Sny Magill Creek Watershed Project 1991-1999

Water Quality Improvement Project

Iowa

Project Summary

Contacts:

Gerald A. Miller, Associate Dean for Extension and Industry Programs

Susan S. Brown, Extension Program Specialist

Iowa State University and University Extension

Telephone: 515-294-4333, Internet: x1wqual@exnet.iastate.edu

Web site: http://extension.agron.iastate.edu/waterquality/

Background

-Sny Magill Creek is a cold water stream in Clayton County in northeast Iowa. It is managed for “put and take” trout fishing. A USDA Hydrologic Unit Area (HUA) project was initiated in the 22,780-acre watershed in 1991. Over $3.1 million has been allocated for watershed protection and monitoring from state and federal programs.

-There are over 10,000 acres of Highly Erodible Land is the watershed, including most cropland and some pastures. The multi-agency project, which involves NRCS, Iowa State University Extension and many other partners, provides technical assistance, information and education, and cost-share assistance to help producers implement their conservation plans and make additional voluntary changes in farm management practices to protect water quality. A 10-year US EPA 319 water quality monitoring program is being conducted under the leadership of the DNR-GSB in association with the Sny Magill HUA project. The adjacent Bloody Run Creek serves as the paired watershed for the monitoring protocol.

-Sny Magill Creek is one of the more widely used streams for recreational trout fishing in Iowa.

-The watershed is characterized by narrow, gently sloping uplands that break into steep slopes with abundant rock outcrops. Up to 550 feet of relief occurs across the watershed. The stream bottom of Sny Magill and its tributaries is primarily bedrock and gravel with frequent riffle areas. Along the lower reach of the creek where the gradient is less steep, the stream bottom is generally silty. Sny Magill Creek empties into the backwater wetlands of the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge and part of Effigy Mounds National Monument.

Project Impacts

-Eighty-one percent of the watershed’s 98 landowners have participated in the project.

-Pesticide and nutrient loading have been reduced on 45% of cropland acres in the watershed through the delivery of nutrient and pest management assistance and education programs by ISU Extension.

-The NRCS estimates that structures and crop management best management practices (BMPs) have reduced sediment delivery to the stream over 50%, 35,031 T/yr, compared to pre-project practices.

-Streambank bioengineering practices established by the project have become a laboratory for study of innovative, lower-cost stream protection measures in Iowa.

Integrated Crop Management (ICM) methods are being used to assist producers with the adoption of refined crop-management practices. A project coordinator served as a crop consultant and hired a crop scout to make field observations. This activity resulted in 39,450 pounds less nitrogen, 33,625 pounds less phosphate, 128 pounds less alachlor (herbicide) and 1,450 pounds less corn rootworm insecticide being applied annually in the watershed. The cost savings to the producers involved with the ICM activity is averaging $13.85 per acre per year.

Publications

Water Watch, the project lewsletter, has been published bimonthly since 1992 in cooperation with the USDA Northeast Iowa Demonstration (NEIDP) and has a total circulation of over 1,700. An extension water quality information specialist funded by an EPA 319 grant through DNR is responsible for the newlatter and other water quality information marketing for Northeast Iowa.

Nutrient and Pest Management Incentive Program Newsletter was also published in cooperation with the NEIDP. Ten to twelve biweekly issues written each growing season by extension project specialists contain timely information for integrated pest management of area crops and forages. Diistribution is to NPM incentive education program participants, including about 10 producers in Sny Magill. The newsletter was requested by many other local producers and agronomists, and distributes by four other northeast Iowa watershed projects.

Research Reports on progress of the EPA-funded water quality monitoring and bentic programs in Sny Magill watershed are published by the University of Iowa State Hygienic Laboratory.

Educational Programs

The Nutrient and Pest Management Incentive Education program (NPMI) was a local initiative of the Northeast Iowa Demonstration and Sny Magill project, which were served by the same extension NPM specialist. The program provided NPM assistance with a specific educational component, to enhance long-term adoption of refined crop and manure management practices. Participants used their own farm records to learn to write and evaluate NPM plans over a 3 year period.

Community Improvements

-Affordable streambank protection

-Increased profitability

Sny Magill Nonpoint Source Pollution Monitoring Project

http://www.igsb.uiowa.edu/inforsch/sny/sny.htm#Publicat

Section 319 National Monitoring Program: An Overview

http://h2osparc.wq.ncsu.edu/319glossy/

Agencies/Contacts

BMP implementation:

Clayton County Soil and Water Conservation District: Mark Bowman (319/245-1048)
Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Division of Soil Conservation: Paul Valin (515/281-6146)
Iowa Department of Natural Resources - Water Quality Bureau: Ubbo Agena (515/281-6402)
Iowa State University Extension: Nick Rolling (319/864-3999); Gerald Miller (515/294-1923)
USDA Farm Services Agency: Frank Phippen (319/245-1713)
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Jeff Tisl (319/245-1048)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Julie Elfving (913/551-7475), Paul Schwaab (913/551-7581)
U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Kathy Maycroft (319/873-3423)

Water quality monitoring:

Iowa Department of Natural Resources - Fisheries Bureau: Gaige Wunder (319/382-8324)
Iowa Department of Natural Resources - Geological Survey Bureau: Lynette Seigley (319/335-1598)
Iowa Department of Natural Resources - Water Quality Bureau: Tom Wilton (515/281-8867)
University of Iowa Preventive Medicine: J. Kent Johnson (319/335-4423)
University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory: Mike Schueller, Mike Birmingham, George Hallberg (319/335-4500)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Julie Elfving (913/551-7475), Paul Schwaab (913/551-7581)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Kathy Maycroft (319/873-3423)
U.S. Geological Survey: Jayne May (319/358-3630)
U.S. National Park Service, Effigy Mounds National Monument: Rodney Rovang (319/873-3491)

http://www.epa.gov/owow/NPS/Section319II/IA.html Sny Magill Creek- The New Standard Agricultural Practices CONTACT: Ubbo Agena
Environmental Protection Division Iowa Department of Natural Resources
(515) 281-6402

2nd National Conference: Nonpoint Source Pollution Information and Education Programs, May 15-17, 2001 Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, Illinois