Iowa Waterways

While I was in Iowa last week, we were in my uncle's living room watching deer one evening who were in the waterway. I had seen these grass strips between the fields of corn and beans before but had never given them a second thought. This time I asked what they were. Apparently, Iowa pays farmers to keep a natural grassy area between fields to help keep down soil erosion and fertilizer run-off. They are highly regulated areas. They intrigued me though so I decided to do some research into them. I am going to spend the next couple of posts sharing what I have found out.

In this post, I would like to share some statistics with you. First, I would like to preface them by saying that I am sure you can quote similar statistics for most other states. The impressive thing is Iowa is realizing what a valuable resource their water system is and doing some things to protect them. These statistics come from a booklet I found on the internet. It is from the Iowa Association of Naturalists and is called Iowa Waterways.

1) By 1870, more than 1000 dams impeded the seasonal migration of fish in Iowa waterways. .
2) Iowa has lost more than 95%  of its original wetland habitats.
3) All of Iowa's larger rivers and streams have undergone some channelization or impoundment.
4) By 1930, more than 1000 miles of Iowa streams had been erased through channelization.
5) Siltation has had a major impact on an estimated 92% of Iowa's waterways.
6) Nutrient (fertilizers) pollution has had an impact on almost all of Iowa's waterways.

I will share some of the clean water programs they have in place to change these statistics for the better in next couple of posts.