Flooding will be reduced this spring thanks to the Iowa farmers who are voluntarily restoring nearly 3,000 acres of frequently-flooded cropland to wetlands through the USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service. The cost-sharing funds are provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or ARRA.
The easements are valued at nearly $9 million, said Rich Sims, State Conservationist with NRCS in Iowa. "As spring approaches, these acres will protect communities and farm ground by helping to reduce the potential of downstream flooding near the easement areas," says Sims.
NRCS bought the 31 permanent, floodplain-protection easements from willing landowners that gave the USDA agency authority to restore and enhance floodplain functions and values such as fish and wildlife habitat, water quality, flood water retention, ground water recharge and open space. In the long term, the easements will also reduce federal disaster assistance payments, increase carbon sequestration with permanent vegetative cover, and safeguard lives and property from floods, drought, and erosion.
Restoration work to begin as soon as March if weather allows
Easements are located in the following counties: Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Carroll, Chickasaw, Clayton, Delaware, Fayette, Hancock, Iowa, Kossuth, Louisa, Lucas, Mahaska, Scott, Washington and Winneshiek.
Restoration work will begin as soon as March if weather conditions allow. All restoration work must be completed in the next six months.
Sims says NRCS anticipates closing on eight additional ARRA-funded easements worth another $6 million in the next several weeks in Iowa. These easements include 2,000 acres.
Some $145 million was available nationally through ARRA to restore an estimated 60,000 acres of frequently flooded land across the nation and create jobs in survey work, real estate, engineering, construction, and the sale and installation of native trees and plants.
"President Obama's Recovery Act has helped create jobs and lay a new foundation for economic growth during the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression," says U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "USDA has used Recovery Act funding create badly-needed jobs and stimulate local economies, help farmers and rural businesses make it through tough times, ensure that struggling families can put food on the table, and build and revitalize critical infrastructure in rural communities across America."
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