Vander Linden Capitol Update For March 12
Vander Linden
IDALS Announces Three Water Quality Initiative Projects
On Thursday, March 5, 2015, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) issued a press release in which Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey announced that three additional watershed demonstration projects have been selected to receive $1.4 million in funding through the Iowa water quality initiative over the next three years. In addition to the state funds, the three projects will provide an additional $1.4 million in matching funds to support water quality improvement efforts as well as other in-kind contributions. The selected projects will join 13 targeted Water Quality Initiative demonstration watershed projects that were previously funded to help implement and demonstrate water quality practices. The state has provided $6 million in funding to support these existing projects and has leveraged an additional $10.3 million in additional funding from partners and landowners. More than 70 organizations are participating in these projects.
The demonstration watersheds selected cover 274,596 acres. The projects will implement and demonstrate the effectiveness and adaptability of a host of conservation practices including, but not limited to: cover crops, nutrient management, wetlands, terraces, bioreactors, buffer strips, no-till, strip-till, nitrogen inhibitors, extended rotations, conservation cover, drainage water management and manure management. More than 30 partners from agriculture organizations, institutions of higher education, private industry, the local, state and federal government, and others, are working together on these projects.
A short summary of each of the projects follows here.
Elk Run Watershed Water Quality Initiative Project – Sac, Carroll and Calhoun Counties Grant award: $354,000
Total project: $713,000
Project leader: Agriculture’s Clean Water Alliance(ACWA)
Partners: Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, Iowa Soybean
Association, Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Pork
Producers Association, Iowa Cattlemen’s Association, Iowa
Agriculture Water Alliance, Crop Production Services,
Farmers Cooperative Company, West Central Cooperative, Iowa State University Extension, USDA-Natural Resource
Conservation Service, Sac Soil and Water Conservation
District, Carroll Soil and Water Conservation District, Calhoun Soil and Water Conservation District, Practical Farmers of Iowa.
Project details: ACWA and partners are leading a demonstration and implementation project in the Elk Run watershed to target and showcase both in-field and edge-of-field practices that reduce nutrient loss to surface waters. The project will establish a one-on-one dialogue with farmers and landowners in the watershed to discuss opportunities to incorporate and build on conservation measures on their farms. Activities will include outreach events to highlight various technologies that significantly reduce loss of nutrients while maintaining the productive capability of cropland in the watershed.
Headwaters North Raccoon River – Buena Vista andPocahontas Counties
Grant award: $501,810
Total project: $1,237,830
Project leaders: Buena Vista & Pocahontas Soil & Water
Conservation Districts
Partners: Ag Partners Cooperative, Farm Nutrients, First Cooperative, Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance, Iowa
Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, Iowa Pork Producers Association, Iowa
Soybean Association, Iowa State University Extension,
Antares Group Incorporated, City of Storm Lake, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, USDA-Natural Resource
Conservation Service
Project details: The Headwaters North Raccoon River project will work side-by-side with local farmers and partners to promote the integration of management and other practices to decrease the loss of nutrients to surface waters. A comprehensive list of key trusted agricultural advisors and retailers have been assembled to help deliver and promote nutrient stewardship practices in the watersheds.
Leading a New Collaborative Approach to Improving
Water Quality in the Squaw Creek Watershed – Story,
Boone and Hamilton Counties
Grant award: $609,164
Total project: $930,788
Project leaders: Prairie Rivers of Iowa Resource
Conservation & Development (RC&D)
Partners: Squaw Creek Watershed Management Authority
(WMA), Story County Board of Supervisors, Boone County
Board of Supervisors, Story Soil and Water Conservation
District, Boone Soil and Water Conservation District,
Hamilton Soil and Water Conservation District, City of
Ames, Story County Conservation Board, Iowa Corn
Growers Association, Iowa Soybean Association, Heartland
Cooperative, Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance, Technical
Service Provider Network, Emmons & Oliver, Iowa State
University Bioeconomy Institute, DuPont Pioneer Project details: The Prairie Rivers of Iowa RC&D, in cooperation with the Squaw Creek Watershed Management Authority, is leading this effort in the Squaw Creek Watershed. This project will take a collaborative approach involving multiple stakeholders to address runoff in the watershed through practice implementation, outreach/education events, and assessment. The Squaw Creek WMA established a strategic plan in 2014 to help guide and target implementation efforts within the watershed. Included in the plan was an assessment of the watershed that will help assess and target locations for best management practices to protect and improve water quality.
Tax Refunds to Illegal Immigrants?
The President’s actions on immigration are controversial to say the least—but now the IRS is saying that illegals can file and claim tax refunds going back three years under the Earned Income Tax Credit. This is a credit that has already caused billions in fraudulent refunds being sent out.
Under the President’s questionable executive action an illegal immigrant can now obtain a social security number and therefore can claim refunds based on the Earned Income Tax Credit for the three prior years. This can happen even if the person has never reported any income or filed a return. As crazy as it sounds—that is the way the Earned Income Tax Credit is administered. There are IRS opinions that make it clear that taxpayers can claim the Earned Income Tax Credit for a tax year using a social security number obtained in a later year.
Senator Grassley and others have vowed to propose legislation to fix this issue. The Earned Income Tax Credit is meant to assist low income citizens not provide refunds to individuals who obtained a social security number under questionable authority. It is likely that a lot of those who will file and receive refunds might have already received refunds in those years using fraudulent social security numbers.
Rep. McHenry has filed the No Free Rides Act. That bill prohibits illegal immigrants from filing tax returns but allows them to benefit from the Earned Income Tax Credit. For tax year 2014 the maximum refundable credit an individual could get back was over $6,000. Multiply that going three years back and there is a possibility substantial checks would be written to social security numbers that did not exist just months ago.
