{"id":6403,"date":"2023-01-04T10:45:46","date_gmt":"2023-01-04T16:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=6403"},"modified":"2023-01-04T10:45:46","modified_gmt":"2023-01-04T16:45:46","slug":"iowa-learning-farms-webinar-lake-drainage-in-iowa-1880-1920","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.iowawatercenter.org\/event\/iowa-learning-farms-webinar-lake-drainage-in-iowa-1880-1920\/","title":{"rendered":"Iowa Learning Farms Webinar: Lake Drainage in Iowa, 1880-1920"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jan. 11 presentation features\u00a0Joe Otto, Director of Special Projects for the Soil and Water Conservation Society, highlighting an era in Iowa agriculture that changed the landscape and gave rise to water conservation consideration<\/b><\/p>\n

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Ames, Iowa<\/b>\u00a0\u2013 The\u00a0Iowa Learning Farms<\/a>\u00a0(ILF)\u00a0conservation webinar taking place Jan. 11 at noon CST will feature\u00a0Joe Otto, director of special projects and partnerships, Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS), and doctoral candidate in history, University of Oklahoma<\/a>. Otto directs operations for over $2 million in federal and state grants, including partnerships with Iowa NRCS and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. As SWCS historian, he works to preserve the history of the Conservation Movement. His doctoral research focuses on the agricultural and environmental history of Iowa, with a focus on drainage water management, drainage districts, and the contested process of planning, building, and maintaining drainage systems.<\/p>\n

Iowa Learning Farms is an Iowa State University Extension and Outreach conservation and water quality education program.<\/p>\n

In the webinar, \u201cLake Drainage in Iowa, 1880-1920,\u201d Otto will offer a retrospective of a time in Iowa\u2019s agriculture industrial development in which drainage of lakes forever changed the state\u2019s landscape and gave rise to the creation of the State Board of Conservation (predecessor to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources) in 1918. He will discuss the goals and controversies surrounding lake drainage and the redefinition of the physical and legal barriers of the state\u2019s numerous depressional lakes. Otto will also cite the sometimes complex conflicts over the benefits of drainage and the ethical stewardship of private lands and public waters.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring this historical period, farmers and landowners established a large patchwork network of drainage infrastructure that continues to operate beneath Iowa\u2019s fields and farms,\u201d said Otto. \u201cReconnecting with this historical moment in Iowa\u2019s agricultural past that is as forgotten as it is brief provides a foundation for understanding some of the water conservation and quality challenges facing us today. Exploring Iowa’s history from the water’s edge makes the past a lot muddier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Participants are encouraged to ask questions of the presenters. People from all backgrounds and areas of interest are encouraged to join.<\/p>\n

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Webinar Access Instructions<\/u><\/b><\/p>\n