Plymouth County
Soil & Water Conservation District
Deep Creek-Willow Creek
Water Quality Initiative Project
History
The Deep Creek Water Quality Initiative Project began in 2014, by 2020 the projected extended to include Willow Creek. In 2023, the project expanded to include Mink Creek and West Branch of the Floyd River. This project extends across Plymouth, Sioux, Cherokee, and O'Brien County and flows into one of the most polluted rivers in Iowa, the Floyd River.
The goal of this project is to better the water quality of these watersheds. Due to the increasing agricultural activities can clearly be seen in the Deep Creek-Willow Creek watershed. The Deep Creek-Willow Creek watershed is currently on the List of Impaired Waters due to not meeting the Aquatic Life intended uses as determined during Iowa Department of Natural Resources routine investigations in 2007. Many streams, creeks and rivers in Northwest Iowa experience degradation by agricultural activities, producing increased sedimentation, low habitat heterogenicity and poor water quality. These degraded waterbodies are a source of drinking water for local communities and are a crucial habitat for native flora and fauna.
Goals and Cost Shares
The Deep Creek-Willow Creek promotes and demonstrates conservation practices outlined in the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy to protect and improve water quality within our project area. This project prioritizes information and education opportunities, community and partner engagement and offers cost-share payments for targeted conservation practices to eligible producers and landowners.
With a large amount of highly erodible land, or HEL, the promotion of management practices such as cover crops, no-till and low disturbance manure injection have been successful throughout the Deep Creek-Willow Creek watershed. Structural Practices have also found their way onto our landscape with the installation of a saturated buffer and a denitrifying bioreactor within the watershed.
Outreach
As we continue to find ways to educate and increase interest, we will rely on our relationships with producers and stakeholders whose experience can serve as a local resource for local producers.
Many participants have relied on the information at field days and farmer meetings to encourage them to implement conservation in their own systems.
If you are a producer in the Deep Creek-Willow Creek watershed, you may be eligible for cost share opportunities. Give Plymouth County Soil & Water Conservation District a call to learn more!
