1201-001 Sands Timber Watershed Project Final Report

(2015) 1201-001 Sands Timber Watershed Project Final Report. Agriculture and Land Stewardship

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Abstract

Sands Timber Lake is a 60 acre man made impoundment near Blockton, Iowa. The lake is the centerpiece of a 235 acre park, which is owned and managed by the Taylor County Conservation Board. The park is equipped with modern campsites, hiking trails, picnic areas, and a playground. Bordering the western shoreline of the lake is a beautiful hardwood timber which inspired the parks name. Sands Timber Lake has a 4,100 acre drainage area comprised of timber, grassland, and row crop. The lake is fed by four large classic gullies which branch off into many smaller gullies dissecting the drainage area. Since construction in 1993, Sands Timber Lake has been an extremely poor fishery. In 2006 Sands Timber Lake was added to the EPA's 303d list of impaired water bodies. Turbid water was identified as the primary stressor. Local interest in preserving and enhancing the lake led to the completion of a thorough watershed assessment and treatment plan. Included in the plan are several elements, the first being upland treatment. In 2009 the Taylor SWCD applied for and was granted a $499,000 Watershed Improvement Review Board grant. This grant enabled much of the planned upland treatment practices to be installed plus some shoreline stabilization. Three of the four tributaries feeding the lake now have structures just above shoreline filtering remaining sediment and nutrients not caught by other conservation practices. A rock chute wetland is now being planned for the fourth tributary feeding the lake. Private landowners have granted the Taylor County Conservation Board permission to install the practice. Installing this practice would solidify what has been a very successful watershed treatment campaign.