Agricultural News
Working With Farmers to Install Best Management Practices is Improving Water Quality in Green Country
Wed, 28 Oct 2009 6:13:33 CDT
Agriculture producers from three northeast Oklahoma counties were a part of a celebration at the Delaware County Fairgrounds Tuesday evening that focused on the success of voluntary, locally-led water quality efforts in the Spavinaw Creek, Honey Creek and Illinois River Watersheds. (We have audio from this meeting- click on the listen bar at the bottom of this page to hear comments from Shannon Phillips of the OCC.)
Since 2003, the Oklahoma Conservation Commission has been working with 344 cooperators to put in place best management practices that all point to improving water quality in these watersheds that are considered critical areas that needed improvement as the Commission began this effort to partner with landowners instead of forcing practices down their throats in the form of mandatory regulations.
Shannon Phillips says that the program is working and that water quality in these three watersheds is improving. Among the practices that have been put in place over the last six years in these three watersheds that extend over three counties:
846 acres of Riparian areas have been protected (river and creek banks)
224 Watering Facilities have been installed (better water for the cattle- less waste from the cattle into the water from going to a pond or creek to drink)
480,399 feet of cross fencing installed (about 90 miles of fencing to allow for rotational grazing)
82 Winter Feeding Facilities( keeps cattle and their waste away from the streams in the winter)
13 Litter storage sheds
82 Heavy Use Areas have been secured to minimize runoff
1369 acres of Pasture Planting- allowing for better quality and denser stands of forage- which helps with runoff issues.
140,814 tons of Poultry Litter has been removed from the three watersheds
All told, just over $6.28 million dollars have been spent to install these best management practices since 2003- with landowners providing as their part of the match over $2.4 million dollars.
While data is not yet available from the three watersheds where these practices have been introduced, Phillips says that in smaller watersheds, where it is easier to document changes that come from these type of practices, it has been show that water quality improves. Water Quality has improved in the Beaty Creek watershed, with a 66% reduction in phosphorus loading and bacteria concentrations reduced significantly as well.
Phillips says that two conclusions can be drawn from these efforts in these sensitive watersheds. First, voluntary programs very effectively install best management conversation practices. And the limiting factor is not the willingness of landowners to participate in the solution- it is the availability of the money that is available for these cost share programs to go forward.
We have the audio from a conversation that Shannon and Ron Hays did in Jay at this Farmer Appreciation event- click on the Listen Bar to take a listen.
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