Arkansas Conservation Partnership Sponsors Public Meeting in Morrilton on the USDA’s Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., - The Arkansas Conservation Partnership is sponsoring a public meeting regarding the new Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI)  at the Farm Bureau Building (Highway 9 exit) in Morrilton on Feb. 18 at 9:30 a.m. The meeting will inform producers about MRBI, which is designed to assist them in improving the water quality and the overall health of the Mississippi River Basin.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced in November that 41 watersheds in 12 states, including Arkansas, will be a part of the new initiative. In size, the selected watersheds exceed 42 million acres, or more than 5 percent of the Basin’s land area.

"This Initiative is going to help USDA, partner organizations, state and local agencies, and agricultural producers come together to improve water quality and the quality of life for the tens of millions of people who live in the Mississippi River Basin,” Vilsack said.  “I encourage as many people as possible to join us in this major conservation effort.”

Watersheds selected in Arkansas include Lake Conway-Point Remove, L’Anguille, Cache, Lower St. Francis, Bayou Macon, Boeuf River and Little River Ditches.

“This initiative is designed to improve the health of the Mississippi River Basin by working with producers to help them voluntarily implement conservation practices which can avoid, control, and trap nutrient run off,” said Michael E. Sullivan, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) state conservationist in Arkansas. “Through this initiative, NRCS and our partners want to help producers implement practices to restore and enhance wildlife habitat, maintain agricultural productivity and improve water quality, particularly in these regions of Arkansas.”

MRBI will provide approximately $320 million in USDA financial assistance over the next four years for voluntary projects in priority watersheds in Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin.  MRBI will help producers implement conservation and management practices that prevent, control and trap nutrient runoff from agricultural land.

NRCS manages the Initiative.  Smaller watershed projects will be selected through a competitive process under NRCS’s Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI).  NRCS assistance will be leveraged with contributions from partners, expanding the capacity available to improve water quality throughout the Basin. 

Three requests for project proposals will be announced in the next several weeks, including one for CCPI.  Funding for CCPI projects will come from NRCS’ Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Conservation Stewardship Program and Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program. 

Two other requests for proposals will fund projects through the Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program and Conservation Innovation Grants. 

For information about the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative, including eligibility requirements, please visit the MRBI web page at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/mrbi/mrbi_overview.html or your USDA Service Center.  A map of the project area is available at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/mrbi/mrbi_watersheds_maps_and_list_page.html.

Subscribe to NRCS news releases and get other agency information at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov  or contact NRCS Public Affairs at 202-720-3210.

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