USDA accepting applications for water conservation funding | Environment

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is now accepting applications for 10 Arkansas projects, including several in Cross County.

According to the USDA, the main focus for all of the projects is to improve water quality and quantity.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said, "The funding will help producers implement a system of conservation practices that will control soil erosion, improve soil quality and provide wildlife habitat."

Cross County farmers and landowners have until February 13 to apply for the following projects:

• L’Anguille River Watershed Coalition, $540,000 – 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. 
• 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. 
• Lower St. Francis River Nutrient Loss Reduction, Crittenden County Conservation District – The goal of the project is to reduce nutrient loss from agricultural land in four adjacent 12-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) watersheds in the Lower St. Francis Watershed by improving nutrient use efficiency and reducing runoff. 

For more information, including maps and conservation practices, visit the NRCS website.