Marty Lenss, director of the Eastern Iowa Airport and founder of Wings2Water, will receive the Individual Impact Award at the 2025 Iowa Watershed Awards for his water quality conservation efforts.
The Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance announced Mr. Lenss will be recognized today (Sept. 9) at 10 a.m. during the Iowa Water Conference in Ankeny.
Mr. Lenss founded Wings2Water, a nonprofit focused on raising awareness and funding for water quality projects. The organization allows airport customers to round up purchases at any point of sale, with proceeds supporting water quality initiatives across Iowa.
“(Wings2Water) really was an airport-wide team effort, so it really means a lot for the organization to receive the award,” Mr. Lenss said. “There’s a lot of people in the background, quite honestly, that helped stand this thing up.”
The Eastern Iowa Airport director also has implemented conservation practices on farmland surrounding the airport and is working to build a network of airports supporting water quality causes.
Mr. Lenss plans to expand Wings2Water’s mission to airports nationwide. According to his nomination, he said, “why not do this? Why not me? We all need to work toward better water quality, and this is something I can do to help find solutions.”
The Individual Impact Award recognizes leadership and impact in communities or statewide for water quality benefit. Recipients can include conservation agronomists, program staff, researchers, community leaders and environmental biologists.
The Iowa Watershed Awards celebrate individuals and organizations making significant contributions to water quality and conservation in Iowa, recognizing measurable results, collaboration and innovation.
The Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance, founded in 2014 by Iowa Corn, the Iowa Soybean Association and the Iowa Pork Producers Association, focuses on farmer-led efforts to improve water quality through public-private partnerships.
