Iowa Interstate Rest Area Stabilization Ponds, September 1979

This report is presented in two parts . P a r t I takes a new look at the design of rest area stabilization ponds after nearly 10 years' experience with some of the existing ponds and in the light of new design standards issued by Iowa DEQ. The Iowa DOT is embarking on improvements t o the ponds a t some of the r e s t areas. These improvements may include installation of drainage tile around the ponds to lower the water table below the pond bottom, sealing of the ponds with bentonite clay to reduce the infiltration to limits recently established by Iowa DEQ, and the enlargement of the ponds installation of aeration equipment t o increase the pond capacity. As the Iowa DOT embarks on this improvement program, it behooves them t o make only the improvements that are absolutely necessary to achieve waste water treatment goals. These ponds are subject to an extremely seasonal load and thus the ordinary standards used for pond design are not appropriate. Thus, Part I of the report presents a rationale for design and operation of the ponds which is deemed appropriate for t h e i r unique seasonally loaded character. Part I1 of the report looks a t the feasibility of using wind power for the aeration of the ponds, if and when aeration is deemed necessary.

08012-008 Lake Morris Final Report

Lake Morris is the larger of two lakes which serve as the municipal water supply for the City of Chariton, Iowa. As a site for fishing and boating, it also serves as a significant recreational resource for area residents. Its ability to sustain these uses has been significantly impaired by long-term and ongoing accumulation of sediment and sediment-borne nutrients from both public and private land within the watershed. This accumulation has resulted in reduced water depth, reduced water-holding capacity, reduced quality of the fishery, increased water turbidity, increased growth of undesirable algae, and increased cost of treating the water for municipal uses. Water quality projects undertaken in the past, notably the Lucas Lakes Project of the 1990s, made important progress in reducing sedimentation from privately-owned land higher in the watershed, but paid little attention to land owned by the City of Chariton immediately surrounding the lakes. A recent reassessment of gully erosion within the watershed shows serious, ongoing erosion on that City-owned land. This project proposes a two-part approach to improving the water quality in Lake Morris. First, we propose that a complement of five SolarBee water circulation devices be installed in Lake Morris to provide near-term and continuing improvements in water quality, by inhibiting cyanobacterial growth and thereby removing the need for treatment of the lakes with copper sulfate. Second, we propose the installation of erosion-control structures on primarily City-owned land surrounding the lake, to provide a major reduction in ongoing sedimentation.

09014-010 Lytle Creek Watershed Final Report

Brief Project Summary (no greater than this space allows): Leisure Lake is a 20 acre water body located in northwest Jackson County with a 2,581 acre drainage area. This portion of the Maquoketa Watershed including the lake is a tributary to Lytle Creek which drains into the North Fork Maquoketa River and into the Maquoketa Watershed. Portions of the Lytle Creek and North Fork Maquoketa River are on the 303(d) impaired waterbodies list. The project area includes a community of 370 residential properties and one business that currently has no central waste water collection and treatment system. The County Sanitarian estimates at least 225 of these properties do not have properly operating septic systems and ultimately drain their wastewater into the lake. The purpose of this project is to construct a wastewater collection and treatment facility to improve water quality in the creek and river. The project will eliminate the non-permitted septic systems and construct a new wastewater system to properly treat wastewater prior to its discharge into the waterways.

Audit report on the Water and Waste Disposal Systems for Rural Communities program for the City of Lone Rock, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2014

Audit report on the Water and Waste Disposal Systems for Rural Communities program for the City of Lone Rock, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2014

Final Report for the Iowa Livestock Industry Waste Characterization and Methane Recovery Information Dissemination Project, 2003

The Iowa livestock industry generates large quantities of manure and other organic residues; composed of feces, urine, bedding material, waste feed, dilution water, and mortalities. Often viewed as a waste material, little has been done to characterize and determine the usefulness of this resource. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources initiated the process to assess in detail the manure resource and the potential utilization of this resource through anaerobic digestion coupled with energy recovery. Many of the pieces required to assess the manure resource already exist, albeit in disparate forms and locations. This study began by interpreting and integrating existing Federal, State, ISU studies, and other sources of livestock numbers, housing, and management information. With these data, models were analyzed to determine energy production and economic feasibility of energy recovery using anaerobic digestion facilities on livestock faxms. Having these data individual facilities and clusters that appear economically feasible can be identified specifically through the use of a GIs system for further investigation. Also livestock facilities and clusters of facilities with high methane recovery potential can be the focus of targeted educational programs through Cooperative Extension network and other outreach networks, providing a more intensive counterpoint to broadly based educational efforts.

Evaluation of Carbide Waste Lime for Soil Stabilization, Progress Report, HR-111

A lime by-product from the manufacture of acetylene from calcium carbide will be commercially available in Iowa. Since the cost of carbide waste lime f.o.b. source is only about half that of ordinary commercial lime, this material was investigated for potential uses in soil stabilization. The by-product lime is calcium hydroxide in a water slurry with approximately 40% solid concentration. Its effectiveness at stabilizing soils was checked by comparing with commercial high-calcium and dolomitic monohydrate varieties of lime. This was done by soil strength and plasticity tests in addition to studies of the reaction products by X-ray diffraction and chemical methods.

The State Water Plan 1985

The 1985 State Water Plan was prepared by the Department of Water, Air and Waste Management in response to a 1982 legislative mandate. The report contains recommendations for conservation, priority allocation system, mechanisms to define shortage and initiate the allocation system, better define beneficial use and improving daily management of water rights, well interference and compensation, and groundwater protection strategy.