Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI)

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Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI)

To improve the health of the Mississippi River Basin, including water quality and wildlife habitat, the Natural Resources Conservation Service is developing the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI). Through this new Initiative, NRCS and its partners will help producers in selected watersheds in the Mississippi River Basin voluntarily implement conservation practices that avoid, control, and trap nutrient runoff; improve wildlife habitat; and maintain agricultural productivity.

These improvements will be accomplished through a conservation systems approach to manage and optimize nitrogen and phosphorous within fields to minimize runoff and reduce downstream nutrient loading. NRCS will provide producers assistance with a system of practices that will control soil erosion, improve soil quality, and provide wildlife habitat while managing runoff and drainage water for improved water quality.

The Initiative builds on the past efforts of producers, NRCS, partners, and other State and Federal agencies in the 13-State Initiative area to address nutrient loading in the Mississippi River Basin. Nutrient loading contributes to both local water quality problems and the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The participating states are Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

Application Cutoff

NRCS accepts and processes MRBI applications on a continuous basis. However, NRCS sets dates to prioritize applications as funding allows. The next application cutoff date for Fiscal Year 2021 applications is Dec. 18, 2020.

Videos

USDA Video: Limiting Runoff From Nutrient Application (YouTube) - Sept. 16, 2011
Nature Conservancy Videos
- Boone River Conservation: Why Strip-Till and Cover Crops Matter (YouTube)
- How Bioreactors are Making a Difference in the Boone River Watershed (YouTube)

Iowa MRBI 2021 Projects

Project Name	Counties	Lead Sponsor	Project Area	Map	Fact Sheets	NRCS Contact
Slocum Creek Watershed	Pottawattamie	East Pottawattamie SWCD	Slocum Creek-West Nishnabotna River	PDF	PDF	712-482-6408
Cedar Creek	Wapello, Jefferson, Keokuk	Wapello SWCD	Buckeye Creek Wolf Creek-Cedar Creek Competine Creek	PDF		641-856-3893
Deep Creek	Plymouth, Cherokee, O'Brien, Sioux	Plymouth SWCD	Lower Deep Creek - Floyd River Upper Deep Creek - Floyd River	PDF	PDF	Bridget Durst 712-546-8858
Eagle Creek/Prairie Creek (Boone River)	Kossuth, Humboldt, Wright, Hancock	Wright SWCD	Headwaters Eagle Creek Little Eagle Creek Eagle Creek Drainage Ditch 117 Drainage Ditch 116 Headwaters Prairie Creek Drainage Ditch 118 - Prairie Creek	Eagle Creek Prairie Creek	PDF	515-532-2165
Lower Skunk River	Jefferson, Henry, Van Buren, Lee	Jefferson SWCD	Birmingham Cedar Creek Fish Creek Little Cedar Creek Summer Creek Wolf Creek	PDF	PDF	Doug Ensminger 319-385-2824
Turkey River (Clayton Co Watersheds)	Clayton	Clayton SWCD	Upper Roberts Creek Silver Creek Howard Creek	PDF	PDF	Pat Schaefers 563-245-1048
West Branch Floyd River	Sioux	Sioux SWCD	Village of Maurice Unnamed Tributary Orange City Slough Village of Middleburg	PDF	PDF	Justin Boersma 712-737-2253
West Fork Crooked River	Washington, Keokuk	Washington SWCD	Upper West Fork Crooked Creek Middle West Fork Crooked Creek Lower West Fork Crooked Creek	PDF	PDF	Tony Maxwell 319-653-2138
Walnut Creek	Pottawattamie, Montgomery, Page, Fremont	Montgomery SWCD	Whipple Crabapple Climax	PDF	PDF	Bryan Shupe 712-542-5484
Headwaters North Raccoon	Buena Vista, Pocahontas, Palo Alto, Clay	Buena Visa SWCD	Headwaters North Raccoon River Lateral 6 Lateral 4 Lateral 2 Drainage Ditch 67 Drainage Ditch 101 Headwaters Little Cedar Creek Headwaters Cedar Creek Little Cedar Creek Drainage Ditch 21 - Cedar Creek	PDF		Larette Kolbe 712-732-3096
Mud Creek	Benton, Tama, Black Hawk	Benton SWCD	Wolf Creek Rock Creek-Cedar River Pratt Creek Hinkle Creek Mud Creek Opossum Creek Wildcat Creek	PDF		Michelle German 319-214-4032
Central Turkey River	Winneshiek, Fayette, Chickasaw, Howard	Winneshiek SWCD	Bohemian Creek Otter Creek-Turkey River Burr Oak Creek-Turkey River Wonder Creek Brockamp Creek-Turkey River Rogers Creek	PDF		Todd Duncan 563-382-4352
North Branch Turkey River	Howard, Winneshiek	Howard SWCD	North Branch Turkey River South Branch Turkey River Chihaks Creek Turkey River	PDF		Corey Brink 563-547-3040
Middle Cedar	Black Hawk, Tama	Black Hawk SWCD	Miller Creek Headwaters Miller Creek Rock Creek	PDF		Shaffer Ridgeway 319-296-3262
South Skunk - Headwaters Cedar Creek	Mahaska, Keokuk, Wapello	Mahaska SWCD	Ballinger Creek-South Skunk River Spring Creek-South Skunk River Snyder Creek-South Skunk River Headwaters Cedar Creek	PDF		Kevin Funni 641-638-3410

National MRBI Information

Contact:
Mustapha Abouali, EQIP Coordinator
Phone: 515-284-4262

Video: This American Land - Farming the Upstream