Local ag professionals meet to discuss Holland Creek watershed plan

WELLSBURG – Although there aren’t many concrete details yet, a group of more than two dozen local farmers, landowners and conservation officials met last Wednesday night at the Wellsburg Public Library to discuss the establishment of a watershed plan for Holland Creek.
 
The preliminary meeting – sponsored by the Iowa Soybean Association, the Grundy County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Black Hawk Creek Soil and Water Coalition – was held to gauge the interest of local farmers and landowners on their interest in the watershed plan, and to find out firsthand what they would like to see happen with the creek in terms of improvements.
 
Clark Porter was one of several Grundy County landowners present at the meeting.
 
Porter, who established the Black Hawk Creek Water and Soil Coalition to advocate for improved water and soil quality, is all for kick-starting a plan for the Holland Creek Watershed.
 
"We’ve held several public meetings for the [Black Hawk Creek Water and Soil Coalition] so far, and we do that to try to get the public’s input on what they want to see happen with the watershed over, say, 10 years from now or further on into the future,” Porter said. “The Holland Creek Watershed is one sub-watershed of the Black Hawk Creek Watershed, so right now the goal is to start something that will hopefully coalesce into a more cohesive picture and plan for the watershed.”
 
The Black Hawk Creek Watershed, which encompasses the Holland Creek sub-watershed, stretches over 217,000 acres across Grundy, Tama and Black Hawk counties before spilling into the Cedar River in Waterloo.
 
According to the DNR, it’s listed as an impaired waterway due to elevated E. coli bacteria levels, and it delivers an average of 2,720 tons of nitrates annually into the Cedar, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
 
Holland Creek itself had relatively average nitrate levels at the time of the last survey, though it is important to look at the bigger picture.
 
“Water health is critical for our future,” Porter said. “We know we have to do a better job taking care of our water because it’s not just ‘somebody else’s problem.’ We know that it’s a circle and everything cycles back. Plus, as farmers we know good water makes good soil, so healthy water is of interest to farmers to preserve their liveliness and their legacy.”
 
For the full story, see this week's Grundy Register.