Mr. Etler’s primary areas of project management responsibilities involve agricultural and civil engineering projects. The focus of these projects is in the management of water resources. Providing professional services to drainage districts across Iowa and in southern Minnesota has constituted the bulk of his career. These services include the establishment of new drainage districts, repairs, improvements, annexations, reclassifications, common outlet assessments and levy calculation assistance.

Don has worked with professional consulting firms in northwestern Iowa since 1976. This includes a six-year period in the 1980s when he operated his own firm. In 1989, Mr. Etler merged Etler Engineering Company with Kuehl and Payer, Ltd. Don is an active officer of the firm and manages the Algona office.

Mr. Etler is recognized as an expert concerning federal and state regulations affecting stormwater management and wetlands. He has testified before committees of Congress and the Iowa legislature on these topics. Don has assisted many rural and urban property owners, businesses and drainage districts throughout the Midwest in complying with or in seeking relief from adverse regulatory determinations in these areas. His work includes the successful permitting and construction of Iowa’s first two large alternative drainage projects which allowed for the closure of 52 agricultural drainage wells. Mr. Etler’s expertise was also recognized in 1999 when he was selected to lead an Iowa legislature-sponsored study to design conceptual alternative drains and to determine the costs associated with the closing of all of the nearly 300 registered drainage wells in Iowa.

Mr. Etler’s expertise includes converted wetland mitigation, wetland restoration, and the analysis of alterations to drainage systems caused by wetland restorations and other projects. Included is his leading of a 2001 study for a consortium of Canadian engineering companies to recommend mitigating solutions and to estimate costs in dealing with Midwestern tile drain intercepts for a 52-inch diameter pipeline planned to bring Alaskan northslope natural gas to distribution points near Chicago. Don’s expertise led to his appointment in 1999 to the Environment and Energy Committee of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). This committee helps set national environmental and legislative policy for the ACEC which represents more than 6,000 member firms. Don is the first agricultural engineer to serve on this committee.

In 2004 Don was appointed to the CREP Wetland Task Force that was commissioned by the Iowa Drainage District Association and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship to develop guidelines for the permitting and construction of Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) wetlands and other wetlands in drainage districts. As project manager for some of the first Iowa CREP projects he then helped to implement the guidelines. Don has also been a member of the Agricultural Drainage Well Project Advisory Committee, which is appointed by the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, since its inception.

Mr. Etler is an advocate for drainage districts and for the property rights of landowners in those districts. He was instrumental in the creation of the Iowa Drainage District Association in 1990 and he continues to serve in an advisory role to that organization. His knowledge of the administration of drainage districts is recognized statewide. Don’s dedicated service in the interest of Iowa agriculture contributed to his being honored as the 2002 Engineer of the Year by the Iowa Section of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE), and as the 2003 ASAE Mid-Central Region Member of the Year.

Education:

B.S. Agricultual Engineering, Iowa State University, 1976

Technical Specialties:

Drainage District Services

Stormwater Management

Wetland Restoration and Impact Assessments

Environmental Regulation Compliance and Appeal Assistance

Agricultural Waste Management

Professional Associations:

National Society of Professional Engineers
(Iowa Engineering Society)

American Society of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineers

American Council of Engineering Companies (Environment and Energy Committee)

Iowa Drainage District Association

Soil and Water Conservation Society

Professional Registrations:

Professional Engineer
Iowa
Minnesota