March 29, 2024

New group hopes to help protect Iowa’s waterways

Iowa Agricultural Water Alliance backed by three of Iowa’s largest ag groups

Three of Iowa’s largest agricultural support organizations recently partnered up to create the Iowa Agricultural Water Alliance, with the intent of helping increase public and farmer awareness on the condition of Iowa’s waterways and effects to protect it.

The nonprofit organization was officially launched in late August and is supported by the Iowa Soybean Association, Iowa Pork Producers and Iowa Corn Growers Association, and on Sept. 15 IAWA appointed Sean McMahon as executive director.

While IAWA has a number of goals, its main objective is to increase awareness and get more farmers to take advantage of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, which was created by the Iowa Legislature to help reduce the number of nitrates and phosphorus loads in water.

In 2013, the state approved $22.4 million in funds to continue supporting the strategy, and it encourages farmers to use more cover crops, installing bioreactors — a buried trench filled a carbon source material that helps filter nitrates in water, nitrogen inhibitors, restoring wetlands and by either using conservation tillage practices or going no till.

According to the alliance, some of its other goals are to support Iowa State University and other entities that want to research more practical environmental protection efforts by using credible data, secure funding from both private and public sources to fund its mission and educating the public and key decision makers on the need for more flexibility in nonpoint source pollution flexibility.

“The Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance will help coordinate the efforts of three of the leading agricultural associations in Iowa by helping farmers adopt conservation practices. The fact that the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance is a farmer-led initiative that involves multiple agricultural associations makes it unique,” McMahon said.

One of McMahon’s key roles as executive director will be helping to implement stronger conservation efforts among a number of different entities to help improve overall water quality in the state.

“I will be working with farmers, agricultural associations, agribusinesses, other corporations, state, federal and local agencies and other committed partners to help increase adoption of practices like conservation tillage, improved nutrient management, cover crops, nutrient treatment wetlands, bioreactors and others,” McMahon said.

“The Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance will help Iowa’s farmers to improve their nutrient stewardship and soil health as well as their agronomic and environmental performance. I look forward to recruiting additional partners and supporters of the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance who are equally committed to the success of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy and improving Iowa’s water quality.”

The Cumming native has a long history with working on conservation efforts in agriculture and most recently served as the director for the Nature Conservancy’s North American Agriculture Program.

Now that the alliance is up and running, the program doesn’t plan to supplant any other programs but rather at as a supporting body and help advance the agenda of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.

McMahon said that any party interested in partying with IAWA my contact him at smcmahon@iowaagwateralliance.org.

Contact Senior Staff Writer Ty Rushing at (641) 792-3121 ext. 6532 or at trushing@newtondailynews.com.