/initiative for more information.
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