CEDAR RAPIDS SHINES
AWARD-WINNING CLEAN WATER F
rom being named Iowa’s best-tasting drinking water — twice in the last decade, according to the American Water Works Association’s Iowa Chapter — to consistently achieving environmental compliance and clean drinking water metrics, Cedar Rapids residents and business owners can take pride in the City’s clean, safe, and reliable water. Clean water is essential to everything we do in our community. We drink water to nourish our bodies, prepare food, wash our hands, and clean our homes. Water is a key ingredient to keeping our local industries running. When we’re done using it, the City of Cedar Rapids cleans wastewater and returns it safely back to the Cedar River to continue on in the water cycle.
U.S. WATER PRIZE
Beyond clean water, the City of Cedar Rapids recognizes the U.S. Water Alliance’s “One Water” mission. The movement acknowledges how various stakeholders have interconnected relationships with water. Stakeholders include water utilities, cities and their residents, businesses and industries, agricultural systems, social and economic interests, and inhabitants of healthy waterways. The City of Cedar Rapids has many partnerships with water users up and down the Cedar River watershed — and across the country — earning the prestigious U.S. Water Prize in 2019. The City won in the Public Sector category for its leadership in the Middle Cedar Partnership Project (MCPP). The MCPP was a 2015–2020 collaboration between downstream water users, upstream conservation entities, and local farmers to improve water quality, water quantity, and soil health in the watershed.
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A CLEAN, SUSTAINABLE FUTURE The City’s Utilities Department boasts many points of clean-water pride. Here are a few more examples: Every year, the Water Pollution Control Facility (WPC) works to meet 3,865 points of compliance toward its water discharge permit. In 2019, WPC earned the North American Clean Water Agency (NACWA) Silver Peak Performance Award for its exceptional compliance, with only one deviation from the standard.
Planned improvement projects at WPC will help to decrease nutrients in the Cedar River that may contribute to the Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone. Upgrades will span the next two decades, replacing aging facilities, meeting regulatory expectations, improving sustainability, and furthering the City’s excellent record of watershed stewardship.
In 2020, the Water division achieved 100 percent compliance with Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Water Quality expectations, making 2020 its third-consecutive year to earn that distinction.
The City’s water treatment and water pollution control systems remain in continuous operation around the clock, every day of the year. This is an enormous accomplishment! Residents shared words of gratitude following the August 2020 derecho storm, when water and sewer systems continued to function without issue.
The City has installed several “green infrastructure” projects, including bioretention cells, bioreactors, rain gardens, and permeable pavers in parks and city-owned fields and right-of-way to reduce pollutants in its waterways.
A bioreactor installed in the MCPP target area routes drainage water through trenches filled with woodchips, reducing the amount of nitrates delivered downstream.
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MARCH 2021
