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Iowa State University Gets $600K in Grants to Improve Gulf of Mexico

Release Date: 03/31/2009
Contact Information: Kris Lancaster, 913-551-7557 or 816-719-6375 (cell for event only), lancaster.kris@epa.gov

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Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., March 31, 2009) - Iowa State University has been awarded three grants totaling $600,000 through EPA's national Targeted Watersheds Grant Program to reduce pollutants in Iowa watersheds that contribute to the oxygen-depleted zone in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

The selected three watershed projects include the Raccoon River, Walnut Creek and Boone River. The watershed projects will support agricultural conservation measures and create a variety of innovative programs to reduce water pollution.

"EPA is committed to protecting our nation's watersheds," said Acting Regional Administrator William Rice. "The three watersheds identified by Iowa State University helps focus the agencies' efforts to improve water quality, which will result in a reduction of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment that reaches the Gulf of Mexico."

EPA initiated the Targeted Watersheds Grant Program in 2002 to encourage successful community-based approaches to protect and restore the nation's watersheds. Watershed health is important to providing clean, safe water where Americans live, work and play. So far, more than $55 million has been provided through the Targeted Watershed Grants.

WHO: EPA Region 7 Water, Wetlands and Pesticides Division Director Art Spratlin; Director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Rich Leopold; and Associate Dean of Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Gerald Miller

WHAT: EPA grant announcement

WHEN: Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

WHERE: Raccoon River Park Nature Lodge, 2500 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50265. The following Web site provides a map of the park: http://www.wdm-ia.com/Index.aspx?page=219

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Learn more about the Targeted Watersheds Grant Program

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