Headwaters of the South Skunk River
While much of the South Skunk River has been channelized, above the I-35 bridge near Ames, it still maintains much of its natural character. A greenbelt zoning district and county parks have protected much of the floodplain forest. Smallmouth bass and rare mussels can be found in the water. The river is much used by paddlers; thirty-four miles in Story County are now designated as a state water trail, with public access points, a map, signage, signage, and a plan for improving the experience.
Prairie Rivers of Iowa began working in the watershed in 2017-2018, funded by a Natural Resource and Conservation Service (NRCS) Conservation Innovation Grant. The project was framed around the lower half of the watershed—the Keigley Branch-South Skunk River (HUC10) unit—but we came to realize that watershed plans and partnerships would be more effective if the river’s headwaters in Hamilton County were included sooner rather than later. The project has brought us a long way toward building the partnerships and collecting the information needed to improve water quality in the South Skunk. Deliverables included:
- Draft goals and implementation strategies, based on comments from eighty people who participated in our five public workshops
- An interactive map that shows suitable locations for conservation practices, identified with the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF)
- An assessment by Emmons & Olivier Resources that includes information about water quality, hydrology, and erosion
- A user manual for combining the ACPF with the Iowa BMP mapping project to evaluate existing and potential conservation practices
- A short grant report with lessons learned from the process
In the summer of 2018, the Story County Board of Supervisors proposed an agreement to form the Headwaters of the South Skunk River Watershed Management Authority (WMA). Two soil and water conservation districts (Hamilton and Story) and four municipalities (Ames, Story City, Roland, and Randall) have also joined. We hope this partnership will grow and will encourage dialogue and collaboration among the varied stakeholders in the watershed.
Update April 2021: The Headwaters of the South Skunk River WMA is now meeting quarterly, with agendas and minutes posted on the Story County website. The WMA was was awarded a grant from the Iowa DNR to develop a watershed plan in 2021-2022, which will be done by JEO Engineering. Contact Leanne Harter with Story County for details.