National Association of Conservation Districts

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

IOWA COUNTY SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT WINS NATIONAL GRANT

WASHINGTON, D.C.—August 26, 2010—The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) congratulates the Iowa County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) for winning a U.S. Department of Agriculture Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG). The Iowa County SWCD was one of 61 projects in 43 states to receive the award, administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service as part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

"This award is an important demonstration of Iowa County Soil and Water Conservation District's ability to deliver tangible results to the local community," said Steve Robinson, NACD president. "We're pleased to see this critical project being recognized at the national level."

The Iowa County SWCD has been granted $167,910 in federal funding to integrate vegetative practices, sediment basins and alternative tile intakes with risk assessment tools to manage and optimize nutrient loads in the Clear Creek, Iowa watershed.

"I'm so pleased that Iowa County SWCD has been selected to receive this grant," said Tim Palmer, Conservation Districts of Iowa president and NACD board member. "Their leadership in innovative approaches to solving local conservation problems will, by example, help other districts faced with similar circumstances. The work in Clear Creek Watershed improves the way of life, not only for local citizens, but also for the thousands of Iowa residents downstream who receive clean water from the Creek."

CIG invests in innovative, on-the-ground conservation technologies and approaches, with the eventual goal of wide–scale adoption to water quality and quantity, air quality, energy conservation, and environmental markets, among other natural resource issues. Click here for more information on the 2010 awards.

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The National Association of Conservation Districts is the non-profit organization that represents the nation's 3,000 conservation districts and 17,000 men and women who serve on their governing boards. For almost 70 years, local conservation districts have worked with cooperating landowners and managers of private working lands to help them plan and apply effective conservation practices. NACD's website is at www.nacdnet.org.