14 new floating islands to be launched for the Bee Branch Creek Restoration Project in Dubuque, Iowa.
There have been over 7,000 BioHaven® floating wetland islands installed all over the world to improve water quality and create habitat.
A floating island was added to Mill Creek Park in Iowa in 2016. “The purpose of the island structure is to improve water quality in the lake as well as increase fish habitat and sport fishing opportunities,” said O’Brien County Conservation naturalist Charlene Elyea. “The island provides an opportunity to demonstrate wetland and water-quality benefits as well as improve wildlife habitat.”
The 7.5-by-12.5-foot floating wetland is vegetated with native plant species — including flowering plants as well as cattails, rushes and sedges.
“By next spring and summer, the island will already be contributing to improved water quality,” Elyea said. “Microbes on the plant roots turn nitrates into nutrients for the plants. Roots also increase the dissolved oxygen available for fish.
“The island will aid fish habitat by providing an area for smaller fish to congregate in the shade and root mass under the island,” she said. “This will bring larger predatory fish such as bass close to the island and also to the fishing jetty.” For more on this story, visit nwestiowa.com.
We are excited to add 14 new floating islands in Dubuque, Iowa. Please contact us at info@MidwestFloatingIsland.com for more information on this project.