Rathbun Land and Water Alliance members and partners include the following individuals, agencies and organizations:

Landowners in the Rathbun Lake Wa-

tershed; Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s 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 Pro-
tection 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.
 Rathbun Land and Water Alliance Board of Directors Rathbun Lake Protectors Program
John Glenn, Alliance President, Rathbun Regional Water Association Kim Francisco, Alliance Vice President, at-large member
Bruce George, Alliance Secretary/Treasurer, at-large member Sharon Redinbaugh, Appanoose County SWCD The Rathbun Lake Protectors Program was developed to recognize landowners in the Rathbun
Jody McDanel, Appanoose County Board of Supervisors Paul Koffman, Monroe County Board of Supervisors Lake Watershed for their outstanding contribution through stewardship efforts to protect
Kevin Luedtke, Lucas County SWCD Clarence Gee, Lucas County Board of Supervisors Rathbun Lake.
John Sellers, Wayne County SWCD Jerry O’Dell, Wayne County Board of Supervisors
Ralph Alshouse, at-large member The Rathbun Lake Protectors are chosen based on past water quality protection efforts as well
as present and planned actions to protect water quality.
• The Alliance’s Board of Directors consists of 11 members.
• Seven of these members are appointed for three-year terms by the Appanoose, Wayne, and Lucas Soil and Water Conservation Soil and Water Conservation Districts in the Rathbun Lake Watershed nominate landowners
Districts and Board of Supervisors and Rathbun Regional Water Association. and present these names to the Rathbun Land and Water Alliance for final selection. Plaques Charles Argo—
Argo—Appanoose
• These seven members were last appointed by their organizations in the beginning of 2005. identifying the Rathbun Lake Protectors are displayed in each county field office. County
• Their terms extend through the end of 2007. “Stewardship of the land
• These seven board members appoint the remaining four at-large board members. Rathbun Lake Protectors for 2006 the counties they represent are as follows: was important to my fa-
• The at-large board members are appointed annually at the board of directors’ first meeting after the beginning of the calendar ther. His actions spoke vol-
year. umes. He paid to have ter-
• Charles Argo of Oskaloosa, Iowa – Appanoose County; races installed on the land
• The board of directors also elects its officers annually at their first meeting after the beginning of the calendar year.
• Jim and Betty Sullivan of Weldon, Iowa – Clarke and Decatur County; he rented because conserva-
• Jeff Sullivan of Shelbyville, Illinois – Decatur County; tion was that important to
SWCD District Conservationists him.”
• Mark Batchelder of Johnston, Iowa – Lucas County;
• Appanoose County—Margaret Cope • Nick and Mike Hunter of Chariton, Iowa – Lucas County;
• Clarke—Dennis Schrodt • Warren Holder of Prole, Iowa – Wayne County; and
• Decatur—Kevin Reynolds • Jimmy Carpenter of Corydon, Iowa – Wayne County.
• Lucas—Jeff Matthias
• Monroe—John Frieden Those selected as Rathbun Lake Protectors for 2007 will be recognized during this evening’s
• Wayne—Mark Fehseke
program.

Rathbun Lake Special Project (RLSP)

Nick Hunter—
Hunter—
Rathbun Regional Water Association—Marty Braster—Environmental management specialist Lucas County
Rathbun Regional Water Association—Velvet Buckingham—Watershed specialist and project coordinator “We aren’t any differ-
IDALS Division of Soil Conservation—Mike Knox—Project coordinator ent than anyone else
Rathbun Regional Water Association—Tyler Jacobsen—GIS specialist who wants the best for
IDALS Division of Soil Conservation—Jeff Pfeifer—RLSP technician the next generation.”
Rathbun Land and Water Alliance—Kathleen Chester—Education and outreach specialist

Aaron Pickens served as project coordinator

for Clarke and Lucas Counties during the
project’s first three years of operation.

He accepted a
transfer within
the Division of Jimmy Carpenter—
Carpenter—
Soil Conservation Wayne County
to a new water “We want the soil to
L-R: Jimmy and Betty Carpenter, Wayne County; Jean and Charles Argo; Appanoose County; John
quality project
Glenn, RRWA executive director; and Betty and Jim Sullivan, Clarke and Decatur County. Not stay on our land.”
in Williamsburg, pictured: Warren Holder, Wayne County; Jeff Sullivan, Decatur County; Mark Batchelder, Lucas
Iowa. County; and Nick and Mike Hunter, Lucas County.

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 Education and Outreach Rathbun Land and Water Alliance
2nd Annual Protect Rathbun Lake Meeting
September 13, 2007
Protect Rathbun Lake road signs Carpenter’s Hall — Chariton, IA
The Alliance recently installed Protect Rathbun Lake signs throughout the
Rathbun Lake Watershed. The signs have a two fold purpose: to AGENDA
encourage those who travel the major roadways to visit the website
www.rlwa.org for more information 6:00 Steak dinner—Lucas County Cattlemen Association
about the various ways they can help
protect the lake; and to encourage land- 7:00 Evening program
owners in the watershed to Ken Root—WHO Radio Farm Broadcaster
contact their Soil and Water Rathbun Lake Special Project Review—Project Staff
Conservation Districts to learn more Rathbun Lake Protector Awards
about what they—as landowners—can Special recognition
do to protect the lake.
8:00 Door prize drawings
Thirteen signs have also been installed Fill out and turn in an evaluation form for additional prize drawing.
around Rathbun Lake at swimming
areas and boat ramps to educate
visitors that they can help protect the lake. The Alliance appreciates the assistance of the US Army Corps of Engineers with the
installation of these signs.
Featured speaker—Ken Root—WHO Radio farm broadcaster
Iowa State Fair
The Iowa Farm Bureau invited the Rathbun Land and Water Alliance to ex- Ken Root is a thirty-three year veteran of broadcasting and has extensive experience in agricultural or-
hibit water quality protection activities in the Farm Bureau Park at the Iowa ganization management and environmental consulting.
State Fair.
He grew up on a small farm near Luther, Oklahoma. He was a 4-H and FFA member with projects in
This is the second year Farm Bureau has invited the Alliance to participate in livestock and public speaking. He attended Oklahoma State University majoring in Agriculture Educa-
their environmental day. The Alliance appreciates the opportunity to show- tion. Ken taught vocational agriculture and was the FFA advisor at Union City, Oklahoma before taking
case the water quality protection efforts taking place in the watershed. his first broadcasting job.

Rathbun Lake project posters Ken was the assistant farm director at WKY radio and Television in Oklahoma City before moving to
To take advantage of shower house Wichita, Kansas in 1981to start the Kansas Agriculture Network. In 1984, he moved to the Kansas
traffic at Rathbun Lake, posters are Broadcasting System and served as president of National Association of Farm Broadcasters in 1986.
displayed in special display cases in five of
the parks. One year later he left broadcasting and moved to New Jersey as manager of public affairs for American Cyanamid Company.
Root formed the National Agri-Chemical Retailers Association while a Cyanamid employee and moved its headquarters to
Posters are updated annually Washington, D.C.
with the most recent Alliance
information. In 1994, he helped develop AgriTalk, the first interactive talk radio program for agriculture and rural America. Root was the
original host of the program and remained in that position until 2001. At that time he became the executive director of the
National Association of Farm Broadcasters. He held that post as chief staff person for membership, convention and promo-
Alliance website tional activities of the organization until joining WHO radio in January of 2005.
A website was developed to
provide another option for Ken Root has won numerous awards during his broadcasting career. He was the 1983 recipient of the Oscar in Agriculture
those interested in finding presented by Dekalb Seed Company. In 1987, he produced a documentary “Russia-A Kansan’s Perspective” that was a finalist
water quality protection in the New York Film Festival.
activities.
Ken Root and his wife Gail have been married for 32 years and reside in Norwalk, Iowa. They are the parents of two children:
Andrea (Root) Ginty, 30 lives in the Washington D. C. area and Russell Root, 28, lives in Kansas City, Missouri.

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 Project Partner News Pasture and Grazing
Strong support for Rathbun Lake protection efforts
The pasture and grazing study in Rathbun Lake Watershed began this spring under the direc-
tion of Dr. James Russell – Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University (ISU)—
Efforts to protect water quality in Rathbun Lake continued to receive strong support from Alliance members and partners during
and features the following components:
the past year. Since the official start of the Rathbun Lake Special Project in late 2003, Alliance members and partners have
committed more than $10 million in financial support for project activities.
• GPS collars track the grazing patterns of the cattle
Almost all of this support is used to share the cost of installing best management practices with landowners in the watershed and to • Grazing patterns determine the impact cattle have on stream
ensure that these landowners have ready access to technical assistance provided by expert field staff. To date, this support has erosion as well as the nutrient levels contributed by cattle waste
enabled landowners to plan and apply practices for more than 11,000 acres in the watershed which will reduce the delivery of • Erosion pins on the stream bank measure erosion
sediment and phosphorus to Rathbun Lake by an estimated 15,400 tons and 61,600 pounds per year respectively. • Weather monitoring stations set up near grazed areas
The table below presents the principal sources and uses of this support for the Rathbun Lake Special Project. • Cooperating landowners record data to help staff study the grazing patterns of the cattle, species
composition of forages, stocking rates, and the amount of time spent near shade or in the stream
• The goal is to encourage best management practices for grazing and land use.
Rathbun Lake Special Project
A Natural Resources and Conservation Services grant funds a
Alliance Members and Part- Project Sup- Principal Uses of Project Sup- study conducted by Iowa State University and the College of
ners port port Veterinary Medicine.
NRCS Special Project EQIP and $2,083,200 BMP cost share. Includes $1,453,900 in
Regular EQIP Special Project EQIP support and
$629,300 in regular EQIP funds. The study includes sampling streams from 13 sites in Lucas and
Wayne Counties every two weeks. Water samples are analyzed for the presence of E-coli
bacteria, the Corona virus, and the Terro-virus.
NRCS Special Project WRP 2,440,000 Wetland restoration and easement costs.
Iowa DSC WPF and WSPF 1,603,900 Field staff support and BMP cost share. At an August 2007 field day at McNay Research Farm, the ISU team reported that cattle do not spend
a lot of time near the stream when there are alternative sources of water and that in a rotationally grazed system the cattle would
EPA/DNR Section 319 Program 1,200,000 Field staff support and BMP cost share. migrate away from the stream to consume more grass to meet the foraging needs.

EPA Targeted Watershed Program 600,000 Field staff support and BMP cost share.
Participating landowners 853,000 BMP cost share.

Iowa WIRB 997,100 BMP cost share.

RRWA 175,300 Field staff support and BMP cost share.
SWCDs IFIP 39,400 BMP cost share.
ISU 25,500 Value of ISU Extension staff support.
Water Quality Monitoring Partners 361,000 Includes RRWA, Iowa DNR, ISU,
ACOE.
Watershed Outreach Partners 178,500 Includes RRWA, Farm Bureau, Iowa
DNR, SWCDs, NRCS.

Total $10,556,900
Joe Sellers leads a discussion about the distillers grain demonstration at the McNay Research Farm Annual Field Day.
2006 audit update:
ISU staff are conducting distiller's grains (DG) storage and feeding demonstrations at the McNay farm south-
The Alliance’s audit firm TD&T Financial Group, P.C has completed the organization’s 2006 financial audit. Alliance members’
west of Chariton. The Leopold Center funded study demonstrates feeding two rates of modified DG to
staff worked closely with representatives of the firm during the audit. The audit document was presented to the Alliance’s board of
replacement heifers and looks at molds or mycotoxins that might grow on the stored co-product.
directors during the board’s June meeting.

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 Best Management Practices
Construction set to begin on strategically located sediment basins
Construction will begin this fall on the first in a series of at least ten large sediment basins in the
Rathbun Lake watershed. The Alliance and its partners have determined that these large basins are
one of the most cost effective methods of reducing the delivery of sediment and associated
contaminants that impair water quality in Rathbun Lake.
The basins are strategically located in the watershed below areas of priority land where the Alliance and its partners have not been able
to achieve the application of in-field best management practices to the extent required to
adequately protect water quality in the lake.
The Alliance plans to construct at least five of the basins this fall with five or more to be constructed in 2008. In addition to
cooperating landowners, Alliance partners that have provided much of the support for construction of the basins are the Iowa
Watershed Improvement Review Board, IDALS Division of Soil Conservation, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and USDA
Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Targeting Priority Land
Value of water quality monitoring
Water quality monitoring in Rathbun Lake and the lake’s tributaries that is conducted by the Alliance and partner organizations
continues to make an important contribution to efforts to protect the lake and other water bodies in the lake’s water-
shed. Monitoring results have recently led to the identification of ten water bodies in the Rathbun Lake watershed on Iowa’s
Draft 2006 List of Impaired Waters.
The list includes the Chariton and South Fork arms of Rathbun Lake due to turbidity. Water bodies included on Iowa’s Im-
paired Waters List receive priority consideration for technical and financial support to carry out water quality protection activi-
ties such as the application of BMPs. For more information about Iowa’s List of Impaired Waters please visit http://
www.iowadnr.com/water/watershed/impaired.html

Mike Knox stands upstream and

downstream to illustrate the
effectiveness of the recently constructed
sediment basin.

Summary of Completed BMP Practices in Targeted Sub-watersheds

From 10/1/03 – 8/31/07

Gross Sediment Phosphorus

Erosion Delivery Delivery
Units Acres Reduction Reduction Reduction
Practice Installed Benefited Tons/Yr. Tons/ yr. Lbs./Yr.
Terraces 404,037 ft. 4200 ac. 4437 6892 30,781
Water & Sediment Basins 109 no. 354 ac. 448 784 3731
Grade Stabilization Structures 59 no. 1392 ac. 959 2369 9635
Livestock Exclusion 8 ac. 8 ac. 84 32 158
Pasture & Hayland Seeding 599 ac. 599 ac. 2402 798 3595
Grassed Waterways 31.8 ac. 503 ac. 454 431 2197
CRP buffer / filter strips 92.7 ac. 93 ac. 591 192 1079
Fence (for improved livestock mgt.) 14,809 ft.
Heavy Use Protection Areas 10 no.
Pipeline 3160 ft.
Tanks 7 no. Using a model, which identifies land with the highest potential to deliver sediment to Rathbun Lake, Tyler
Brush Management 280 ac. Jacobsen, GIS specialist at Rathbun Regional Water Association, designed a mapping system to locate acres in the
Nutrient Management 159.7 ac. watershed most in need of best management practices—priority land.
TOTALS 7149 ac. 9375 t/y 11,498 t/y 51,176 lbs/y

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Rathbun Rathbun Lake
Lake Uses Watershed Facts

Water source for The 354,000 acre

Rathbun watershed is located
Regional Water in the six counties of
Association Appanoose, Clarke,
Decatur, Lucas,
Supplies drinking Monroe, and Wayne
water to nearly
60,000 Nearly 1,000
residents in landowners own or
southern Iowa and farm land in the
northern Missouri watershed

The 11, 000 – acre The lake is managed

lake provides a by the US Army
recreation area for Corps of Engineers
nearly one million
visitors each year The watershed is
divided into 61
Honey Creek sub-watersheds
Resort State Park
is scheduled to Watershed consists
open in 2008 along of 42% cropland,
the shores of 38% grassland, 13%
Rathbun Lake woodland, 15,000
residents, 860 farms,
The lake is used and 10 communities
for fish and wild-
life habitat and
provides water for
the Iowa DNR fish
hatchery

Provides flood
damage
reduction and
storage to
supplement
navigational flows

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