Maquoketa River watershed authority outlines recent grants, sensor network and cover-crop program

Erin Erickson, watershed coordinator for the Maquoketa River Watershed Management Authority, updated the Linn County Board of Supervisors on the authority's projects, grants and outreach work during the board's regular meeting.

The Maquoketa River Watershed Management Authority, which covers nine counties including a portion of Linn County, began planning work in 2017 and hired Erickson in June 2021 after receiving a watershed planning grant. The authority reported a mix of federal, state and private grants used for sensor installation, signage, and farmer cost-share incentives.

The update matters because the authority's monitoring and farm-based practices are intended to inform local decisions on water quality and flood risk across multiple counties, including parts of Linn County.

Erickson described a 2023 Farmer-to-Farmer grant award of $250,000 that funded a cover-crop initiative administered with Practical Farmers of Iowa. "We were awarded $250,000 from the farmer to farmer grant — which — allowed us to create a cover crop initiative," Erickson said. The program offered $40 per acre in cost-sharing for cover crops; in its first full year the authority paid out just over $34,000 to support 1,149 acres of cover crops across the watershed.

Erickson said the authority secured $30,000 from the Iowa DNR for watershed signage placed around the watershed perimeter and on unnamed tributaries, and it placed at least one hydro sensor per county through community project funding obtained by representatives working with the University of Iowa Flood Center. She noted that the network overlaps with installations in the Lower Cedar watershed and that stream data are uploaded to the Flood Center site at 15-minute intervals.

The authority also completed a stream sensor on the Maquoketa River in Jackson County funded with a $15,000 grant from the Cliff Family Foundation for operation and maintenance, Erickson said. She added the authority conducted hydrologic modeling to estimate how expanded cover-crop adoption or other best-management practices would affect nutrient loads and runoff.

Erickson listed outreach events and partnerships the authority used to recruit farmers and share information, including a field day at the Hogan Farm in Earlville, a screening of the film Common Ground that drew about 175 farmers, and participation in local field days and women-in-soil events. She noted Linn County contributes $295 annually under a voluntary per-capita funding formula adopted by the watershed board.

Erickson closed by noting a board meeting scheduled for Monticello and invited questions; a supervisor thanked her for the presentation and for including Linn County information even though the county comprises a small portion of the watershed.

Erickson provided contact information and a newsletter sign-up for residents and staff seeking more details or data from the sensor network.

Ending: The watershed authority is continuing monitoring and outreach work, including planned board meetings and public events; Erickson said more information and data are available through the University of Iowa Flood Center and the watershed's newsletter.