The City of Grinnell was recently recognized at the Iowa Water Conference in Coralville for its efforts in protecting and improving water quality. The Urban Stormwater and Watershed Jurisdiction Award recognizes the city for a series of projects that show a commitment to improving local water quality and flood management systems in the area. Projects that contributed to the City of Grinnell being selected for the award include the following: 

Permeable parking lot: The city replaced a dilapidated downtown parking lot used by the Grinnell Fire and Rescue Department with a permeable concrete parking lot, taking advantage of the opportunity to turn a needed infrastructure update into a pilot project for stormwater management. The permeable pavement absorbs rainwater and snowmelt into the ground beneath it, decreasing the amount of water that flows into nearby sewers and decreasing the associated risk of flooding during heavy rain.

Blakely Circle natural area and bioswale: Made possible through a generous land donation by Reza Kargarzadeh, the city converted a 10-acre row-crop field and adjacent land into a 23-acre natural area near the beginning of the English River-Dugout Creek watershed. The area now features a 40-foot-wide bioswale—a landscape feature designed to collect and filter stormwater runoff—to clean and slow the water before it reaches the wetland area. Future educational signage and trailways will allow the area to serve as an educational resource for the public about the protection of waterways.

RC Properties stream redesign: Years of upstream drainage had caused extreme erosion and pollution in a stream that fed Arbor Lake, negatively affecting the lake’s water quality. The redesign used rock riffles to reduce upstream slope, stone toe protection (a row of stones at the water’s edge to prevent soil erosion), native vegetation, and other measures to stabilize the stream bank and restore natural water flow.

These projects were accomplished through partnerships with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, the Grinnell-Newburg School District, and the City of Grinnell.

“The City of Grinnell is proud to be recognized for our commitment to improving water quality and building sustainable green infrastructure,” says City Manager Russ Behrens. “These projects show that public entities can leverage partnerships and resources to not only restore habitats, but also protect water quality and build a more sustainable community.”

The City of Grinnell was represented at the Iowa Water Conference by Wastewater Director Daniel Ramos, former Water Resource Director Jan Anderson, and Greg Roth of Veenstra & Kimm, who accepted the Urban Stormwater and Watershed Protection Jurisdiction of the Year award from Pat Sauer and Loulou Dickey of the Iowa Stormwater Education Program.