Field signs which identify landowners as Rathbun Lake Protectors continue to increase in number throughout the Rathbun Lake

Watershed. Since the landowner recognition program began, nearly 50 of the signslike the sign pictured at right on the Appanoose County farm of Art and Mary Lemley have been installed. The Lemleys were honored at the Rathbun Land and Water Alliances 7th Annual Protect Rathbun Lake Meeting in September along with landowners (pictured at left) from Clarke, Decatur, Monroe, Lucas, and Wayne. Contact Kathleen Chester at 641.203.0946 or by email at chester@sirisonline.com Kyle Kelso, son of 2012 Clarke County Rathbun Lake Protector, Kenlyn Kelso, was interviewed by Bob Quinn November, 27, 2012.

Watershed Outreach

Rathbun Lake Protector Program

January 2013

A newsletter for Rathbun Land and Water Alliance Board members

Volume 8 Issue 1

Exhibits The Cool Water Fish Culture Workshop was held at Honey Creek
Resort State Park January 1416. A display, right, featuring Rathbun Land and Water Alliance project information was exhibited at the workshop. An exhibit was also displayed at the America Water Association, Iowa Section Conference October 2324, shown at bottom right. Rathbun Regional Water Association received a $5,000 grant from CoBank, a member of the Farm Credit System, which provides financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers. The grant will support the Rathbun Land and Water Alliance's activities and will be used together with RRWA's contribution of $10,000 to support the Alliance's Rathbun Lake Protectors' landowner outreach program.

The members and partners of the Rathbun Land and Water Alliance initiated the first activities of the Protect Rathbun Lake Project more than twenty years ago. These early activities focused on water quality monitoring, watershed assessment and planning, and education. Extensive monitoring of water quality in Rathbun Lake and the lakes tributaries has been conducted each year since 1997. Three-years of intensive work resulted in completion of the Rathbun Lake watershed assessment and management plan in 2000. Education activities have developed into the Rathbun Lake Protectors program that recognizes the stewardship efforts of landowners in the watershed. Monitoring, assessment, planning, and education have all supported the targeted application of best management practices for priority land in the watershed by landowners. To date, these practices have prevented close to 40,000 tons of sediment and 170,000 pounds of phosphorus from being carried in runoff each year to Rathbun Lake and its tributaries. Contact Marty Braster at 641.647.2416 or by email at mbraster@rrwa.net Starting in 2013, the Alliance and its partners plan to embark on a new initiative that will set the stage for future Rathbun Lake protection efforts. Alliance members and partners have recently committed the leadership, technical expertise, and financial resources required to develop the Rathbun Lake Water Quality Improvement Plan. Preparation of this plan will involve an increase in water quality monitoring activities, extensive field data collection, and development and application of sophisticated watershed and water quality models. These proposed activities will build on past and current monitoring, assessment, and planning efforts. The Rathbun Lake Water Quality Improvement Plan will include a thorough analysis of water quality conditions in the lake as well as an in-depth assessment of the most important water quality impairments that affect the lake. Development of the plan will also include a detailed evaluation of the impact of best management practices that have been installed by landowners in the watershed. In addition, the plan will provide specific guidance to the Alliance and its partners that will help determine the most effective approach to implementing future efforts to protect Rathbun Lake.

Alliance Matters and Partner News

The Future of Protect Rathbun Lake Efforts

Wallaces FarmerFeatured in the November 2012 issue of Wallaces

Farmer was a story about the important role GIS plays in targeting priority land. Features about the Rathbun Lake Protectors and associated Alliance activities will continue on a quarterly basis in the Conservation Section of the magazine. A Haybale Art Contest was held by Lucas County Tourism in October, 2012. One aspect of the contest was to educate participants about the conservation benefits of hay and pasture land. The water protection actions of the Alliance were featured in the contest materials. Contest Judges, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Northey and IDNR Deputy Director, Chuck Gipp are pictured with the 2012 contest winner at right.

Request for 2013 Alliance Member and Local Partner Supportand Thank You!
The Alliances board of directors would once again like to ask that its members and local partners contribute $200 each to the organization in 2013. These funds are used to help the Alliance complete the organizations financial audit and conduct watershed outreach activities including our annual Protect Rathbun Lake meeting. In 2012, Alliance members and local partners contributed $4,100 to help support these important activities. The board believes these activities are essential for the Alliance to continue to be an effective volunteer-based nonprofit organization. Alliance member RRWA matches dollar-for-dollar the contributions of other Alliance members and local partners. Invoice requests for calendar year 2013 contributions will be sent by mail to each of the Alliances member and local partner organizations. Please contact Marty Braster with any questions regarding this request. Thank you for your organizations continued support of the Rathbun Land and Water Alliance.

Velvets View
Contact Velvet Buckingham at 641.872.1350 or by email at Velvet.Buckingham@ia.nacdnet.net

WIRB and BMP Update

Shown below is the progress of the Iowa Watershed Improvement Review Board funding. Tables located on the opposite page summarize BMPs installed, load reductions achieved in the 39 targeted sub-watersheds, and a summary of financial support.

Table 1: FY2013 summary of BMPs installed and load reductions achieved in the 39 targeted sub-watersheds
July 1, 2012 Dec 31, 2012 Practice Terraces Water & Sediment Basins Units Installed 62,320 ft. 16 no. 4 no. 2 no. 0 ac. 0 ac. 0 ac. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Acres Benefited 525 56 68 879 0 0 0 0 Gross Erosion Reduction Tons/Yr. 1,778 189 95 129 0 0 0 0 Sediment Delivery Reduction Tons/ yr. 1,100 123 167 1,326 0 0 0 0 Phosphorus Delivery Reduction Lbs./Yr. 5,047 331 596 4,262 0 0 0 0

2009WIRB #5 BMP ProgressDecember 31, 2014

Sandy Branch, Goodwater Creek, Hamilton Creek, Chariton River #3, Lower Chariton Creek
Practice Seeding Waterways Terraces Debris Basins Basins Structures Total Grant Obligation $6,000.00 $2,950.00 $129,000.00 $250,000.00 $29,250.00 $51,200.00 $468,400.00 Obligated-Unspent $0.00 $437.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $1,860.98 $2,297.98 Expended $0.00 $3,714.30 $129,345.98 $64,420.47 $34,480.53 $34,281.21 $266,242.49 Available Balance $6,000.00 -$1,201.30 -$345.98 $185,579.53 -$5,230.53 $15,057.81 $199,859.53

2010WIRB #6 BMP ProgressOctober 31, 2014

South Fork Chariton River #1, Upper West Jackson Creek, Upper Jackson Creek, Lost Branch, Chariton River #6
Practice Terraces Debris Basins Total Grant Obligation $100,000.00 $0.00 $100,000.00 Obligated-Unspent $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 Expended $49,338.69 $0.00 $49,338.69 Available Balance $50,661.31 $0.00 $50,661.31

Grade Stabilization Structures Sediment Basin Livestock Exclusion Pasture & Hayland Seeding Grassed Waterways CRP buffer / filter strips Fence Heavy Use Protection Areas Pipeline Tanks Brush Management Nutrient Management TOTALS CUMULATIVE (FFY 04Dec. 31, 2012)

1,530 ac.

2,191 t/y

2,716 t/y

10,238 lbs/y

Table 2: Cumulative summary of BMPs installed and load reductions achieved in the 39 targeted sub-watersheds

2011 WIRB #7 BMP ProgressFebruary 28, 2017

Upper and Lower Dick Creek, Chariton River #4, Chariton River #8
Practice Terraces Debris Basins Grade Stabilization Structures Water Sediment Basins Prioirty Land Conversion Grassed waterways Total Grant Obligation $78,750.00 $0.00 $23,000.00 $11,250.00 $3,750.00 $750.00 $117,500.00 Obligated-Unspent $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 Expended $17,846.25 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $17,846.25 Available Balance $60,903.75 $0.00 $23,000.00 $11,250.00 $3,750.00 $750.00 $99,653.75

Practice Terraces Water & Sediment Basins Grade Stabilization Structures Sediment Basin Livestock Exclusion Pasture & Hayland Seeding Grassed Waterways CRP buffer / filter strips Fence Heavy Use Protection Areas Pipeline Tanks Brush Management Nutrient Management TOTALS

Units Installed 1,227,139 ft. 360 no. 120 no. 12 no. 8 ac. 1,044 ac. 44.8 ac. 20.8 ac. 13,022 ft. 10 no. 3,160 ft. 7 no. 280 ac. 159.7 ac.

Acres Benefited 11,829 1,046 3,629 3,054 8 1,044 626 37.8

Gross Erosion Reduction Tons/Yr. 19,438 1,828 2,295 851 84 4,403 497 46

Sediment Delivery Reduction Tons/ yr. 21,228 2,211 6,402 7,072 32 1,565 510 23

Phosphorus Delivery Reduction Lbs./Yr. 97,037 8,874 24,484 23,944 158 8,271 2,607 103

2012 WIRB #8 BMP ProgressFebruary 28, 2016

Chariton River #5, Chariton River #10, Middle Wolf Creek #2
Practice Seeding Terraces Basins Structures Total Grant Obligation $5,000.00 $66,150.00 $9,000.00 $17,640.00 $97,790.00 Obligated-Unspent $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 Expended $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 Available Balance $5,000.00 $66,150.00 $9,000.00 $17,640.00 $97,790.00

21,275 ac.
NRCS EQIP/ AWEP $2,634,314 $127,571 IDALS-DSC WSPF/ IJOBS $1,761,174 $67,973

29,443 t/y
IDALSDSC IFIP $62,643 $5,000 EPA Watershed Initiative $460,878 $0

39,043 t/y
IDNR Section 319 $1,124,096 $120,693

165,480 lbs/y

Table 3: Summary of financial support for BMP application in targeted sub-watersheds

Total Cost WIRB $1,715,757 $126,065 Landowners $3,649,084 $170,799

The Rathbun Lake Special Project is a partnership of the following individuals, agencies, and organizations: Participating landowners in the Rathbun Lake Watershed; CoBank; Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardships Division of Soil Conservation; Iowa Department of Natural Resources; Iowa State University; Iowa Watershed Improvement Review Board; Southern Iowa Development and Conservation Authority; US Army Corps of Engineers; US Environmental Protection Agency; USDA Farm Service Agency; USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service; Appanoose, Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Monroe, and Wayne Soil and Water Conservation Districts; Appanoose, Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Monroe, and Wayne Counties; Iowa Farm Bureau at the state and county levels; and Rathbun Regional Water Association.

Cumulative (FFY 04-13) FY 2013

$11,425,795 $635,950