Washington County Conservation Director Steve Anderson and Washington Betterment Foundation board President Ann Williams at Willow Pond. Photo courtesy of Steve Anderson.

The Washington Betterment Foundation donated the final $1,500 to complete the nearly $40,000 Willow Pond improvement project.

The project that was completed in late August included armoring the shoreline of the pond, multiple landscaping improvements, and a family-sized shelter with two new benches. Washington County Conservation Director Steve Anderson comments on receiving the final donation, “It’s been awesome. And another big player in this is actually the Washington Boy Scouts. Sam Fields actually made this his Eagle project, so we had that kind of community involvement and lots of volunteers associated with that as well.”

This project was also funded by the Resource Enhancement and Protection program (REAP), Iowa Fish Habitat Stamp Fund, and the Washington County Riverboat Foundation. Anderson says he looks forward to connecting the Kewash Nature Trail to the Kirkwood Community College Washington County Regional Center with a concrete trail going across the dam of Willow Pond, likely in 2018.