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2024 Envirothon Competition Iowa Envirothon is back! We at Conservation Districts of Iowa are excited to welcome the next great group of young Iowans from all over the state for our annual competition, a chance for youth to deep dive into valuable environmental and natural resource problem- solving, teambuilding and leadership experiences! And we ask for your help! As someone who is close to, or works with young students, we count on your support to help recruit and guide our young learners through the phases of competition. Will you help us out? Envirothon challenges students to hone critical thinking skills and create inventive solutions to the complex local and global environmental and natural resource issues facing our world today. Experiencing Envirothon can open the way to a life-enhancing future. Students feel empowered to educate others, take action in their local communities, pursue higher academic study in environmental disciplines, and work toward careers in the environment, natural resources and conservation. Mark your calendars: the Iowa Envirothon state competition will be held April 29th at Jester Park . But to get there, your teams will first be challenged in Regional competition tests, which in 2024 will be held virtually in an online testing format. These tests will be open to take starting Monday, March 18th through Friday, March 29th . More information and directions for how the online process will work will be sent out closer to the Regionals testing dates. We hope you’ll share this great chance to take part in a rewarding and fun group event with your local young people – high school students grades 9-12 or ages 14-19. This will be their chance to meet others from around Iowa who share our passion for conservation and sustainability. Check online for updates and more information, including registration form, sample study guide and tests, rules and regulations, and links to the national event: https://cdiowa.org/get-involved/envirothon . Registration forms are now online on CDI’s website and can be found HERE . PLEASE HAVE YOUR REGISTRATION FORM AND TEAM MEMBER INFORMATION FORM TURNED IN BY FRIDAY, March 2nd . Please let me know if you have any questions, and we’re looking forward to another fun and successful Envirothon! CARLEE SABUS Program Manager Conservation Districts of Iowa 2015 Grand Ave Box #15 Ste LL2 Des Moines, IA 50312 Visit the website at Envirothon - Conservation Districts of Iowa (cdiowa.org) for more information. Every website has a story, and your visitors want to hear yours. This space is a great opportunity to give a full background on who you are, what your team does and what your site has to offer. Double click on the text box to start editing your content and make sure to add all the relevant details you want site visitors to know. If you’re a business, talk about how you started and share your professional journey. Explain your core values, your commitment to customers and how you stand out from the crowd. Add a photo, gallery or video for even more engagement.

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SWCD Vegetable Garden The spring of 2023 we had planted a vegetable garden at the SWCD office in Adel. We had enough tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers to share with a few care centers in the Adel area. Back to News

Soil Education Soil Loss Soil Health Learn about Iowa's Soils

Soil Loss Soil Loss Limit Regulations Under the authority set forth in Chapter 161A, Code of Iowa, the commissioners are required to adopt, amend, and repeal such reasonable regulations as are deemed necessary to establish and maintain soil loss limit regulations for the district. The soil loss limits are reviewed at least once every five years, and any amendments are presented at a public hearing. Dallas County Soil Loss Limit is: 5 tons Per Acre Land Disturbing Activities Iowa Code 161A.64 requires erosion control plans for certain projects. Iowa Code 161A.64, subsection 2, states that prior to initiating a land disturbing activity in a political subdivision which has not adopted sediment control ordinances as described in subsection 1, a person engaged in the land disturbing activity shall file a signed affidavit with the soil and water conservation district that the project will not exceed the soil loss limits. This form must be signed and filed with the applicable political subdivision or the soil and water conservation district before the land disturbing activity is initiated. The affidavit shall be in the form prescribed by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and made available by the district. Iowa Code 161A.47 authorizes district commissioners to inspect land based upon a soil loss complaint. Land Disturbing Activities Affidavit - here To learn more, visit Iowa Code 161A Soil Loss Complaints A soil and water conservation district may receive verbal or written notification that a problem exists where erosion from one property is resulting in sediment damage to another property. The first course of action would be to discuss the mutual erosion problem. If the problem cannot be addressed by informal discussion, the party alleging damage must submit a formal complaint. The complaint is the catalyst which triggers the use of the Iowa Sediment Control Law. The complaint must be in letter form, stating that excessive erosion is occurring upon the alleged offending party’s land and that sediment damage is occurring. After a complaint has been properly filed, a quorum of the soil and water conservation district commissioners, the respective IDALS-DSCWQ Field Representative, together with technical staff, should meet with the complainant to consider the facts and circumstances surrounding the complaint. The commissioners will make an inspection of the land of the complainant to ascertain if sediment damages are occurring upon the property.” Learn about Iowa's Soil Loss Limits here

DCSWCD Monthly Meeting Agendas December 2025 January 2026

Waukee Innovation and Learning Center On September 29, 2023 Assistant Commissioner Sharon Donovan, District Conservationist Aaron Eggert and Soil Conservationist Tyler Reams, toured the WILC in Waukee and discussed prairie establishment and management, education and career opportunities in natural resources, and classroom activities, one of which was the release of the monarchs! Back to News

Our History Back Dallas County's Early History of Soil Conservation. Although the Soil Conservation Service was born in 1935, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the soil conservation act into law, organized soil conservation did not come to the county until 1946, when Ivan Fredregill became the first District Conservationist for the government agency. The Dallas County Soil Conservation District was organized May 10, 1946 by Fredregill and others who knew that the result would be a momentous disaster if the soil was not carefully guarded from the elements and man. Among the interested were three farmers, Ralph Mortimer of Dallas Center, Lloyd Mendenhall of Earlham and J. Max Gutshall of Van Meter. These three helped Fredregill organize the district by sitting on the first board of commissioners. Although a few farmers were resistant to change, many responded enthusiastically to the new ideas. Area farmers and landowners first organized into 'groups'. These organized groups could then request the soil surveyor to survey and map their area so they could then develop a conservation plan for their individual farms. Strip Cropping laid out in 1954 on the Robert Eakle Farm, Section 18 of Van Meter Township. These groups would get together to discuss contouring, strip cropping, waterways, and terraces. They had demonstrations, tours, and speakers to help learn more about conservation practices. By October of 1947, there were eleven organized groups consisting of eighty-four farms, and five conservation plans completed. Each year the number of groups, individual farmers and completed conservation plans grew. By October of 1951, when the groups were dissolved, thirty-two organized 'groups' were scattered throughout the county. The soil survey continued on an individual request basis until 1976 when a soil survey crew remapped all of Dallas County. Conservation planning continues today and will continue as farming equipment evolve, supply and demand of certain crops and livestock shift, and as the economy demands changes in future farming operations. The people have changed, the organization has changed, the practices have changed, but our ideals remain the same--a rich and prosperous soil to be passed on from generation to generation which sustains the farm family and feeds the world and water that is clean and pure for both human and wildlife consumption, recreation and habitat. Ivan Fredregill: Dallas County's 1st District Conservationist. Serving our county for nearly 20 years. In 1946, Dallas County's Soil Conservation Service was organized, and Ivan Fredregill became the first District Conservationist for the government agency. Fredregill's interest in conservation blossomed, not in college, but when he began working as an agriculture foreman in 1933 for the Civil Conservation Corps, which was part of FDR's work program. He received a degree in agricultural engineering in 1931 from Iowa State College (now Iowa State University) but "conservation was not talked about a great deal then". From the forties to the sixties, conservationists encouraged contour farming, strip cropping, terracing and crop rotation. "Conservation," Fredregill said, "was pretty much like it is now, but it wasn't as sophisticated."

Natural Resources Welcome to the Education section of the Dallas County Soil and Water Conservation District's website. Here, we believe that knowledge is the key to effective conservation. By providing you with access to a wealth of resources, we empower both rural and urban residents to become stewards of our invaluable soil and water resources. Soil We provide best practices on soil conservation in Iowa, such as reducing tilling and erosion, planting cover crops, and improving soil health through organic matter additions. Read More Water We provide up-to-date information on the best practices for keeping Iowa's water clean, such as reducing soil erosion, using fertilizers responsibly, and properly disposing of hazardous materials. Read More

Our 5 Year Plan Back The priority goals were established in collaboration with input from a Local Working Group (consisting of farmers, local business owners, and other residents of the community), Dallas SWCD Commissioners and Natural Resources Conservation Service staff. The Priority Goals for the Dallas Soil and Water Conservation District are as follows: Priority Goal #1: People - Expand office staff capacity, restoring it to previous levels, providing the availability of the right people, right role, at the right time, and seek funding to support the additional expense overhead. Priority Goal #2: Water and Soil Quality - Increase the use of buffers along waterways and streams reducing erosion while improving wildlife habitat. Priority Goal #3: Soil Quality and Conservation - Encourage and expand upon implementation of and compliance with effective conservation practices on land designated as HEL reducing erosion on higher risk land. Priority Goal #4: Grow Partnership Network - Continuously enhance partnerships with county and neighboring organizations that support and promote mutual goals of improving lowa's water quality and land stewardship, and conservation practices. Read our 5 year plan People Water and Soil Quality Soil Quality and Conservation Grow Partnership Network Our Goals

About Us Soil health and water quality not only determine the quality of human life, but whether human life is possible. The Dallas Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) invites everyone to get involved in preserving our essential natural resources for future generations. Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2024 Meeting Minutes Our Commissioners Our History How Conservation Districts Work Our 5 Year Plan

DMACC Farms Reveals Wetland Perry Middle School hosted the third annual Agriculture in the Classroom on Tuesday, October 17, 2023, Dallas County District Conservationist Aaron Eggert and Soil Conservationist Tyler Reams did a demonstration land management and the benefits of good soil health. Back to News