The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s Water Quality Initiative continued to grow in 2023.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said that their conservation efforts had another positive year, setting their third consecutive record breaking year, and added that he wants to see those records continue to fall in the coming years.

“I love to say records are made to be broken so let’s hope that when you and I are talking next year, not only hope, let’s expect that we’re going to set yet a new record. And the reason I’m confident about that is, we’ve never seen more resources, more awareness, more partners, more actual work getting done at any time in Iowa’s history than we have recently.”

In October, Naig announced that the Water Quality Initiative (WQI) project in Mahaska County expanded into Jasper and Marion Counties while also adding a new phase. The project continued to emphasize the use of in-field conservation practices, and also included an added focus on the installation of edge-of-field practices. 

Hear more from Secretary Naig on today’s In Touch with South Central Iowa.