A Review of the State's Leased Space and the Leasing Process, General Services Enterprise of the Department of Administrative Services, July 1, 1998 through June 30, 2003

Other Audit Reports - State Leasing

Calibration and Validation of SWAT for the Upper Maquoketa River Watershed, June 2005

A validation study has been performed using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model with data collected for the Upper Maquoketa River Watershed (UMRW), which drains over 16,000 ha in northeast Iowa. This validation assessment builds on a previous study with nested modeling for the UMRW that required both the Agricultural Policy EXtender (APEX) model and SWAT. In the nested modeling approach, edge-offield flows and pollutant load estimates were generated for manure application fields with APEX and were then subsequently routed to the watershed outlet in SWAT, along with flows and pollutant loadings estimated for the rest of the watershed routed to the watershed outlet. In the current study, the entire UMRW cropland area was simulated in SWAT, which required translating the APEX subareas into SWAT hydrologic response units (HRUs). Calibration and validation of the SWAT output was performed by comparing predicted flow and NO3-N loadings with corresponding in-stream measurements at the watershed outlet from 1999 to 2001. Annual stream flows measured at the watershed outlet were greatly under-predicted when precipitation data collected within the watershed during the 1999-2001 period were used to drive SWAT. Selection of alternative climate data resulted in greatly improved average annual stream predictions, and also relatively strong r2 values of 0.73 and 0.72 for the predicted average monthly flows and NO3-N loads, respectively. The impact of alternative precipitation data shows that as average annual precipitation increases 19%, the relative change in average annual streamflow is about 55%. In summary, the results of this study show that SWAT can replicate measured trends for this watershed and that climate inputs are very important for validating SWAT and other water quality models.

Cooperative Lakes Area Monitoring Project-Upper Gar Lake, 2007

Water fact sheet for Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Geological Bureau.

Report on a review of Upper Des Moines Opportunity, Inc. (UDMO) for the period October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2007

Report on a review of Upper Des Moines Opportunity, Inc. (UDMO) for the period October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2007

Space Utilization and Building Study for the Department of General Services, October 9, 2000

Purposes of this Report: • Recommend the most logical and economical options to address state governmental space needs in the Polk County metropolitan area to the year 2010. • Include building size, location, phasing, financing, method of project delivery and estimated cost. • Develop a software tool to compare costs of leasing vs. ownership of space. Methodology: Identify: 1. Current amount and location of owned and leased space, by agency; 2. Types of space and whether best located on or off of the Capitol Complex; 3. Utilization of space, noting over-crowding and under-utilization; 4. Current number of workstations for full and part time employees, Personnel Employment Organization (PEO) workers, contractors, interns, etc.; and, 5. History of staff levels to assist in the prediction of staff growth. Scope: This report focuses on 10 state-owned buildings located on the Capitol Complex and 48 leased spaces in the Polk County metropolitan area. (See Figures 1 and 2.) • Due to a separate space study under way by the Legislature, implications of area and staff for the State Capitol building are included only for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer, Secretary of State, Auditor and the Department of Management. • Because it is largely a museum building that does not have office space available for other agencies, the area and staff of the Historical Building are not fully addressed. • Only the parking implications of the new Judicial Building are included in this study because the building space is under the jurisdiction of the Judicial Branch and not available for other agencies. Several state-owned buildings are not included in the scope of this report, generally because they have highly focused purposes, and their space is not available for assignment to other agencies. Several leased locations are not included for similar reasons, including leases that do not fall within the authority of the Department of General Services.

Iowa Fisheries Research Technical Series No. 75-1 Variations in the abundance of channel catfish year classes in the upper Mississippi River and causative factors Don R. Helms, Fishery Research Biologist Fisheries Section Jerry M. Conley, Superintendent of Fisheries December, 1975

study of channel catfish in the Mississippi River to determine differences in year class abundance and causative factors

State of Iowa Space Utilization and Building Study, October 9, 2000

Executive Summary Purposes of this Report: • Recommend the most logical and economical options to address state governmental space needs in the Polk County metropolitan area to the year 2010. • Include building size, location, phasing, financing, method of project delivery and estimated cost. • Develop a software tool to compare costs of leasing vs. ownership of space. Methodology: Identify: 1. Current amount and location of owned and leased space, by agency; 2. Types of space and whether best located on or off of the Capitol Complex; 3. Utilization of space, noting over-crowding and under-utilization; 4. Current number of workstations for full and part time employees, Personnel Employment Organization (PEO) workers, contractors, interns, etc.; and, 5. History of staff levels to assist in the prediction of staff growth. Scope: This report focuses on 10 state-owned buildings located on the Capitol Complex and 48 leased spaces in the Polk County metropolitan area. (See Figures 1 and 2.) • Due to a separate space study under way by the Legislature, implications of area and staff for the State Capitol building are included only for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer, Secretary of State, Auditor and the Department of Management. • Because it is largely a museum building that does not have office space available for other agencies, the area and staff of the Historical Building are not fully addressed. • Only the parking implications of the new Judicial Building are included in this study because the building space is under the jurisdiction of the Judicial Branch and not available for other agencies. Several state-owned buildings are not included in the scope of this report, generally because they have highly focused purposes, and their space is not available for assignment to other agencies. Several leased locations are not included for similar reasons, including leases that do not fall within the authority of the Department of General Services.

09007-004 Upper Buffalo Creek Watershed Final Report

The main channel of Upper Buffalo Creek has been identified on Iowa's 303(d) List of Impaired Waters as having a biological impairment (i.e., greater than 50% decrease in mussel species) due to habitat modification, stream alteration, nutrients, and/or siltation. The Buchanan County SWCD has identified this as a priority watershed because mussel population decreases have been well documented to be directly associated with decreases in ecological value, recreational value, and overall water quality. The presence of a diverse and reproducing mussel population indicates that a healthy aquatic ecosystem is intact, which means good fishing, good water quality for wildlife, and assurance that water is safe for recreation. Dan Cohen, Buchanan Conservation Board Director, stated that "should water quality conditions improve, and fishing holes and habitat be enhanced, there is no doubt that many people would take advantage of the renewed recreational opportunities". This watershed contains two "threatened" species of mussels and five "sensitive" species of fish. The District feels that a watershed project will assist in implementing conservation practices that will greatly improve water quality and enhance biological and recreational venues.

06003-002 Upper Catfish Creek Watershed Final Report

Upper Catfish Creek is located in a 9,300-acre watershed that flows through two significant natural resources, Swiss Valley Park and Swiss Valley Nature Preserves, one of the largest nature preserves in the Midwest. According to DNR’s 2002 305(d) report, that portion of the creek within the park and preserve is classified as a Class B(CW) cold water stream of which a portion has naturally reproducing trout (one of only 30 in the state of Iowa with this capability). Urban sprawl is a real threat to the Upper Catfish Creek Watershed. Currently, 10% of the watershed is residential, but 27% is zoned residential or commercial. The watershed is near Dubuque city limits but the jurisdiction is in the county. Differing criteria for land development between city and county jurisdictions further entices developers to build in outlying areas. County leaders agree there is more that needs to be done and will work with municipalities on uniformity of regulations and follow-up measures. We propose to set up key urban conservation practice models that will address storm water runoff and water quality which can be learned about and viewed by city and county officials, engineers, developers, etc. This would be part of a larger initiative including an educational campaign, inter-jurisdictional planning, the development of a land use GIS database, and agricultural conservation practices. The successes coming out of and learned about this watershed will serve as a model to spread county-wide.

05044-016 Upper Miller Creek Watershed Final Report

A water quality resource concern has come to the forefront in the Upper Miller Creek watershed in Black Hawk County after five to seven inches of rain fell on the area on May 22nd and 23rd of 2004 and unprecedented amounts of soil and organic debris were washed from cultivated areas, clogging most culverts and roadside ditches. The quantity of soil deposited in ditches gave a good indication of the amounts that were transported into the stream. The estimated total cost to Black Hawk County for cleanup and repair within the road right-of-way was $345,000. There were undetermined environmental costs incurred when the incredibly high volumes of soil washed from the fields into Miller Creek which flows directly into the Cedar River that is identified by the Department of Natural Resources as an impaired water body. The Upper Miller Creek Watershed Project is an innovative, collaborative project intended to meet a specific need identified by a local steering committee made up of concerned community agencies and local landowners. Led by the Soil and Water Conservation District and the Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors, the Miller Creek Watershed Project seeks to reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, and reduce county road infrastructure cost by implementing conservation practices, reducing nutrient and pesticide use and improving wildlife habitat.