Ames | Prairie Rivers of Iowa

More Bees, Please – Creating a Pollinator Friendly Ames!

by Guest Contributor | May 14, 2025

Article guest written by Lisa Kuehl, a volunteer member of the Pollinator Friendly Ames group

DID YOU KNOW that the City of Ames is a national leader in pollinator conservation? An exciting new 10-year plan, developed in 2023, aims to support bees, butterflies, insects, and birds through education, research, and collaboration. The Pollinator-Friendly Ames Plan is a dedicated effort between the City and Prairie Rivers of Iowa, with partnerships growing between many businesses, organizations, schools, homeowners’ and neighborhood associations, and, of course, the residents of Ames.

Thanks to the hard work of the Ames Pollinator-Friendly Community Task Force, this detailed plan is now in place, providing guidance and goals for helping Ames help our pollinators. Among these goals are creating more diverse habitats in yards, parks and green spaces, monitoring the numbers and kinds of pollinators observed, reducing pesticide use and sharing with the citizens of Ames ways in which they can help and become involved.

Why is any of this important to you? Because if you like to eat, chances are you can thank a pollinator! These busy insects, primarily bees, are what allow our fruits and vegetables to become our food. Other pollinators, such as butterflies, moths, insects and birds, scatter pollen, helping to grow beautiful native plants. Native plants are also what help purify our drinking water through their long, deep root systems that filter the groundwater. And native plants host caterpillars which provide critical food sources for many species of baby birds.

So, how can you be part of this amazing effort? Caring and supporting pollinators can be as simple as reducing your use of lawn pesticides, potting one native plant on your porch or converting part of your lawn into a diverse habitat to nourish pollinators in every stage of their lives. The City of Ames has many great resources for helping you get started! You can visit the City website or the Prairie Rivers of Iowa website to learn more.

On both websites you and your family will find ways to be a “Butterfly Bestie” and start taking steps towards helping the City meet its goals. Remember, even the most simple of actions can make a very big difference for our pollinators! If you’d like to know more about volunteering your time and talents, you are welcome to join one of the Plan’s four current committees: Education, Policy, Research or Partnerships. We would love to have you on board!

Pollinator-Friendly

Ames Needs You!

Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, you can help. Join the Pollinator Team and contribute to protecting bees, butterflies, and other essential pollinators.

Do you have pollinator habitat in your yard? Self report your habitat to help our group keep track of the pollinator friendly sites in Ames!

Pollinator habitat is an area that has any blooming flowers, whether on fruit trees, veggie gardens, or flower gardens!

Are you interested in learning more about the plan and what your group can do to help? We will present to your group/club/organization! Just click the button below to sign up.

Join The Committee

Self Report Habitat

Request a Presentation

Upgrade your sewage treatment plant, get a free bioswale!

by Dan Haug | Feb 28, 2018

Does the State Revolving Fund (SRF) do infomercials for its Clean Water Loans? I think they should because SRF Sponsored Projects are a classic case of “buy-one-get-one-free.”

We usually focus on conservation efforts by farmers but today let’s give some credit to the municipal wastewater departments—they do a lot to keep our rivers clean. As a nation, we’ve generally been more successful in regulating and treating the pollutants coming out from sewage treatment plants and factories than we have been in dealing with the pollutants that wash off of farm fields, turf grass and parking lots. We’ve now reached a point where the water coming out of the local sewage treatment plant is cleaner in some respects than the water in the backyard creek. I’m not kidding: Ames Water and Pollution Control can’t exceed 126 E. coli colonies per 100mL in their treated effluent—E. coli levels in Squaw Creek for 2016 were eight times higher.

Repairing an aging sewer system or installing a UV disinfection system to meet permit requirements isn’t cheap. This year, the City of Gilbert will be borrowing $3.8 million from the State Revolving Fund (SRF) to upgrade its lagoons and the City of Ames will be borrowing $21 million to prevent inflows to its sanitary sewer system. With that necessary expense comes an additional opportunity to clean up Squaw Creek. A city can apply to do SRF Sponsored Project of up to 10% of the wastewater loan principal, and have the project cost offset by reduced interest rates. Eligible projects include “green infrastructure” in town, conservation practices on farmland in the watershed, or erosion control and ecological restoration along the stream.

Ames has done SRF Sponsored Projects before, so on Monday I joined staff from Gilbert, Fox Engineering, and IDALS to hear from Ames Stormwater Specialist Jake Moore and get some ideas for projects. Paved surfaces like parking lots can contribute to erosion, flooding, and water quality problems, because the rain that falls on them rushes via storm sewer to our waterways. Modern ordinances require that more stormwater be detained and treated on site, or allowed to soak into the ground rather than running off the surface. Ames rebuilt the city hall parking lot last year to absorb water. The parking stalls are permeable pavers. Up to 27 inches of stone underneath provides storage space for water after big storms to mitigate flooding. Compost amendment to the landscaped areas around the building increase soil permeability and promote healthy vegetation. The site was recently planted with the help of Ames High School students, so check back—over time the moisture-tolerant native plants in the bioswales should fill in and bloom, attracting butterflies.

Cool project, right? Prairie Rivers of Iowa is eager to partner with Gilbert, Ames, and other towns in the Squaw Creek and South Skunk watersheds to help facilitate water quality practices both in town and on farmland.