2025 Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference

AUTHORS: Josh Balk. Iowa Department of Natural Resources

ABSTRACT: For 20 years now, the Dry Run Creek Watershed Improvement Project in Cedar Falls, Iowa has worked to implement beneficial conservation practices throughout its diverse landscape. These efforts are to address local water quality issues, including a stream biological impairment (both diversity and quantity of benthic macroinvertebrates and fish populations). Primarily targeting urban stormwater runoff with connected impervious surfaces as well as stream sedimentation from soil erosion, this has created partnership opportunities with landowners from many different walks of life. Through these efforts, measurable progress is being made in the overall health of the watershed. Scopes have expanded to integrate community volunteers, climate mitigation practices, habitat improvement, and more. This presentation will focus on the accomplishments of the watershed project, the challenges along the way, plans for the future, as well as actionable steps that can be replicated elsewhere to achieve similar goals.