CEDAR FALLS -- Dry Run Creek is sick.

A veritable army is now at work on some holistic healing to bring it back to health.

A broad-based coalition spearheaded by the Black Hawk Soil and Water Conservation District is in the process of studying the creek and looking for ways to make it cleaner, less susceptible to runoff and able to support life.

Early this year, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources put Dry Run Creek on its list of impaired waterways. Dry Run Creek includes four branches in Cedar Falls and conveys water from farmland south and west of the city.

Shaffer Ridgeway of the Natural Resource Conservation Service was surprised at the listing, not necessarily because it made the list but why it did.

"I was kind of shocked because of what it was listed for -- lack of aquatic life," Ridgeway said.

A coalition between the NRCS, conservation district, DNR and the University of Northern Iowa and Hawkeye Community College will gather information about the creek and search for solutions.

The group is seeking a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, likely in the neighborhood of $250,000 to $400,000.

"It's not a matter of throwing dollars at something, it's providing the money that will produce results," said Sherman Lundy, a district soil and water commissioner.

The coalition will attempt to implement best practices to prevent runoff from farm fields and new Cedar Falls housing and commercial developments. That could help reduce the amount of harmful materials draining into the Cedar River, another impaired waterway on the DNR list.

The project will not be easy because of the diverse watershed. The creek runs through several parts of Cedar Falls, including growing residential areas in southern Cedar Falls and near the university.

It also flows from farmlands near Hudson and west of Cedar Falls.

"It does make the project more challenging," Ridgeway said. "I'm not going to tell you it's just the farmers or just the development going on, it's a lot of different things."

A group of students from a UNI geology class are collecting information about the nature of the creek channel. Other information projects currently are under way, including alerting landowners of the project and the creek's problems.

Lundy said possible fixes for the creek include agricultural practices such as buffer strips, as well as urban development techniques like using bioswales or permeable pavement systems.

It could get expensive in places, as much of the land surrounding the creek in Cedar Falls already is developed and would need retrofitting.

Contact Jon Ericson at (319) 291-1461 or jonathan.ericson@wcfcourier.com.