Belle Plaine plans wetlands near wells

BELLE PLAINE — Belle Plaine’s two water sources are very different, and the city is making an effort to improve both.

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The wetland project south of the city’s first five wells is furthest along, said City Administrator Steve Beck.

“Salt Creek is the main water source to feed our underground aquifer,” Beck explained.

An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, gravel, sand, or silt, which can store water accessed by wells. Water from Salt Creek comes to Belle Plaine from as far north as Dysart along the east branch of Salt Creek and northwest to Tama County, said Beck.

“Our well field here is 30 to 50 feet deep,” said Beck.

Belle Plaine received a $250,000 grant from the Iowa Department of Transportation to construct a wetland in and around the well field. Beck is applying for another $250,000 grant.

The area used to be a wetland marsh, which is why the city put the wells there, said Beck. It was the water source for the town for 100 years, he said. The wetlands filled the aquifer for the wells.

A farmer who owned the land drained it and rerouted the water to the south, decreasing the city’s water supply, said Beck. The city has since purchased some of the land and is trying to reverse the damage.

The city is working with the University of Iowa on the project, said Beck. Geologists, hydrologists, hydrogeologist’s and an engineering firm will work on the project, said Beck.

The United States Department of Agriculture, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Tama and Benton Counties, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Mid-Iowa River Watershed Management Authority and the Iowa Geological Survey will have a part in the project.

The U of I will perform a geophysical survey and map the aquifer boundaries, determining the suitability for water and supply development, said Beck.

They’ll be doing soil testing and will monitor wells to check water quality. A pumping test will calculate the parameters that control ground water flow and yield.

The wetlands project has the support of every government agency Beck has contacted, he said. “You have to ask for help,” he said. They’ll help a city improve its water and help it find money to pay for it.

“They’re wonderful to work with,” said Beck.

Beck has been working on the wetlands project for about a year, he said.

A second water source is well six, the deep well. “In 1988 we had a very severe drought, and the city was left with the only option to dig a deep well,” said Beck. The trade-off was that it the water wasn’t as good as that in the other five wells, he said.

The city is planning to build a water treatment plant for the deep well. “It will be blended with our existing well water,” said Beck and will improve the quality of both.

The water treatment plant is still preliminary. Studies will give the city an idea as to what kind of treatment plant it needs, said Beck.

“We want to work with the earth, not against it,” said Beck. Belle Plaine will come up with a low-impact design to enhance the properties of the soil and will plant vegetation that will remove nitrogen from the water as it makes its way to the wells.

“We are the epicenter of the worst drought in decades,” said Beck. Water is feet, not inches, lower than it should be. “And this is all driven by climate change,” said Beck.

Belle Plaine has limited outdoor watering to two days a week. Poweshiek Water Association and other counties have also implemented water restrictions, Beck said.

Beck is on the Middle Iowa River Watershed Authority board of directors which manages a 1.1 million-acre water management authority that stretches from Albion to Coralville Reservoir, from Grinnell to Dysart.

The Middle Iowa River Watershed Management Authority, which was established this year, spans 10 counties, 33 cities and 10 soil and water conservation districts.