What's the problem with Badger Creek Lake?
Badger Creek Lake opened in 1980 and is known today as one of the great fisheries and recreational hotspots in Iowa, but with problems of excessive amounts of sediment and nutrients, water quality has declined in the past few years.

Badger Creek Lake landed on Iowa's impaired water list in 1998 because its water fell below standards set by the state for supporting aquatic life and primary contact recreation. When rain falls in the watershed, it erodes valuable topsoil and washes it into streams and the lake. In one year, an estimated 7,774 tons of sediment can reach Badger Creek Lake. In some parts of the lake, you can only see two feet down because the water is so cloudy. This can hurt the growth of fish and aquatic plants. The excess soil has also started to fill in shallow areas of the lake. Excessive sediment and nutrients have caused large algae blooms and occasional fish kills at Badger Creek Lake.

Nutrients are another factor threatening water quality at Badger Creek Lake in Madison County. High nutrient levels can lead to poor water quality and cloud the water. This can create low oxygen and high ammonia levels, which are harmful to fish and other aquatic life and lead to potentially toxic algae blooms, as well as a variety of other problems.
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What's being done to help Badger Creek Lake?
The Badger Creek Lake Watershed Project has a number of conservation practices for farms and country living. Landowners in the Badger Creek watershed can improve the lake by partnering with the Badger Creek Lake Watershed Project.

Mike Erwin, watershed project coordinator, can work with you to evaluate your property and identify practices that can help both the lake and your property. Erwin can also help find financial assistance to install those practices. Landowners participating in the watershed project can generally get improved financial assistance opportunities.

Since the improvement program began in July 2006, more than 12,000 feet of terraces have been installed in the watershed. Terraces are an efficient practice in reducing soil erosion and sediment in the Badger Creek watershed. Terraces are built around a hillside and either slow runoff and guide it to the bottom of the hill or collect runoff and store it until the runoff can be absorbed by the ground. Terraces must be properly designed and maintained to combat erosion.

Grade stabilization structures at Badger Creek Lake reduce water flows while protecting soil from gully erosion or scouring. Grade stabilization structures also work with other conservation practices to slow runoff.
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What can I do to help?
Landowners can consider installing conservation practices to control the amount of sediment, nutrients and other pollutants reaching Badger Creek Lake.

Financial assistance is available, and the benefits extend beyond cleaner water - often conservation practices can produce financial benefits, create recreational opportunities and provide habitat for wildlife.

Farmers and acreage owners can attend field days to show how different conservation practices work. Others can attend "Producers Roundtable" discussions. This group is open to anyone who would like to learn about farming practices from neighbors and guest speakers.

Residents of Badger Creek Lake can volunteer as part of IOWATER. Monitors collect information on the levels of nitrates, nitrites, dissolved oxygen, pH, chloride and phosphate in the lake.

Some monitors also report on the water's temperature and color, and on biological life in the monitoring area, which is often an indicator of water quality.

Monitors report their data to the IOWATER online database, where the public can view water monitoring results from across the state at IOWATER.
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What is the future of Badger Creek Lake?
The future of Badger Creek Lake looks promising as conservation practices are in full swing and are slated to end in 2009. The Badger Creek Lake Watershed Project's ultimate goal is to treat a majority of the watershed and continue to place projects where there are sediment problems.

Erwin believes urban development may be a future problem for the Badger Creek Lake watershed, but low-impact developments can help avoid this problem. Low-impact housing developments add housing to a landscape with minimum impact to surroundings. This strategic placing of housing reduces the disturbance to the land and soil leaving the property. It also leaves more open green space for the community to enjoy, as well as ponds and rain gardens. The goal is to soak up as much rainfall and snowmelt as possible onsite, reducing erosion and pollutant runoff.
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Meet the project coordinator
Mike Erwin grew up on a farm in New Virginia, Iowa before attending South Dakota State University. Erwin majored in agricultural journalism with a minor in animal science. Erwin began as project coordinator at Badger Creek Lake in 2004 still resides in New Virginia.

Erwin enjoys working with local farmers and the challenge his job brings everyday. One of the most rewarding opportunities Erwin describes is helping the farmers in the watershed become more profitable.
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For other ways you can get involved with the Badger Creek Lake Watershed Project, contact Mike Erwin, watershed coordinator, at (515)462-2961 or
Michael.Erwin@ia.nacdnet.net

Project partners

• Iowa DNR
• Iowa Department of Agriculture - Division of Soil Conservation
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

For More Information
Local:
Mike Erwin
Badger Creek Lake Watershed Project Coordinator
(515) 462-2961
Michael.Erwin@ia.nacdnet.net
Madison County NRCS Office

Statewide:
Steve Hopkins
DNR Watershed Improvement Program Grants Coordinator
(515) 281-6402
Stephen.Hopkins@dnr.iowa.gov