Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig is coming to the area next week. Naig is attending the Mahaska County South Skunk Watershed Project Kickoff on Wednesday, September 18th at 11 a.m. at Agriland in Oskaloosa. Bryce Lidtka says the South Skunk River Rapid Watershed covers portions of 13 Iowa counties, and locally, is mostly in Jasper, northeastern Marion, and Mahaska Counties. He says this is a new project started by the Mahaska County Conservation District aiming to lower nitrate and phosphate runoff in Iowa rivers and streams. At the event Wednesday, Naig will speak about the latest with the Iowa Water Quality Initiative and Nutrient Reduction Strategy.