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Partnering with public lands
By Phillip Brown , OPM , Rathbun Lake U . S . Army Corps of Engineers
" Value to the Nation ," sure that may be true — but for most who live around United States Army Corps of Engineers water resource projects , it ’ s " value to a region ." Rathbun Lake , located in the Southern Iowa region of the Kansas City District , fits that description . Beyond the most obvious or nationally visible reasons for a water resource project is the often “ overlooked ” authorized purpose of water supply . Rathbun Lake is a vital water supply source to 90,000 customers throughout an 18-county area in southern Iowa and northern Missouri . Our water supply allocation contract is with Rathbun Regional Water Association , or RRWA . RRWA recognized long ago the significance of collaboration to facilitate their need to improve water quality of Rathbun Lake , and they have been leading the charge for
Rathbun Lake 2023
over 20-plus years .
Rathbun Lake is listed as a 303 ( d ) impaired water body . The partnership starts with USACE and our water quality sampling program , which provides essential data for our partners to justify grants or other funding sources . In the Rathbun Lake watershed , partnerships exist with Natural Resource Conservation Service , Rathbun Land & Water Alliance , Iowa Department of Natural Resources , Iowa Department of Ag & Land Services , local county and private landowners . These entities work together building structures by “ pooling ” resources . One of the cornerstones of our partnership success stories is USACE ' s Continuing Authorities Program Section 1135 – Environmental Improvement Projects . This avenue for funding has been a significant resource towards the building of structures that improve water quality in Rathbun Lake since the mid-2000s . Since that time , there have been three multicell wetland developments built , another that is in the final approval / design phases , and 12 extensive shoreline stabilization areas armored to reduce sedimentation effects on fisheries . All these initiatives ultimately result in the primary goal of reducing siltation and nutrient load run-off with a product of improved aquatic environmental conditions .