Remsen habitat creation could spark statewide projects

This spring, the first native grass seeds will take root in about 70 acres of land around the Remsen wells.

Cropland on those acres was replaced with native habitat to help keep the water source below the surface purer.

Now state officials are watching the success of this water quality improvement project in hopes that it will be the seed project for others across Iowa.

This week, representatives from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Pheasants Forever, and other agencies met in Le Mars to talk about helping other communities improve their water quality.

Remsen's project dates back to 2007, when the DNR identified Remsen as a priority city, with high nitrate levels of 5 or more parts per billion in their well water.

The DNR proposed a pilot project with Remsen. The goal was to find the source area of those nitrates in the water and take that land out of crop production.

They accomplished that.

Now the land will be planted with native grasses to help provide cleaner water and habitat for wildlife. That will cut down on the fertilizer used on those acres, thus cutting back nitrate levels.

Pheasants Forever is handling the habitat design and planting.

"It's a brand new idea," said Becky Ohrtman of the DNR. "Let's not just put a blanket over an entire area. Let's try to identify a source and focus our resources in that area."

But Ohrtman is a one-person team. Accomplishing these projects across the state by herself would be impossible.

She saw the partnership with Pheasants Forever in Remsen, where members offered to plant habitat, and decided to ask if the group would be interested in much larger-scale cooperation.

Working together makes sense, Ohrtman told those gathered Monday, because the DNR and Pheasants Forever share a goal of protecting water supply.

Improving water supply through habitat improvement is one of Pheasants Forever's primary focuses, according to regional Pheasants Forever representative John Linquist.

"The byproduct is more wildlife, more pheasants," he explained. "The goal is to get people to want to go outside, and enjoy these resources."

In February, Pheasants Forever announced Reload Iowa, a $11.5 million campaign to restore Iowa's pheasant population including improving 1 million acres of wildlife habitat.

About $8.5 million of that money will be used to establish 50 wildlife habitat specialists positions, one in every other county. These specialists, stationed at NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) offices in cooperation with the NRCS, would help landowners know what benefits exist, dollars or otherwise, for putting land into habitat.

Ohrtman sees potential in partnering with these specialists, set to be in place in the next three years, to connect with landowners near wells across the state and hopefully help them change the land from crop production to habitat.

The DNR, she said, has already identified 224 priority communities with high levels of nitrates, with 40 of them being "top priority."

Pheasants Forever representatives at the Monday meeting weren't opposed to the idea.

"Reload Iowa could be a great source to make those contacts and plans locally," Linquist said.

John Peter Koley, president of the local Pheasants Forever chapter, pointed out that, for a farmer to put land into habitat, it has to be worth it to him or her, financially.

Club member Mike Slota suggested communities should buy the land around the well source.

"Otherwise, the day corn hits $7 (per bushel) they're going to take a disc to it and the nitrates will come back," he said.

Communities may be willing to purchase or rent land, the group agreed, if they knew their water might be purer.

Planting native habitat near wells could be a cost-saving option for communities with high nitrate levels in their water compared to the other options, Ohrtman said.

Otherwise, the city could dig a new well, which could cost thousands, and the nitrate levels could still be high.

Or the city could add a nitrate filter system, which could cost millions.

In Remsen, installing and using this kind of filter system would have cost the community $2 million, according to Steve Pick, Remsen utilities operations director.

The city is hoping that planting habitat in the well source areas has prevented the need for that system.

Linquist said he and other Pheasants Forever representatives plan to meet with the DNR to talk about working together.

"We want to see what we can set up as a partnership to roll this out to the rest of the state, to offer it to every community in Iowa," he said. "I think everybody in Iowa is concerned with clean water."

This focus will only be part of Pheasants Forever's habitat drive.

The group may also work with rural water systems to add habitat near their wells.

Linquist explained: in Iowa, total acres equalling an 8-mile strip the width of Iowa are coming out of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which pays farmers rent for keeping acres as habitat.

Those acres are going back into production, and new acres aren't going into CRP at that rate, he said.

"That's one of the reasons we don't have birds," Linquist said. "Currently Iowa is 48th in the nation for habitat. We're not at the bottom, but we're pretty darn close."