Iowa § 357H.1 - 357H.1 Rural improvement zones — definitions.

§ 357H.1. 357H.1 Rural improvement zones — definitions.

1. The board of supervisors of a county with less than twenty thousand residents, not counting persons admitted or committed to an institution enumerated in section 218.1 or 904.102, based upon the most recent certified federal census, and with a private real estate development adjacent to or abutting in part a lake may designate an area surrounding the lake, if it is an unincorporated area of the county, a rural improvement zone upon receipt of a petition pursuant to section 357H.2, and upon the board’s determination that the area is in need of improvements. 2. For purposes of this chapter: a. “Board” means the board of supervisors of the county. b. “Improvements” means dredging, installation of erosion control measures, water quality activities, land acquisition, and related improvements, including soil conservation practices, within or outside of the boundaries of the zone. c. “Lake” means a body of water that is located entirely in a single county and that has a surface area of at least eighty acres. d. “Water quality activities” includes but is not limited to creation or maintenance of grass waterways or wetlands, bank stabilization, watershed protection, activities on lands outside the rural improvement zone which affect water quality within the zone, and any other activity which will improve water quality of a stream, river, or lake. 97 Acts, ch 152, §1; 98 Acts, ch 1168, §1; 2000 Acts, ch 1190, §1; 2005 Acts, ch 108, §1; 2010 Acts, ch 1069, §122; 2015 Acts, ch 97, §1 – 3; 2020 Acts, ch 1118, §149 – 151 2020 amendment to subsection 1 applies to rural improvement zones in existence on or established on or after June 29, 2020; 2020 Acts, ch 1118, §151 Fri Dec 12 20:07:06 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Section 357H.1 (24, 0)