Agricultural News
OACD Praises New USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Water Quality Initiative
Thu, 10 May 2012 14:32:54 CDT
The announcement this week by the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) of their new National Water Quality Initiative that includes four impaired waterways in Oklahoma received praise today from the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts (OACD). According to Joe Parker, OACD President, this new NRCS initiative will work hand-in-glove with ongoing conservation water quality work in Oklahoma.
"We are excited about the potential of this new NRCS initiative to work in rhythm with the great water quality efforts the conservation partnership of local districts, the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and NRCS are already doing in Oklahoma," Parker said. "By focusing these resources this way we feel we can continue building on the great water quality success record we already have in our state."
Parker said that this new water quality initiative from NRCS comes on the heels of the recent announcement of the de-listing of 11 streams from the federal impaired streams list in Oklahoma, commonly referred to as the 303d list. This de-listing was due primarily to ongoing efforts by farmers, ranchers and other landowners to implement conservation practices on the ground in partnership with local conservation districts, NRCS and the Conservation Commission. Oklahoma has now de-listed 26 streams due to good conservation work on the ground and has been able to show through ongoing water quality monitoring that over 300 streams that had been targeted for this list no longer needed to go on due largely to voluntary, locally-led conservation efforts. According to Parker, this success rate in the area of water quality shown by Oklahoma Conservation is second to none and these new resources from NRCS will only help build on that good work.
"Oklahoma is a national leader in reducing non-point source pollution in our water and we are doing it not through regulations or lawsuits, but through voluntary, locally-led conservation work," Parker said. "This success shows that the investment by the State and Federal government in conservation work is paying off. Through water quality monitoring made possible with funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Water Act Section 319 program, with conservation practices installed through Farm Bill conservation programs at NRCS and with the funding invested in the Conservation Commission and local conservation districts by the State of Oklahoma we are making headway against some of our toughest water quality issues in Oklahoma. We feel confident this new NRCS initiative will help us continue this work."
Streams selected for this initiative include the portions of the Panther and Oak Creek watersheds that drain into the Blackbear Creek Watershed in Pawnee, Noble and Payne Counties and the Sand Creek and Turkey Creek watersheds in Garfield County. Using funds from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), NRCS will provide financial assistance and technical advice to producers in these areas to install conservation practices geared toward water quality protection. The Oklahoma Conservation Commission will monitor these streams using funds from both the EPA and the State of Oklahoma to document water quality improvements. The Conservation Commission will also cooperate with the Pawnee Nation on water quality monitoring on Blackbear Creek.
Producers in these areas that are interested in this new initiative should check with their local NRCS District Conservationist and local conservation district for more details.
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