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NONPOINT SOIREE SICCESS STORY
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Watershed Work Restores Native Freshwater Mussels in a Segment of
the Upper Iowa River
Waterbody Improved With increasing amounts of soil washing in, the scenic Upper Iowa
River was struggling to support the native freshwater mussels living
in its waters, which landed three river segments on Iowa's impaired waters list in 2002. But this wasn't
an overnight change; studies showed the mussel population declined between 1984 and 1998 largely
due to extra sediment and nutrients washing into the river from row-cropped fields in the watershed.
The Coldwater/Pine Creek Watershed Project helped farmers and landowners install conservation
practices that reduced sediment loading to the river and improved the habitat for mussels. After a
2012 study showed mussel populations had rebounded, the aquatic life impairment was removed from
the state's list of impaired waters for one segment of the Upper Iowa River in 2014 (just downstream
from the confluences with Coldwater and Pine creeks).
Problem	I
2
The Upper Iowa River basin drains 604,901 acres	|f
in northeastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota	^
(Figure 1). The Upper Iowa River has 60.6 miles of High	c
Quality Waters and 183.9 miles of High Quality Resource
Waters, demonstrating exceptionally better quality than s;
the levels specified in Iowa's water quality standards and g-
having exceptional recreational and ecological impor-
tance. Additionally, over 73 miles of the Upper Iowa River
is designated as an Iowa Protected Waters Area. Located
in the "Driftless Area," a hilly landform region missed by
recent glaciers, the Upper Iowa River is the only Iowa
river to be nominated for the national Wild and Scenic
Rivers Program. Canoeing the Upper Iowa River has been
listed as one of the top 100 adventures in the United
States by National Geographic Adventure Magazine.
The Upper Iowa River draws tens of thousands of people
annually for recreational activities including canoeing,
kayaking, tubing, bicycling, hunting, fishing, wildlife
watching and camping. The watershed includes many
small- to medium-sized farms, mostly dairy, beef or row
crop operations. Land use in the watershed includes more
forest and pastureland than most other large watersheds
in Iowa.
A freshwater mussel survey done in the Upper iowa River
in 1984 found 13 species of mussels. A follow-up survey
done in 1998 only found four species of mussels, which
Figure 1. The Coldwater/Pine Creek watersheds are within
the Upper Iowa River basin.
MINNESOTA
IOWA

FILLMORE
COUNTY
MINNESOTA
IOWA
. Coldwater & Pine
|Creek Project Area
HOWARD
COUNTY
WINNESHIEK
COUNTY
Project area within Upper Iowa Watershed
Project area within Iowa
*
Delisted Segment
of Upper Iowa River
Legend
©>UpperIowa River Watershed Boundary (HUC8)
C> Iowa's Coldwater & Pine Creek Watershed Project Areas
Coldwater & Pine Creek Watersheds in Minnesota (Non-Project Area)
Delisted Stream Segment
& Publicly-owned Land	012345 smh«

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Figure 2. Mussel habitat has improved in the Upper Iowa
River near Bluffton, Iowa.
triggered impairment of the river's aquatic life designated
use. As a result, three segments of the Upper Iowa River
were placed on Iowa's impaired waters list for sediment-
siltation and nutrients in 2002. In the segment that was
delisted in 2014, five species were found in 1984, while
no live mussels were found in 1998.
Story Highlights
Two tributaries of the Upper Iowa River—Coldwater
Creek and Pine Creek—are trout streams designated as
Class (B) Coldwater, High Quality, and Resource Waters
by the State of Iowa. These tributaries drain a combined
land area of more than 60 square miles in Minnesota and
Iowa. The iowa portion of the combined basin includes
22,313 acres, or almost 35 square miles. Scientists
mapping karst features have documented several
sinkholes and losing stream segments (i.e., segments
that lose water volume due to infiltration as they flow
downstream) in both the Coldwater Creek and Pine Creek
watersheds. Both creeks have been shown to drain to
the underground river in Coldwater Cave. Therefore, for
watershed protection purposes, the two watersheds
were considered as one.
Concerns about water quality in Coldwater and Pine
creeks, and as well as in the Upper Iowa River down-
stream, led to the formation of the watershed project
in 2006, which was administered by the Winneshiek
County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) in
Decorah. About 49 of 85 landowners in the watershed
(57%) participated in the project by adopting conserva-
tion practices on their land. Popular practices included
grassed waterways (80 acres), riparian filter strips (138
acres), sinkhole filter strips (35 acres), cover crops (343
acres), streambank protection (320 feet), riparian corridor
fencing to exclude cattle from the streams (2.1 miles), and
Figure 3. The threatened creek heelsplitter mussel has
reappeared in the Upper Iowa River.
rotational grazing. "Even more than a decade later, most of
these practices are still in place, demonstrating the com-
mitment of the landowners to conservation," said former
Coldwater/Pine Creek Project Coordinator Corey Meyer.
Results
Practices adopted by 49 different producers through the
Coldwater/Pine Creek Project reduced sediment delivery
by about 6,223 tons per year (415 dump truck loads
annually). The reduced sediment delivery to this segment
of the Upper Iowa River improved the habitat for native
mussels (Figure 2). The Iowa Department of Natural
Resources' (DNR's) Statewide Mussel Survey, funded by a
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Clean Water
Act (CWA) section 319 grant, showed that the number of
mussel species in the Upper Iowa River segment just down-
stream from Coldwater and Pine creeks had rebounded
from zero in 1998 to six In 2012. One of the species found,
the creek heelsplitter (Lasmigona compressa), is listed by
the State of Iowa as threatened (Figure 3).
Partners and Funding
Funding and technical assistance to the Coldwater/Pine
Creek Project was provided by the Winneshiek SWCD, the
Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship's
Watershed Protection Fund ($381,160) and Water
Protection Fund ($302,688), the U.S. Department of
Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (gen-
eral: $20,000; Environmental Quality Incentive Program:
$202,965) and Farm Service Agency (Conservation
Reserve Program: $203,173), Iowa Resource Enhancement
Assistance Program funds ($4,406), and private landowners
($295,752). Project funding totaled $1,407,145. The Iowa
DNR statewide mussel survey was funded by a $253,060
USEPA CWA section 319 grant.
* m1
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©
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-19-001NN
November 2019
For additional information contact:
Jennifer Kurth
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
515-725-8381 • jennifer.kurth@dnr.iowa.gov

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