Soil Health & Watershed Groups

Turkey River Headwaters & Chihak Creek Water Quality Project

Turkey River Headwaters & Chihak Creek Watershed

Northeast Iowa

Turkey River Headwaters & Chihak Creek Water Quality Project.7_cover crop 2

Contact

Contact: Hunter Slifka - Watershed Project Coordinator: Howard SWCD

Phone: (641) 220-5649

Mission

We work with farm operators & landowners in the Turkey River headwaters & Howard County to implement conservation practices and techniques to eliminate nutrients entering our water bodies.

News & Stories

Corn, Cows and…Trout
Howard County Leading the Way With Water Quality Efforts

Watershed or Service Area Map

About Us

Growing a Group:

  • Active group 5+ years
  • Book sharing
  • Farmer-led group
  • Formed a new group
  • Fundraising
  • Grant writing
  • Member-led project planning
  • Neighbor to neighbor mentoring
  • Personal invitations to neighbors to grow the group
  • Other

Collaboration:

  • Actively participated in local watershed planning process
  • Collaboration with agriculture or conservation organizations
  • Collaboration with local ag retailers and/or crop advisors
  • Collaboration with local civic groups
  • Collaboration with local college or university
  • Other

Outreach:

  • Engage local schools
  • Media interviews
  • Presentation to groups
  • Promotion to media outlets
  • Social media cultivation
  • Video Development
  • Website Development
  • Other

Land & Water:

  • Bioreactors
  • Cover crops
  • Crop diversification
  • Floodplain restoration
  • Grass waterways
  • Grazing
  • Nutrient management & retention
  • Perennial crops
  • Prairie strips
  • Saturated buffers
  • Stream buffers
  • Stream restoration
  • Water retention basins
  • Wetlands
  • Other

Assessment & Data:

  • Agronomic data collection
  • Field edge data collection
  • Field walkovers
  • Stream monitoring
  • Other

Events:

  • Fishing event
  • Farm field days
  • Paddle event
  • Upstream or downstream connections/visits
  • Booth at local event
  • Other

Fishers & Famers Partnership Program Participation:

  • Workshop
  • Neighbor to Neighbor Radio Podcast
  • Boots on the Ground Online Conversation
  • Group Presentation
  • Project Tour
  • Featured in a Story
  • Featured in a Video
  • Meetings
  • None

Additional Photos

Persistent, collaborative work on the land is changing stream biology in this watershed, where reintroduced brook trout now naturally spawn and reproduce.

Want to be in this directory?

Fill out and submit this form to our coordinator, who will review it and contact you to confirm details. We look forward to hearing from you!