Cleaner water for
Iowa's Great Lakes

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This article was written and posted on INHF's website in March 1999. 

Protecting the water quality of Iowa’s lakes and rivers means protecting the water which flows into them—whether it flows from Iowa or another state.

For the past year, INHF has been negotiating a group of complicated land trades along Minnesota’s Loon Creek. Loon Creek originates from Loon Lake in Minnesota. As it flows southward, the creek picks up soil sediment, chemicals and fertilizer draining from adjacent land. This water flows into Big Spirit Lake, Iowa’s largest natural lake. Loon Lake/Loon Creek comprise almost half the watershed for Big Spirit Lake and 23% of the watershed for the combined Iowa Great Lakes.

Once INHF completes transactions with three landowners, 160 acres will be transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They will restore wetlands and establish buffer strips of native prairie, grasses along both sides of the short creek to filter water that drains from the land. The new public land will provide wildlife habitat, birdwatching, hiking, hunting—and cleaner water.

The project is a classic example of why private groups are essential to protecting public places. Iowa’s public agencies can’t work on Loon Creek because they can’t cross state lines. Minnesota agencies aren’t very interested in a watershed which so quickly leaves their state. Though INHF is committed to Iowa’s natural heritage, sometimes nature forces us to think (and work) outside the box.

For more information about Foundation news, e-mail Cathy Engstrom, Director of Communications, or call (515) 288-1846.

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