Polk County presents five‑year Walnut Creek watershed plan; Urbandale assigned modest capture and floodplain targets

Polk County staff on Tuesday presented a five‑year implementation plan for the Walnut Creek Watershed Management Authority and asked Urbandale to adopt local targets and coordinate on projects to improve water quality and manage stormwater.

"We have been working for the last year or so on a 5 year implementation plan for the Walnut Creek Watershed Management Authority," said Kathy Drewel, water resources outreach coordinator with Polk County, during a Lunch and Learn for the Urbandale City Council. The plan updates a 2015 watershed plan and sets specific, measurable goals for the next five years.

The plan lays out five broad goals: hold water on the landscape, preserve and reconnect floodplains, improve surface water quality, strengthen regional collaboration and sustain implementation through monitoring and reporting. Polk County staff said the authority expects to support local projects, help secure grant funding and provide technical assistance to member cities.

For the watershed as a whole, the plan proposes a capture target equivalent to 50 acre‑feet per year (250 acre‑feet across five years). Urbandale’s share is set at 5 acre‑feet per year, reflecting that roughly 38% of the city’s area lies inside the Walnut Creek watershed, Drewel said. The plan also lists a watershedwide goal of 350 acres of floodplain improvement (70 acres per year)…