IEC in DC: Advocating for the Mississippi

Last week, IEC's Water Program Director Alicia Vasto went to Washington, D.C. to participate in the Mississippi River Network’s (MRN) annual fly-in. MRN organizes the fly-in for members from the 10 mainstem Mississippi River states to visit with their states' congressional delegation and their staff about federal policy priorities.

This year, conversations with congressional staff focused on Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) spending in MRN’s 10-state region. With colleagues Chad Wallace from the Illinois Environmental Council and Perry Whitaker from the Mississippi River Water Trail Association, Alicia shared information with Iowa lawmakers on the impacts of additional funding from the IRA for Farm Bill conservation programs and funding for drinking water treatment and protection through the State Revolving Fund.

Read more about Alicia's visit to D.C. here.

Microbial source tracking in Scott Co.

In 2023, Partners of Scott County Watershed (PSCW) was asked to be a partner in Prairie River of Iowa's Movement Infrastructure for Clean Water in Iowa grant funded by the Water Foundation. The grant seeks to build relationships among environmental groups that have taken on responsibility for water monitoring, develop shared tools for interpreting the data, and communicate to the public how monitoring can lead to action.

PSCW's conducted water monitoring at 14 locations within the Duck Creek and Hickory Creek Watersheds. The stream sample sites were selected to represent urban and rural data.

Sampling was conducted by grabbing stream water samples while also recording the weather, salinity, pH, total suspended solids, turbidity, and water temperature for each site. 

The samples are currently being analyzed by the USGS - Laboratory for Infectious Disease and the Environment (LIDE).

Learn more in the full blog post here.

SRF Funding Spotlight

Iowa’s State Revolving Fund (SRF) is administered by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and the Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) to distribute funding for water infrastructure projects. These projects are split into two categories: the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF).

The funding is provided as low-interest loans which make the projects feasible and affordable for communities and create a sustainable source of funding year after year. 

Last month, the Biden-Harris Administration announced $80 million for Iowa drinking water and clean water infrastructure from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, as part of the $5.8 billion investment to American State Revolving Funds. 

Almost half of this funding will be available as grants or principal forgiveness loans, ensuring that funds reach underserved communities most in need of investments in water infrastructure.