Improving water quality in Iowa is everybody’s business. Certainly, farmers from all over the state have stepped up to embrace practices to improve water quality and save soil. They’ve planted cover crops, installed buffer strips along streams, built wetlands and adopted many other practices outlined in the innovative Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.

A growing number of Iowa communities, both big and small, are also doing their part and are making changes to improve the state’s water quality. They are installing new...