Business : PUBLIC INPUT NEEDED FOR NORTHERN IOWA WATERSHED PLANNING

The Iowa-Cedar River Basin Interagency Planning Team will be hosting several community visioning workshops on Dec. 7 and 8. The group is asking city officials, businesses, neighborhoods and residents that live and work within the Dry Creek, Dry Run Creek and Lime Creek Watersheds to define a vision and direction for their local watershed. Persons attending the workshop will be asked to share their image of what it looks like to live sustainably in their community, considering the environment, the economy and their neighbors.

The first event will be Dec. 7 at the Wickiup Hill Outdoor Learning Center, 10260 Morris Hills Road, Toddville. Activities will focus on the Dry Creek Watershed, which generally flows south to north, starting near Atkins in Benton County and flowing to the north through Palo in Linn County before out letting into the Cedar River northwest of Cedar Rapids.

The second event will be Dec. 8 at the Center for Energy and Environmental Education (CEEE), located at the SE corner of Jennings Drive and Campus Street, south of the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center (GBPAC) at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. Activities at this event will focus on the Dry Run Creek and Lime Creek Watershed. The Dry Run Creek Watershed flows west to east through rural, residential, industrial and commercial areas of Black Hawk County including the city of Cedar Falls and the University of Northern Iowa before out letting into the Cedar River in Cedar Falls. The Lime Creek Watershed flows north to south in Buchanan County, starting just to the west of Independence and flowing south through Brandon before out letting into the Cedar River.

Two workshop sessions are being offered in both Toddville and Cedar Falls to accommodate varied schedules. An afternoon session will run from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. at each location and an evening session will run from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at each location. Space is limited for each session.

All of the workshops will be facilitated by Jim Waddell who brings his innovative Multi-Vision Integration/Vision to Action tool at no cost to the community. The workshop is a hands-on visualization process supported by a professional artist/illustrator. After the workshop, the artist/illustrator will provide community composite renderings of the integrated visions.

Participants can reserve a spot by contacting Diane Karnish, Iowa/Cedar Basin Integrator, US Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, at (309)794-5006 or e-mail diane.e.karnish@usace.army.mil on or before Dec. 6.

Both events are sponsored by the Iowa-Cedar River Basin Interagency Planning Team.