Lakeside project benefits from new loan program

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This article was written and posted on INHF's website in July 2005

The Ventura Cove Enhancement project, located on the Clear Lake shoreline, is one of two Iowa projects to receive awards from the “General Non-point Source Program” under the new Iowa Water Quality Loan Fund.

The loan program, a new component of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, provides low-interest loans for projects that protect water quality. Unlike pinpointed discharges like urban sewage plants or industrial operations, “non-point source pollution” comes from diffuse sources and so is harder both to prevent and correct.

The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF) received the $513,000 loan at 2.5 percent interest for up to three years.  Clear Lake Bank and Trust Company has agreed to participate in the program as INHF’s local lender.  The loan finances INHF’s recent purchase costs for 25 acres of wooded shoreline just west of Ventura Heights along County Road S-14.  The non-profit conservation group is now raising private and public funds to reimburse those costs and repay the loan.

According to Cheri Ungs Grauer of INHF, “The Foundation purchased this site to ensure that the ‘environmental services’ it has long provided—such as riparian habitat, erosion control, water retention and water purification—will continue. Both the woodland and wetlands found on the site slow and filter runoff water from nearby fields and lawns.”

The water quality benefits secured here complement those planned for the other component of the Ventura Cove project, the Ventura Grade Enhancement.  Here the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is adding enhancements to the nearly one-acre site formerly occupied by the Harbor Inn. These projects include a storm water retention and sedimentation pond to catch street runoff and an underground filter basin for the parking lot.

 “We’re trying to make the Ventura Cove project a model for other local and statewide water quality programs,” said Mark C. Ackelson, INHF president. “It’s a model for its multiple environmental benefits, widespread local support and innovative funding methods.”

Access to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund had for years been limited to water utility programs. Recently, INHF and other environmental groups worked to open the state fund for more innovative uses to reduce water pollution at its source. Another loan funded an eco-friendly parking lot by Okoboji. Other potential recipients range from farmers building manure management structures to cities managing their stormwater to counties purchasing wetland flood prevention areas.

“It’s not surprising that the first two loans under the non-point source program went to the Clear Lake and Okoboji areas,” added Ackelson. “All Iowans have a stake in clean water, but lakeside dwellers have an extra appreciation for its value—not only for beauty and pleasure but for economic sustainability.”

Previous news releases: Ventura Conservation Project , Ventura Cover Release and a Personal Editorial

Visit the Ventura Cove home page to learn even more about the Ventura Cove project and ways you can help.

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