Field Tours
All tours will take place on Friday, September 2. Tour details, departure, and return times are subject to change. Final details will be provided at www.swcs.org/22IDS. Be sure to register early to secure a seat. IDS reserves the right to cancel a tour that does not have the minimum number of attendees and to change the maximum number of attendees.
Tour 1: Field to Stream: Researching Conservation Drainage Performance
Friday, September 2
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Tickets: $75 early/$100 late (after July 1)
This tour will head north from Des Moines to the outskirts of the City of Ames. Ames is the home of Iowa’s land grant university, Iowa State University. On this tour, attendees will hear from researchers about buffers, wetlands, and drainage water recycling projects in the central Iowa district. Lead investigators will share research progress, challenges, and questions.
The morning part of the tour will take place south of Ames at Uthe Farm. As part of Iowa State University, the farm is intended to be an educational resource for students and the community. During the morning part of the tour, there will be three stops. The first stop will be at the “Comparison of Biofuel Cropping Systems (COBS)” long-term research plots. Established in 2008, this project seeks to identify and develop cropping systems that produce large quantities of biofuel feedstocks while protecting soil and water resources and increasing biodiversity on the Iowa landscape. From here, there will be a short drive to the second and third stops, where attendees will hear about two edge-of-field drainage research projects: restored oxbows and bioreactors.
Concluding the morning session, the tour will head into Ames for lunch at Reiman Gardens. Reiman Gardens is a 17-acre (6.9 ha) university-owned public garden that consists of a dozen distinct garden areas, an indoor conservatory, and an indoor butterfly "wing."
The afternoon part of the tour will take place north of Ames and will have three stops. During this session, attendees will learn about wetlands, drainage recycling, and saturated buffers.
Tour 2: Farm to City: Scaling Up Implementation of Nutrient Reduction Practices (Full Day Tour)
Friday, September 2
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Tickets: $75 early/$100 late (after July 1)
This tour will look at local challenges in Iowa of upstream nutrient loss from drained agricultural land and approaches to scale up the implementation of nutrient reduction practices. Attendees will hear from a variety of stakeholders working on practice implementation.
Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) is the state’s largest drinking water provider serving over 600,000 customers in the Des Moines metro area and central Iowa. In 1991, DMWW completed one of the largest nitrate removal facilities (operating capacity of 10 million gallons per day) to remove nitrate from their Raccoon and Des Moines River source water. Attendees will tour the DMWW Fleur Drive Water Treatment and learn about the utility’s water quality challenges and efforts to improve upstream water quality.
Attendees will then travel to a farm in northern Polk County that has implemented several nutrient removal and other conservation practices. Practices at the site include no-till, cover crops, prairie strips, saturated riparian buffers, and a denitrifying bioreactor. The most recent of these practices were installed using a “batch and build” concept that greatly increased the pace of practice implementation within the project area. Attendees will be able to see the different practices, learn more about the project, and hear from the various stakeholders (landowner; contractor; technical assistance providers; and county, state, and federal government staff) that were instrumental in its success.
After the morning session, the tour will head into Ames for lunch at Reiman Gardens. Reiman Gardens is a 17-acre (6.9 ha) university-owned public garden that consists of a dozen distinct garden areas, an indoor conservatory, and an indoor butterfly “wing."
The afternoon portion of the tour will explore market-based approaches to scaling up the implementation of practices to reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient losses. Attendees will hear from a city exploring using market-based approaches to achieve water quality outcomes, state regulators that provide the framework for this approach, and the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund that provides financial incentives to farmers for implementing practices that provide climate and water quality outcomes by selling those outcomes to public and private beneficiaries. Attendees will then visit a farm that participates in the Soil and Water Outcomes fund and has adopted other water quality and climate adaptation practices.
Tour 3: Farm to City: Scaling Up Implementation of Nutrient Reduction Practices (Half Day Tour)
Friday, September 2
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Tickets: $50 early/$75 late (after July 1)
This tour will look at local challenges in Iowa of upstream nutrient loss from drained agricultural land and approaches to scale up the implementation of nutrient reduction practices. Attendees will hear from a variety of stakeholders working on practice implementation.
Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) is the state’s largest drinking water provider serving over 600,000 customers in the Des Moines metro area and central Iowa. In 1991, DMWW completed one of the largest nitrate removal facilities (operating capacity of 10 million gallons per day) to remove nitrate from their Raccoon and Des Moines River source water. Attendees will tour the DMWW Fleur Drive Water Treatment and learn about the utility’s water quality challenges and efforts to improve upstream water quality.
Attendees will then travel to a farm in northern Polk County that has implemented several nutrient removal and other conservation practices. Practices at the site include no-till, cover crops, prairie strips, saturated riparian buffers, and a denitrifying bioreactor. The most recent of these practices were installed using a “batch and build” concept that greatly increased the pace of practice implementation within the project area. Attendees will be able to see the different practices, learn more about the project, and hear from the various stakeholders (landowner; contractor; technical assistance providers; and county, state, and federal government staff) that were instrumental in its success.
Attendees will return to the Marriott Des Moines Downtown for lunch on their own.