On Thursday, the West Fork Crooked Creek will be visited by Governor Terry Branstad, so he can view the construction of a new bioreactor. Watershed Coordinator Dan Mahoney said they already have one bioreactor, which has been a success, so they’re building a second one. Mahoney said the governor has never seen the construction of a bioreactor before, and they want to show him what the state is doing to improve water quality, as well as what it takes to install them. He hopes the demonstration will lead to additional funding in future years.

A bioreactor cleans water by diverting tile water into a pit filled with wood chips covered with beneficial bacteria, which causes a chemical reaction with nitrates that enter the water from corn fertilizer. Mahoney said the first bioreactor was built three years ago, and after the first year it had purified the water of 99% of nitrate pollutants. However, that number has dipped in subsequent years due to the wood chips breaking down, but they still hope to get another seven years out of them.