07043-017 North Fork Maquoketa Final Report

(2011) 07043-017 North Fork Maquoketa Final Report. Agriculture and Land Stewardship

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Abstract

The North Fork Maquoketa River Headwaters (NFMRH) has been identified as impaired by nutrients, episodic slugs of ammonia and sediment. The NFMRH TMDL plan calls for a "phasing approach" to managing water quality when the origin is non-point source contaminants. This project will address phase 1 using a performance reward program for targeted cooperators to improve environmental index scores using cost-share, EQIP practices and flexible management alternatives. Pre-project assessments suggest that rewards should target refined management of erosion-prone fields and farms with livestock populations, which contribute to the P and N loads responsible for fertilizing filamentous algae blooms that depress dissolved oxygen concentrations in the NFMRH. The Phosphorus Index, Soil Conditioning Index and cornstalk nitrate test will be used by producers to determine effective alternatives, such as no-till planting, to reduce nutrient and sediment delivery. These evironmental indexes will be especially useful for livestock producers in the livestock dense watershed. This project will extend a NRCS-sponsored Conservation Innovation Grant currently offered to producers in the Coffee Creek sub-watershed to a three-year, watershed-wide effort that will be necessary to make significant improvements in environmental management.

Item Type: Departmental Report
Keywords: WIRB, Watershed Improvement Review Board, water quality, Dubuque County, Delaware County, Coffee Creek Improvement Association
Subjects: Natural resources and environment > Water resources > Water quality
Natural resources and environment > Water resources > Watersheds
ID Code: 18320
Deposited By: Jerome Neppel
Deposited On: 24 Feb 2016 14:28
Last Modified: 24 Feb 2016 14:28
URI: https://publications.iowa.gov/id/eprint/18320