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Carroll County stream signs note watersheds

By Staff | May 13, 2012

This is the first of 42 stream crossing signs that will go up across Carroll County soon. The signs will educate residents in which watershed they share with neighbors. The Carroll?County secoandary roads crew will install most of the signs.

CARROLL (SWCD) – Starting last week, Carroll County residents could start looking for new signs near the bridges of their state and county paved roads.

The new signs will show travelers the name of the stream they are crossing. Forty two new signs on 21 stream crossings will soon be appearing.

Seven of the crossings are on state highways and will be installed by Iowa Department of Transportation crews.

The remaining 14 crossings will be installed by Carroll Secondary Roads crews.

The sign project is coordinated by the Carroll Soil and Water Conservation District for the purpose of identifying various watersheds by identifying the streams.

Jamie Desert shows one of the 28 county stream signs he will install this spring on county paved roads. The Iowa DOT crews will add 14 more signs along state highways.

The SWCD wants rural residents to be aware of the watershed they live in and share with their neighbors.

“Everyone in a watershed shares the water quality of the stream.” said John Klein, sign project coordinator. One side benefit is providing rural landmarks that can be used by motorists that need to describe their location.

“If a traveling driver broke down on a county paved road, they may find it difficult to identify their location when they call for help,” Klein said. “But if they could say they are near the Willow Creek Bridge, and the bridge is well marked, regular travelers would know where to find them.”

Funding for the signs, posts and hardware came from a combination of the local cities, county board of supervisors, county conservation board, Pheasants Forever, and SWCD funds.

These local sources were matched by grants from the Timmerman Trust Fund and Community Foundation of Carroll County last fall.

The cities of Breda, Carroll, Lidderdale and Coon Rapids contributed to install stream signs near their incorporated limits.

The supervisors contributed to label the Middle Raccoon River at the Maple River Junction.

The streams in Carroll County that will be signed this spring include (with numbers showing how many of bridges that will get signs): Willey Creek (1), Storm Creek (3), Willow Creek (1), Brushy Creek (4), Carnarvon Creek (1), Purgatory Creek (1), Dedham Creek (1), West Nishnabotna River (1), Missouri & Mississippi Watershed Divide (1) and Middle Raccoon River (7).

The Soil and Water Conservation District is planning to complete the county’s stream crossings on paved roads with 11 additional sites in the final phase of the project in 2013.

“In Carroll County,” Klein said, “we have streams in Breda and streams in Manning that will not join up until they both get to St. Louis, Mo. Everyone lives in a watershed.”