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NRCS Announces Funding for Conservation Projects to Protect Natural Resources in the Mississippi River Basin

Application Deadline Extended to Jan. 7, 2011

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Chief Dave White announced the Agency will fund conservation projects in 41 eligible watersheds in 12 states that will help landowners and producers within the Mississippi River Basin voluntarily implement conservation and management practices that prevent, control and trap nutrient runoff from agricultural land. Arkansas will receive $5,522,840 for six projects approved for funding in fiscal year 2010.

 “NRCS is working hard to improve the health of the Mississippi River Basin,” said White.  “The funding announced today will help producers further implement a system of conservation practices that will reduce erosion, improve water and soil quality, and provide wildlife habitat.”

The deadline for agricultural producers and landowners to submit applications for cost-share assistance in Arkansas’s five Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative projects using Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) funds has been extended to Jan. 7, 2011.

The five projects are:

  • L’Anguille River Watershed Coalition – The L’Anguille River has been designated as an impaired watershed by the Environmental Protection Agency due to excessive siltation and turbidity from agricultural sources.  The project will use practices ranging from conservation cover and nutrient management to filter strips and riparian forest buffers to mitigate the amount of nutrients currently reaching the water course through soil erosion.  The project will utilize EQIP, WHIP and CSP funding;
  • Point Remove Wetlands Reclamation and Irrigation District - The project area lies within portions of Conway, Pope and Yell counties.  The project partners will assist agricultural producers in 15 sub-watersheds of the Lake Conway-Point Remove basin to adopt a systems approach with a variety of core and supporting conservation practices to address natural resource concern of water quality pertaining to nutrient runoff and water management.  They will focus on avoiding excess application of nutrients and water on fields; controlling the amount of nutrient and water runoff from fields into the watershed; and trapping nutrients before they leave the field.  The project will utilize EQIP funding;
  • St. Francis County and Lee County Conservation Districts, Outlet Larkin Creek - The project in the L’Anguille River basin in St. Francis and Lee counties is designed to reduce sediment and nutrients entering the impaired waters from agricultural lands.  The project will assist agricultural producers in the area in managing runoff from agricultural fields by helping them to install core conservation practices that will ensure proper application of nutrients and irrigation water, reduce the amount of excessive runoff from fields, and use filter strips to trap sediment and nutrients before they leave the field. The project will utilize EQIP funding;
  • Northeast Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts, Little River Ditches - The goal of the five-year project is to reduce the nutrient loss from agricultural land (primarily cotton) through improved nutrient use efficiency and reduced runoff from agricultural fields.  The focus of the conservation efforts will be utilization of variable rate fertilizer application rate technology and improved irrigation water management.  The project will utilize EQIP funding; and
  • Northeast Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts, Lower St. Francis – The goal of the project is to reduce the nutrient loss from agricultural land (primarily rice and soybeans) through improved nutrient use efficiency and reduced runoff from agricultural fields.  The focus of the conservation efforts will be utilization of variable rate fertilizer application rate technology and improved irrigation water management.  The project will utilize EQIP funding.

“In addition to avoiding, controlling and trapping nutrient runoff, participating farmers and landowners voluntarily implement conservation practices that improve wildlife habitat; restore wetlands; and maintain agricultural productivity,” said Arkansas NRCS State Conservationist Mike Sullivan. “These conservation practices are carried out in a site-specific manner to create a system that addresses natural resource concerns and fits within the operational needs of the farm.”

Key conservation practices include nutrient management, conservation crop rotation and residue and tillage management. Farmers and landowners can also use other conservation practices such as restoring wetlands, planting trees along streams to filter nutrients out of water draining off the farm, and drainage water management. Participants can also use financial assistance to install edge-of-field monitoring systems in specific locations within the selected watersheds.

Sign up for the sixth project, funded through the Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program, will be announced in the next several weeks. The goal of the Wetlands Restoration in the Cache River Watershed Project is to reduce nutrient and sediment loads entering the Mississippi River by managing non-point pollution in the Cache River 

Interested producers should contact their local USDA Service Center for additional information.  A map of the area is available at www.ar.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/mrbi_2010_projects.html.

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