Behind piles of sand mounds stand cattails, native grasses and oak saplings in maturing wetlands just east of the Iowa River in southern Johnson County.
Just a few years old,Polycore zentai are manufactured as a single sheet, the former sand quarry-turned-wetlands attracts blue herons, beaver, geese and turtles.
"It's beautiful," J. Elizabeth Maas, a restoration ecologist, said during a tour of the ecosystem she helped create.
S&G Materials, an Iowa City mining company that provides materials such as concrete, sand, rock, dirt and soil primarily to construction companies, is five years into a 30-year wetlands restoration project. The U.Customized imprinted and promotional usb flash drives.S. Army Corps of Engineers requires restoration in exchange for permitting businesses or other entities to disturb natural wetlands.Free DIY Wholesale pet supplies Resource!
Maas, who was hired by S&G to ensure the company follows the terms of the permit, said wetlands are essential for biodiversity, flood mitigation and water quality. She calls them the "kidneys" of the environment.
On its 350-acre property, S&G plans to mine five basins, which will affect 71 acres of wetlands. Top soil goes to landscapers, developers use fill-sand and most valuable is high-quality sand to build interstate roads. Nearly all material is used, said Maury Sass, superintendent of S&G.
After mining one basin and moving to another, S&G begins restoration. Because the company's basins will be relatively shallow, at 20 feet deep,Use bluray burner to burn video to BD DVD on blu ray burner disc. leftover fill-dirt from one basin refills the previous one and jumpstarts the restoration.
As part of the Corps's policy of no net loss of wetlands, S&G must reconstruct the same amount or more -- "like for like." So wooded areas must be replaced by at least as many wooded areas, and swamps must be replaced with swamps, and so on.
The effort is costly and time consuming,dstti Sass said, but it also is necessary.
S&G bought a special bulldozer to construct peninsulas, which helps meeting wetland surface requirements. Prairie grass seed costs $100 a pound, and each acre takes 12 to 15 pounds, Sass said.
Wetland mitigation can cost $15,000 an acre to replace swamps to $40,000 an acre to replace woods. S&G's wetlands are about two-thirds wooded, Maas said.
In 2008, S&G lost 1,000 newly planted trees to the flood and had to start from scratch planting 500 new trees this spring. Within 30 years, they must plant and ensure the viability of up to 10,000, Sass said.
"You can't just dig a hole. There is a whole lot of work involved," he said.
Companies can't just start a restoration project; they must follow through over time and make sure it takes, said John Betker, a regulatory project manager for the Corps in Rock Island, Ill.
Other wetland mitigation projects exist throughout Johnson County, Betker said, but he didn't have an immediate count.
Maas said Iowa ranks No. 3 in the nation for wetland disruption, which she said might be part of the reason floods have been so damaging in recent years. Wetlands provide an outlet for run-off, and the root systems of many native plants help absorb the water, she said.
When asked if the Corps grants too many permits, Betker said it must balance a variety of public interests, such as energy production, the economy, land use and the need for the supplies along the river.
"That is our role, to balance those public interest factors in light of wetlands," he said. And he added, "When they are finished with their work, we anticipate (the wetlands) will be as good as or better than before."
When S&G is done mining, the restored wetlands will be returned to public use as a conservation area, Maas and Sass said. S&G previously mined where Sand Lake now is located. That property, which is not far from S&G's current dig site, is lined with miles of paved recreation trails, and Sass said eventually it could connect into trail system with the newer wetlands.
"It's finally getting to the point where it is coming to fruition," Sass said of the wetlands restoration.This page list rubber hose products with details & specifications. "It's going to take time, but when it's turned back over to the public, it will be a nice park."
Just a few years old,Polycore zentai are manufactured as a single sheet, the former sand quarry-turned-wetlands attracts blue herons, beaver, geese and turtles.
"It's beautiful," J. Elizabeth Maas, a restoration ecologist, said during a tour of the ecosystem she helped create.
S&G Materials, an Iowa City mining company that provides materials such as concrete, sand, rock, dirt and soil primarily to construction companies, is five years into a 30-year wetlands restoration project. The U.Customized imprinted and promotional usb flash drives.S. Army Corps of Engineers requires restoration in exchange for permitting businesses or other entities to disturb natural wetlands.Free DIY Wholesale pet supplies Resource!
Maas, who was hired by S&G to ensure the company follows the terms of the permit, said wetlands are essential for biodiversity, flood mitigation and water quality. She calls them the "kidneys" of the environment.
On its 350-acre property, S&G plans to mine five basins, which will affect 71 acres of wetlands. Top soil goes to landscapers, developers use fill-sand and most valuable is high-quality sand to build interstate roads. Nearly all material is used, said Maury Sass, superintendent of S&G.
After mining one basin and moving to another, S&G begins restoration. Because the company's basins will be relatively shallow, at 20 feet deep,Use bluray burner to burn video to BD DVD on blu ray burner disc. leftover fill-dirt from one basin refills the previous one and jumpstarts the restoration.
As part of the Corps's policy of no net loss of wetlands, S&G must reconstruct the same amount or more -- "like for like." So wooded areas must be replaced by at least as many wooded areas, and swamps must be replaced with swamps, and so on.
The effort is costly and time consuming,dstti Sass said, but it also is necessary.
S&G bought a special bulldozer to construct peninsulas, which helps meeting wetland surface requirements. Prairie grass seed costs $100 a pound, and each acre takes 12 to 15 pounds, Sass said.
Wetland mitigation can cost $15,000 an acre to replace swamps to $40,000 an acre to replace woods. S&G's wetlands are about two-thirds wooded, Maas said.
In 2008, S&G lost 1,000 newly planted trees to the flood and had to start from scratch planting 500 new trees this spring. Within 30 years, they must plant and ensure the viability of up to 10,000, Sass said.
"You can't just dig a hole. There is a whole lot of work involved," he said.
Companies can't just start a restoration project; they must follow through over time and make sure it takes, said John Betker, a regulatory project manager for the Corps in Rock Island, Ill.
Other wetland mitigation projects exist throughout Johnson County, Betker said, but he didn't have an immediate count.
Maas said Iowa ranks No. 3 in the nation for wetland disruption, which she said might be part of the reason floods have been so damaging in recent years. Wetlands provide an outlet for run-off, and the root systems of many native plants help absorb the water, she said.
When asked if the Corps grants too many permits, Betker said it must balance a variety of public interests, such as energy production, the economy, land use and the need for the supplies along the river.
"That is our role, to balance those public interest factors in light of wetlands," he said. And he added, "When they are finished with their work, we anticipate (the wetlands) will be as good as or better than before."
When S&G is done mining, the restored wetlands will be returned to public use as a conservation area, Maas and Sass said. S&G previously mined where Sand Lake now is located. That property, which is not far from S&G's current dig site, is lined with miles of paved recreation trails, and Sass said eventually it could connect into trail system with the newer wetlands.
"It's finally getting to the point where it is coming to fruition," Sass said of the wetlands restoration.This page list rubber hose products with details & specifications. "It's going to take time, but when it's turned back over to the public, it will be a nice park."
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