Water Retention
Icelandic River Sub-District
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Characteristics
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Benefits
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Project Overview
This producer first applied to EIWD in 2023 through the PWCP Program. In 2024, during a site visit, they expressed interest in a water retention project. The project was designed by EIWD staff and approved by the executive board later that year. Construction was completed in 2025, with the dams being built late summer, and then seeded with EIWD’s native reclamation mix in the fall. Overall, three dams were installed on two different quarter sections.
On SE 16 a berm was installed along the property edge with a controlled culvert and two overflows via tapered edges. The design included a control culvert to ensure that the producer could access this land for haying in the fall, gate access for livestock use, and access to release water in preparation for spring melt. During the planning stages of the water retention, a shelterbelt was installed along the property edge causing EIWD to shift the berm further into the property to avoid damaging the tree seedlings. A small culvert was installed on the berm to allow for a slow discharge from the storage area. The final design decreased the wetland size from its initial 10.1 acres to 8.8 acres, and stores approximately 6.3-acre feet of water.
The NW 10 property features a rolling landscape where two Class 2 wetlands were being drained due to the height of the nearby municipal ditch. Rather than holding water, these wetlands would rapidly release water into the ditch. To help store more water on the landscape, EIWD designed two berms with tapered edges for overflows. One of the restored wetlands contains a sinkhole, making it the perfect site to enhance groundwater recharge.
To ensure aquifer protection, EIWD has offered assistance to fence the storage area, should the landowner choose to introduce livestock to the property in the future. Additionally, a 10 meter buffer caveat was included in the conservation contract, restricting the landowner from applying fertilizer and chemical within 10 meters from the edge of the water storage project. Overall, this project holds 4.4 acre feet of water, and spans over 3.2 acres of land.
This producer first applied to EIWD in 2023 through the PWCP Program. In 2024, during a site visit, they expressed interest in a water retention project. The project was designed by EIWD staff and approved by the executive board later that year. Construction was completed in 2025, with the dams being built late summer, and then seeded with EIWD’s native reclamation mix in the fall. Overall, three dams were installed on two different quarter sections.
On SE 16 a berm was installed along the property edge with a controlled culvert and two overflows via tapered edges. The design included a control culvert to ensure that the producer could access this land for haying in the fall, gate access for livestock use, and access to release water in preparation for spring melt. During the planning stages of the water retention, a shelterbelt was installed along the property edge causing EIWD to shift the berm further into the property to avoid damaging the tree seedlings. A small culvert was installed on the berm to allow for a slow discharge from the storage area. The final design decreased the wetland size from its initial 10.1 acres to 8.8 acres, and stores approximately 6.3-acre feet of water.
The NW 10 property features a rolling landscape where two Class 2 wetlands were being drained due to the height of the nearby municipal ditch. Rather than holding water, these wetlands would rapidly release water into the ditch. To help store more water on the landscape, EIWD designed two berms with tapered edges for overflows. One of the restored wetlands contains a sinkhole, making it the perfect site to enhance groundwater recharge.
To ensure aquifer protection, EIWD has offered assistance to fence the storage area, should the landowner choose to introduce livestock to the property in the future. Additionally, a 10 meter buffer caveat was included in the conservation contract, restricting the landowner from applying fertilizer and chemical within 10 meters from the edge of the water storage project. Overall, this project holds 4.4 acre feet of water, and spans over 3.2 acres of land.
