Iowa Rapid Watershed Assessments

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Overview

The NRCS is encouraging the development of Rapid Watershed Assessments (RWAs) to increase the speed and efficiency generating information to guide conservation implementation, as well as the speed and efficiency of putting it into the hands of local decision makers.

• National NRCS RWA Information

Currently, RWAs are being developed to provide a natural resource snapshot and overview of each Iowa 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC-8). The RWAs organize resource information into one document that local conservationists, units of government, and others can use to identify conservation opportunities and direct technical and financial resources to the appropriate sub basins. They provide a description of the sub basins' natural resources, resource concerns, conservation needs, and ability to resolve natural resource issues and concerns. RWAs typically contain the following information:

• Physical resources
• Land use and land cover
• Water quality conditions report
• Soil, stream, precipitation data
• Resource concerns
• Census and social data
• Progress/status of conservation by land use
• Estimated future conservation practice application and associated costs

Iowa Completed and In-Progress RWAs

• Printable RWA Map (PDF, 982 KB)
  

Contact: Marty Adkins, Assistant State Conservationist for Water Resources
Phone: 515-284-4769

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