Cedar Falls receives state support for stormwater wetland along public trail
Cedar Falls is one of four Iowa communities receiving state support for urban water-quality projects, with a local plan to convert an existing detention basin into a stormwater wetland along a heavily used public trail.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship announced the projects July 13, 2026. The Cedar Falls project is in a developing part of the city and is intended to improve water quality, manage urban stormwater and reduce nutrient runoff.
Wetland planned near trail and school
The planned wetland would replace the current detention-basin design with a feature intended to help manage stormwater while providing educational and recreational value. The site is along a public trail used heavily by the community.
The project also includes educational opportunities for the public, including students from a neighboring elementary school. The state announcement does not name that school.
For nearby residents, trail users and families, the known effect at this stage is a planned change to an existing stormwater facility. The available announcement does not say that construction has begun, and it does not provide a construction start date or completion date.
Statewide funding totals
Across the four projects, IDALS is investing $644,925. The projects are expected to leverage another $653,425 in additional funds, bringing the combined investment to nearly $1.3 million.
Those figures apply to all four projects, not solely to Cedar Falls. The announcement does not state the Cedar Falls project’s individual award amount.
Secretary Mike Naig announced the projects on behalf of IDALS. The other locations named in the state announcement are Des Moines, Riverside and West Burlington.
Separate city notices
Cedar Falls posted public-hearing notices Aug. 3 for general-obligation capital-loan notes totaling up to $965,000, $850,000 and $3 million, along with a Greenwood Cemetery slope-stabilization project. Those notices show active city infrastructure and capital-finance proceedings, but they do not establish that any of the loan proceeds would fund the stormwater wetland.
The next publicly stated step or deadline for the Cedar Falls wetland project is not included in the available state announcement. The project’s individual state award, construction schedule and completion date remain unreported in the approved materials.
Sources
- Secretary Naig Announces Urban Water Quality Projects in Cedar Falls, Des Moines, Riverside and West Burlington, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship
- Cedar Falls public notices, City of Cedar Falls
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