On the tenth [business] day of Christmas, the Iowa Water Center gave to me…descriptions for the breakout session Nutrient Management.
The following presentations will take place at the Iowa Water Conference in Ames on the morning of Thursday, March 24, 2016. Registration for the conference will open in January.
Urban-Rural Water Quality Partnerships
Dustin Miller, General Counsel, Iowa League of Cities and Jonathan Gano, Public Works Director, City of Des Moines; moderated by Sean McMahon, Executive Director, Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance
Increasingly, Iowa cities are expressing interest in partnering with farmers to improve water quality. Municipal Waste Water Treatment facilities recognize that they can meet future permit obligations in a far more cost-effective manner if they invest in conservation practices such as saturated buffers, bioreactors and nutrient treatment wetlands, provided that they receive credits for the resulting nutrient loading reductions to apply to their future permit obligations. Additionally, urban partners such as the Greater Des Moines Partnership (GDP) are interested in finding solutions to water quality. Learn about innovative new strategies and partnerships to create new revenue streams for conservation.
Targeted Variable Rate Fertilizer Application: A rare win for water quality and farmers
Rebecca Kluckhohn, P.E., Principal, Wenck Associates, Inc.
Results of a pilot project illustrate that cost share and non-government enrollment processes motivated farmers to apply fertilizer at a variable rate based on soil test results. Changes in fertilizer application, crop yields, nutrient export and cost savings were tracked.
Real-time continuous nitrate monitoring provides insights into N loss mechanisms
Caroline Davis, Assistant Research Scientist, IIHR-University of Iowa
University of Iowa’s real-time monitoring network and water quality information system (WQIS) provide insights into N loss mechanisms, and help explain why stream N varies between watersheds and calendar periods. The on-line user tool disseminates this data to the public.
Runoff Risk: A Decision Support Tool for Nutrient Application Timing
Dustin Goering, Hydrologist, North Central River Forecast Center, National Weather Service
Current and proposed expansion of a decision support tool leveraging NWS real-time modeling to alert farmers and applicators of future unsuitable conditions for nutrient application. Successful adoption could lower nutrient losses from fields and provide economic as well as environmental benefits.