A $30 million conservation bond for Johnson County was passed by a supermajority of voters in the general election Tuesday.

The bond passed with a total of 58,992 votes, or just over 77 percent.

The bond aims to continue the efforts of the initial $20 million bond passed in 2008, according to Think Iowa City President Josh Schamberger.

“It’s been used to support 15 different projects that range from flood mitigation and creating new bank and watershed areas to more park space, cleaning up FW Kent Park, and it’s built miles and miles of trails, which the community continues to enjoy,” Schamberger said.

According to the website created to encourage people to vote “yes” for the bond, the $20 million bond became nearly $37.2 million in local investment in Johnson County conservation projects, nearly doubling the taxpayers’ investment.

As previously reported by The Daily Iowan, acting director Bradley Freidhof said the bond was a nonpartisan effort that benefits everyone. 

“I have a lot of friends who hunt and fish and a lot of them are Republican,” Freidhof said. “But they love the outdoors.”

Schamberger expressed how important it was that people voted to approve the bond.

“We’re continuing to make decisions that will have an incredibly important impact for our kids, for their kids, and continue to have our small little part of conservation,” he said.