Fonda, Iowa
The town is placed at the western edge of the Des Moines Lobe, the more recently glaciated section of Iowa. The Des Moines Lobe is part of the prairie pothole region of the Midwest. The topography is not normal in its softly rolling terrain. Wetlands, glacial erratics,  bands of ridges, and large flat areas characterize the land surrounding Fonda. In its natural state, the land is poorly drained, although humans have added an extensive network of tiles to move water from the potholes to local tributaries. The tiles surrounding Fonda empty into Big Cedar Creek, a tributary of the Raccoon River. This waterway, which underwent channelization in the early 1900s, flows past the town on its west end. Evidence of its winding original path still exists, particularly in the Fonda Golf Course and in the schoolyard behind Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church.