Excerpt
Constructed treatment wetlands—an innovative conservation practice advocated by the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA)—can be an exceedingly cost-effective approach to reducing nitrogen loadings in watersheds dominated by tile-drained cropland. The practice has potential to enhance water quality in regions such as the Corn Belt that are extensively tile drained.
The treatment wetland practice is part of the Iowa Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), a partnership between FSA and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Initiated in 2001, the Iowa CREP encourages farmers to adopt practices that ameliorate the effects of tile-drained lands on water quality. Tile drainage systems in North Central Iowa are targeted for enrollment. In addition to Conservation Reserve Program annual rental payments and 50% cost-share payments, producers are offered incentive payments and easements to encourage participation.
The Iowa CREP project demonstrates the effectiveness of situating treatment wetlands at suitable locations along tile drainage systems, such as the headwaters of small streams, to intercept and denitrify water from tile drainage.
The Iowa CREP is currently authorized to enroll 9,000 ac (3,642 ha) of treatment wetlands on tile-drained cropland. These wetlands consist of the treatment pool itself and a grassed buffer around it to prevent sediment from …
Footnotes
Richard Iovanna and Skip Hyberg are agricultural economists for the USDA Farm Service Agency. William Crumpton is an associate professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
- © 2008 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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