Staff & Beaver Creek Water Quality Project

Staff and Beaver Creeks are two tributaries of the Upper Iowa River.  Additional acres that drain directly into the Upper Iowa River (UIR) bring the size of the project area to 41,328 acres.  Both streams are located in northwestern Howard County where the UIR enters the state from Minnesota.

The Staff and Beaver Water Quality Project has been a watershed project since October 2004.  Tremendous progress has been accomplished towards the original goals of the project.  Due to the large number of best management practices (BMPs) installed and the continued high interest, more work remains to be done.

Accomplishments in the first three fiscal years of the project have shown a dramatic increase in BMPs applied in the watersheds.  Original goals have been met and exceeded in several practices.  The highest rate of success has been with wetland restoration, waterways, terraces and filter strips.  The increases have been accomplished by promotion of the practices through project news letters and estimates sent directly to landowners and operators.  The continuous CRP program has been promoted aggressively with good results and continued interest.

The goal of the Staff/Beaver Water Quality Project is to improve the water quality of the steams and reverse the negative effects that sediment and excess nutrients are contributing to the streams within the watersheds and to the Upper Iowa River to which they are tributaries.  The District believes this can be achieved by promoting BMPs that reduce or trap sediment from entering the stream.

The District believes that the interest in the watershed project area is at an all time high and that even more progress can be achieved in reducing sediment delivery.

DNR Information Page

Lake Hendricks Watershed Project

The Lake Hendricks Watershed Project is located on the edge of Howard County in northeast Iowa.  Although a relatively small watershed (1,209 acres), the lake has a significant public impact through the location of the largest county-owned campground facility in the area.  Built in 1960, the 54-acre, man-made lake is the central attraction to the 234 acre park.  In 2004, Iowa placed the lake on its 303(d) list of Impaired Waters.

  The project over a 3 year period will offer information & education along with various management practices to producers in the surrounding upland areas, and more focused structural practices in the areas adjacent to the lake to reduce both sediment and nutrient loading.  In time, and through continued monitoring, the in-lake nutrient concentrations should decrease to the point to eliminate the impairments.

The first year FY2009 supplement to the project agreement between the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS), division of Soil Conservation, Howard Soil and Water Conservation District, United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, Watershed Protection Fund (WSPF) and the Water Protection Fund (WPF) will finance the activities for this project.  Some of these activities will include 

• Tile Filters
• Grade Stabilization Structure
• Grassed Waterway
• Stream bank / Shoreline Protection
• Timber Stand Improvement
• Water and Sediment Control Basin

Additional funding for other projects in the watershed as well as outside the watershed may be possible through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) practices.

Lake Hendricks is the central attraction to Lake Hendricks Park, managed by the Howard County Conservation Board. The park is open year-round to the public, with camping allowed from May-October.

DNR Information Page

Silver Creek Planning Grant

About the creek

Major tributary to: The Upper Iowa River

Silver Creek is a 22,410 acre watershed located in Northeast Iowa, and is on the 303 (d) list of impaired waters for excessive bacteria.  The planning phase for this development grant will include assessing the entire watershed with a Rapid Assessment of Stream Conditions Along Length (RASCAL) Unit, as well as land assessment to help determine the source of the bacteria.  With this information we will have an idea for possible BMP’s to treat the impairments.

The City of Cresco is located in the watershed boundaries and will be evaluated for urban BMP’s.  Howard County will be the lead county with the support from Winneshiek County.  Assistance will be needed with the GIS mapping from the data collected as well as any other expertise outside our capabilities to complete the objectives.  Howard Soil & Water Conservation District will develop an outreach plan that will include multiple agencies including the City of Cresco, Howard County Conservation Board, Winneshiek Soil and Water Conservation District, Northeast Iowa RC&D Postville, IDNR fisheries and other community based support groups.  An advisory board will also be developed with a group consisting of both rural and urban landowners.

Silver Creek has had a history of fishing and other recreational activities for the community of Cresco.  Since Silver Creek empties into the Upper Iowa River the health of this watershed is of considerable interest to the thousands of area residents and visitors that enjoy the waters of the river each year.

Description of Watershed

Silver Creek originates in Vernon Springs Township, Howard County (S12 T99N R11W), meanders into Orleans Township, Winneshiek County (S2 T99N R10W) and flows into the Upper Iowa River.  The watershed is 22,410 acres (35 sq. miles) and 8.2 miles of segment is classified as a Class A1, Class B (WW-2) river.   Silver Creek watershed includes 13,104 acres in Howard County and 9,306 acres in Winneshiek County for a total of 22,410 acres.

Silver Creek is on the 303 (d) List of Impaired Waters for excessive bacteria.  This impairment is based on results of monitoring for indicator bacteria conducted on Silver Creek (Site 8) of the Upper Iowa River Watershed (UIRW) project from April 2004 through October 2006.  The presumptive Class A1 (primary contact recreation) uses were assessed (monitored) as “not supported” due to levels of indicator bacteria that exceeded the state water quality criteria.  The geometric mean of E. coli in the 21 samples collected in Silver Creek (UIRW Site 8) during the recreational seasons of 2004 through 2006 was 707 orgs/100ml.  This geometric mean far exceeds the Class A1 criterion of 126 orgs/100 ml.  Eighteen of the 21 samples (86%) exceeded Iowa’s single-sample maximum criterion of 235 orgs/100ml.  The EPA guidelines for Section 305(b) reporting and IDNR’s assessment/listing methodology states that if the geometric mean of E. coli is greater than the state criterion of 126 org/100ml, the primary contact recreation uses should be assessed as “not supported”.   The study also shows an E. coli value of 30,000 cfu.

Geologic mapping of bedrock units in northeast Iowa (Liu and others, 2008) shows Silver Creek watershed is underlain by Cedar Valley Limestone in the Cresco area, which overlies the Spillville Formation of the Wapsipinicon Group.  These rocks in turn overlie the Maquoketa Fm and finally rocks of the Galena Group.  Past erosion has removed younger, overlaying rocks from the lower elevations of the watershed.  This has resulted in thinning or complete removal of the younger units as the Upper Iowa River valley is approached.

Hydrologically, the Cedar Valley and Galena rocks are aquifers – they will readily transmit and yield groundwater to wells.  These units are also subject to karst development.  The Spillville Formation is an aquifer but with lesser potential for karst.  The Maquokata Formation contains significant low-permeability shale, and acts as an aquitard (does not readily transmit or yield significant water) in the overall sense; however, parts of the Maquokata contain interbedded carbonate layers which will transmit water.  This is particularly true in the lowermost part of the formation which is a silty, shaly carbonate.  Where most of the Maquoketa has been removed by erosion, and the unit is thin, karst may develop within the carbonate portion and into the underlaying Galena rocks.

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