Basin Coordinator Iowa

Overview

Job Description

Only applicants who meet the Minimum Qualification Requirements and meet all selective requirements (listed below) will be placed on the eligible list. The Department of Natural Resources encourages all applicants to upload a current resume and cover letter to their online application.

Help Us Improve Iowa's Waters. At the Iowa DNR, we are the stewards of our state's natural beauty. We are looking for a Central Iowa Basin Coordinator who is ready to take the lead. You’ll be the "boots on the ground" lead worker, providing the technical spark and financial guidance needed to restore our impaired streams, protect our drinking water, and develop the connections to ensure lasting and impactful improvement to Iowa's natural resources.

If you’re a problem-solver who loves the outdoors and wants to lead a team toward a common goal, we want to hear from you. As the Central Iowa Basin Coordinator, you won’t just be managing projects, you’ll be the bridge between local communities and a cleaner, healthier Iowa. We’re looking for a leader who is passionate about conservation and ready to turn strategy into real-world results.

• Be the Local Expert:
  You are the go-to resource for the Central Basin including watersheds from the Raccoon River to the Iowa River and beyond, helping local groups navigate the technical and financial path to better water quality.
• Lead the Team:
  You’ll mentor and guide a team of Watershed Coordinators, helping them grow and succeed in their local missions.
• Get Into the Field:
  This isn’t just a desk job. You’ll be on-site, assessing terrain and ensuring conservation practices are being built to last.
• Bridge the Gap:
  You’ll connect the dots between government agencies (like the EPA) and the people on the ground – farmers, city planners, and conservation districts.

• Autonomy & Influence:
  You’ll have the authority to shape how water quality projects are implemented across the region.
• Variety:
  One day you’re at a high-level meeting with community leaders; the next, you’re inspecting a new best management practice implementation site.
• Legacy:
  You will literally be able to point to a lake, river or stream and say, "I helped make that cleaner."

• A Technical Mind:
  You understand water quality, nonpoint source pollution, and sediment and nutrient management.
• A People Person:
  You can talk to a farmer, a scientist, and a local politician in the same afternoon.
• A Project Master:
  You’re comfortable managing budgets, reporting progress, and keeping multiple complex projects on track.

• Reviews and analyzes water quality, water quantity, and nonpoint source pollution issues and mitigation strategies
• Reviews environmental principles related to sediment/nutrient/bacterial pollutants and their relationship to water quality
• Reads and absorbs technical and non-technical studies and reports on environmental planning, soil conservation, flood and hazard mitigation, and river basin and watershed planning
• Communicates water quality data to technical and non-technical individuals and groups of stakeholders in a clear and understandable manner
• Evaluates and interprets the relationship between agricultural production activities, economics, stream hydrology and nonpoint source pollution issues
• Develops/maintains effective working relationships with staff, state/federal agency partners, local watershed leaders/groups, agricultural/environmental interests, local citizen groups, private-sector partners, the regulated public, and industry professionals
• Establishes effective contract administration and management strategies
• Traverses open and/or cultivated fields, rolling terrain, riparian zones, and stream beds
• Prepares and interprets reports, project contracts, programmatic and financial tracking spreadsheets, and project and program information databases
• Reviews written watershed plans and provides constructive input and feedback
• Writes technical and non-technical documents that clearly communicate program/project ideas, goals, and objectives
• Reads and absorbs laws, rules, policies, and position papers related to TMDLs,…