Bee Branch Healthy Homes Project

Getting into Soil and Water 2020

Finished basement project at occupant’s home where drainage dimple board, sump pump with battery back up and a humidistat vent fan were installed rendering this space usable for the first time in over a decade.

 

The City of Dubuque’s Bee Branch Watershed is the area hit hardest by flash flooding during significant rain events. Frequently, several feet of water inundate homes destroying water heaters, furnaces, washers, dryers, and personal belongings. Disinvestment in the flood prone area resulted in declining property values. Equally as important, were the residual effects on its residents including poor health, negative neighborhood perceptions, stress, and a general feeling of helplessness against Mother Nature.

“Nobody would put any money into their homes, and you couldn’t blame them for the simple fact that the water would ruin everything,” said Cletus Cashman, 90-year-old lifelong Dubuque resident and participant of the Bee Branch Healthy Homes (BBHH) Resiliency Program.

In 1999, the City hired a consultant to study the nature of the flash flooding. The study, called the Drainage Basin Master Plan, determined that approximately 1,150 homes and businesses were at risk of flood damage. It also recommended major infrastructure projects to eliminate risk from flood damage. In 2003, the city began working on a multi-phased, watershed- wide approach to protect its residents.

Since then, millions have been invested to slow the rate of stormwater, reduce the amount of stormwater runoff, and safely channel stormwater through the city’s North End neighborhood. Several strategies have been used including retention basins, permeable pavement systems, storm sewer capacity improvements, and daylighting one-mile of the Bee Branch Creek and its associated floodplain.

Helping watershed residents living with residual issues from flooding was the city’s top priority when applying for Community Development Block Grant – National Disaster Resilience Competition (CDBG-NDR) funds in 2014 and 2015. The grant team made the strategic move to incorporate repairs and renovations to homes in addition to public infrastructure improvements.

The application was successful, and in 2016 the State of Iowa was awarded $96 million to make flood improvements in nine watersheds as part of the Iowa Watershed Approach including Dubuque’s Bee Branch Watershed. The City received $23 million for infrastructure improvements and $8.4 million for the Bee Branch Healthy Homes Resiliency Program.

Dubuque’s approach includes right sizing public infrastructure, repairing
and renovating homes to reduce water intrusion and address damage, and family advocacy support. This triangle represents a comprehensive plan to simultaneously improve neighborhood, structural, and social resilience. Knowing this innovative approach could serve as a replicable model for other communities, the city has captured data throughout the program.

To date, BBHH has helped 200 families address water intrusion and prepare for future rain events. On average, improvements range between $10,000 – $28,000 depending on project scope and property type. The program is available to owner-occupied homes, single-unit rentals, and multi-family residential units that are located in the eligibility area and meet income requirements established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In September 2019 a 2-3” flash flood event inundated this BBHH project home in just a couple hours, forcing it’s two families to leave the home in the middle of the night.

 

Every participating household is required to visit with a BBHH advocate. They talk about any barriers or challenges the family is facing. These self-identified challenges are sorted into five categories: health, education, financial, social, and built environment. Classifying the challenges has helped evaluate gaps in services throughout the community. Disaggregating the data by subgroups such as race/ethnicity and tenant versus owner-occupied has been integral in understanding that subgroups experience different challenges and require different approaches in order to create positive outcomes.

Existing conditions found in the basement of a project after years of water intrusion. Poor Air quality and water wicking materials contributed to asthma triggers for the family living in the home.

 

There have been several lessons learned throughout the program. Property drainage is critical. This includes soil modifications and effective gutter and downspout systems. Keeping water away from the home is more important
than any other modification. Once inside the home, raising furnaces and water heaters off the floor as little as six to eight inches can save them from flood damage. Dehumidification with permanent high-power vent fans, sump pumps, and tuck pointing have been equally common modifications to create a drier and healthier home.

What happens upstream effects downstream. This is equally as true in urban watersheds as it is for our rural neighbors. This can be applied at all levels – from stormwater management in our streets to a home gutter system dumping water directly on an adjacent property. Part of being a good neighbor is looking at how your home impacts others. It also means checking on your neighbors during flash flood events to make sure they are safe. Hearing that neighbors are talking to each other because of the program is the greatest compliment the city can receive. Relationships among neighbors and structural improvements to both public and private infrastructure is creating greater neighborhood resilience, and the city couldn’t be more proud to tell that story.

 

Sharon Gaul

Grants Project Manager
City of Dubuque

Factors That Influence Farmer Adoption of Conservation Practices

Getting into Soil and Water 2020

Field days are an excellent way to promote conservation through farmer-to-farmer learning. (Courtesy of Practical Farmers of Iowa)

Although farming is essential for providing food and fiber for society, farming practices can often come with unintentional environmental costs. While farmers do not wish to deliberately contribute to the degradation of natural resources, the current dominant system

of agricultural production in the Midwest has resulted in considerable soil erosion, substantially impaired water and air quality, and dramatically decreased wildlife and pollinator habitat. Fortunately, a large suite of conservation practices has been developed through years of cooperative research between universities and farmers to address these environmental concerns.

Such practices include things like cover crops, no-till farming, terraces, grassed waterways, prairie strips, diverse crop rotations, and stream buffers. While significant progress has been made over the past several decades, farmers on the whole have not yet voluntarily adopted these practices at a rate necessary to adequately balance agricultural production with natural resource sustainability throughout the Midwest. Understanding how and why farmers make decisions, including what factors influence the decision making process, is key for natural resource professionals to develop strategies for increasing the rate of farmer adoption of conservation practices.

Rural sociologists and other social scientists have been studying farmer behavior since the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s. One of the most important findings from this research has been that farmers are an incredibly diverse group of people with a wide array of beliefs, motivations, attitudes, values, and social norms that influence their behavior in very complex ways. This means that there is no singular strategy that natural resource professionals and policy makers are able to use to help encourage farmers to adopt conservation practices on their land. That being said, two recent projects led by researchers at Iowa State University and Purdue University analyzing decades of research studies have identified a number of factors that have most consistently been found to have an influence on adoption.

These meta-analysis research papers found that in general, farmers with larger farm sizes and income, farmers with higher levels of formal education, younger farmers, and those with farmland more vulnerable to erosion were more likely to adopt conservation practices. Additionally, farmers that identify with an environmental stewardship ethic, those who actively seek information about conservation practices, those who have previously adopted a practice, and those who have influential conservationist farmer leaders within their communities are more likely to adopt conservation practices.

Several conservation practices at a glance. (Courtesy of Iowa NRCS)

Cost-share programs provided by state and federal agencies that help farmers pay for part of the cost of conservation practices have a positive influence on adoption. However, farmer awareness of these programs, as well as having positive attitudes about the programs themselves and the practices they pay for, are key to the amount of influence these programs have. Farmers who interact with natural resource professionals through conservation networks and programs are also more likely to adopt conservation practices. My own research has found a correlation between how often a farmer visits their local USDA office for conservation assistance and the likelihood that they will adopt certain conservation practices.

When considering the factors that influence farmers’ decisions, it is crucial to understand that farming is an enterprise that involves very high risks, and farmers often operate on extremely thin profit margins. The ISU and Purdue research teams identified several common barriers associated with risk that have a negative influence on adoption of conservation practices. The financial cost of practices, perceived reduction in crop yields, practice compatibility with existing farming practices, market fluctuations in crop prices, distrust of community or government agencies, neighbors’ lack of success with practices, complicated program application processes, and farmer uncertainty about potential practices can all decrease the likelihood that a farmer will adopt conservation practices.

Based on these findings, the authors of the two meta-studies also included several recommendations for natural resource professionals who work with farmers. Identifying and collaborating with farmer leaders in rural communities to facilitate conservation social norms through workshops and field days can be highly influential on other farmers. Increasing awareness by educating farmers about the benefits and potential risks, as well as how conservation practices can reduce risk, decreases uncertainty and can therefore increase adoption. Assisting farmers with cost- share programs helps offset financial risks, and accentuating other farmers’ positive experiences with adoption can be especially effective. Finally, one of the most important factors that influences farmers to adopt conservation is facilitating the development of long-term relationships and opportunities for knowledge transfer between natural resource professionals and farmers and between farmers themselves!

 

Chris Morris

Graduate Research Assistant Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Sociology, Iowa State University

We Proudly Present GISW 2020

Getting into Soil and Water 2020

In its eleventh year, Getting into Soil and Water remains dedicated to educating a broader audience on soil and water conservation and the preservation of environmental quality. Soil and water affect our lives in hidden and not-so-hidden ways, providing a medium for food production, delivering ecosystem services, and sequestering carbon dioxide to mitigate global climate change. As co-editors of the 2020 edition, we have had the special opportunity to explore these issues and trends in soil and water, and to create a publication to share others’ insights and research findings with you. Our team of three co-editors is made up of Jacob Wright, Shannon Breja, and Justin Hunter. We wanted to share with you a little bit about ourselves and what soil and water conservation means to us.

 

Jacob Wright: I am a senior in agronomy and environmental studies and joined the Soil and Water Conservation Club in the spring of 2017. Growing up on a dairy farm in Virginia, I always saw numerous articles and heard discussion about nutrient contamination in the Chesapeake Bay. This peaked my interest for soil and water conservation, and being a part of this club and publication has allowed me to learn more about current research and issues in this field of study. I have learned a lot from co-editing through reading different research studies and seeing the diverse perspectives and ideas that came together to showcase the variety of opportunities in soil and water conservation.

Shannon Breja: I am a junior studying agronomy and seed science, and I became a member of the Soil and Water Conservation Club in the fall of 2017. Although I grew up surrounded by agriculture, I did not realize the urgency of conservation until coming to college. With the environmental impacts of agriculture becoming increasingly prevalent, the club has allowed me to learn about current conservation issues. The club has also allowed me to be co-editor of this publication to share some of these relevant issues and provide different perspectives about them. My hope for all of you is that Getting into Soil and Water will increase your knowledge of conservation and strengthen your interests in it.

Justin Hunter: I am a senior in agronomy and joined the Soil and Water Conservation Club in the fall of 2017. My interest in conservation started my freshman year of college. Learning about the effects of soil erosion and water contamination motivated me to always try to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. This club has allowed me to connect with people who share the same motivation as myself and to gain additional knowledge on agricultural conservation practices. Being a co- editor on this year’s publication has brought great opportunities in networking with authors and learning more about the current conservation practices that are working today. I hope this publication gets the readers thinking about conservation and how these practices can improve both agriculture and the environment.

 

This publication would not be possible without the great help of our committee members. We would like to thank them for their dedication to making this publication unique and informative. We would also like to thank our advisors, Dr. Rick Cruse, Dr. Bradley Miller, Hanna Bates, and Heidi Ackerman for their knowledge and support throughout the publication process. They have been essential to this publication, and we are so thankful for them.

Finally, we need to send a huge thanks to you, our readers. Your support has given us the opportunity to create the eleventh edition of Getting into Soil and Water, and we are excited to continue these publications for years to come.

Visit the full publication on the ISU Soil and Water Conservation Club page.