Iowa Water Quality Project Benefits

OMAHA (DTN) -- USDA announced a wide-ranging national investment in conservation projects across the country Friday, as part of the 2014 farm bill-authorized Regional Conservation Partnership Program, with about half of the 84 projects focusing on water quality and quantity.

USDA will provide about $220 million in total to go along with about $500 million from local partners, according to a news release from USDA Friday.

Part of USDA investments through the program includes what is the largest single investment of about $9.5 million to the Midwest Agriculture Water Quality Partnership. That partnership includes the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance.

That partnership includes about 40 entities in Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska, including approximately $38 million in non-federal funds aimed at advancing science on reducing nutrients loss, improving water quality and soil loss, as well as habitats for at-risk species.

According to a news release from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, farmers and landowners will make additional investments not included in the totals announced Friday.

In recent years, water quality concerns in Iowa, for example, led to a lawsuit filed by Des Moines Water Works against water drainage districts in the Raccoon River watershed. The lawsuit seeks to hold those districts responsible for nutrients runoff into drinking source waters.

The Iowa portion of the initiative will focus on several targeted watersheds including the North Raccoon, South Skunk, Lake Red Rock, Middle Cedar and Upper Cedar watersheds.

Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey said in a news release Friday the project is needed to improve water quality in the state.

"This project will work with a diverse group of committed partners to engage farmers and help scale-up the water quality efforts in the targeted watersheds," he said. "By working with ag organizations, businesses, retailers and other partners, we are building on momentum at the local level to address nutrient losses at the watershed scale."

In Illinois, USDA funded a $5.3 million precision conservation management program spearheaded by the Illinois Corn Growers Association that will include farmers in Illinois, Iowa and Kentucky. The effort will provide farmers with financial analysis of conservation practices. That project will also place emphasize protecting water quality and preventing nutrient loss.

In all, the hundreds of millions of dollars are designed to help communities improve water quality, combat drought, enhance soil health, support wildlife habitat and protect agricultural viability.

As a result of two rounds of funding through the USDA project, a total of $1.5 billion has been invested in nearly 200 conservation projects, according to a USDA news release.

USDA received 265 applications requesting nearly $900 million, or four times the amount of available federal funding.

"The Regional Conservation Partnership Program puts local partners in the driver's seat to accomplish environmental goals that are most meaningful to that community," U.S. Agriculture Tom Vilsack said in a news release. "We have seen record enrollment of privately owned lands in USDA's conservation programs under this administration, and the new Regional Conservation Partnership Program will be instrumental in building on those numbers and demonstrating that government and private entities can work together for greater impacts on America's communities.

"We put out a call for innovative and results-focused projects that will deliver the most conservation impact. Our partners answered with creative, locally-led approaches to help producers support their ongoing business operations and address natural resource challenges in their communities and across the nation."

USDA is committed to invest $1.2 billion in RCPP partnerships during the life of the 2014 farm bill. Today's announcement brings the current USDA commitment to almost $600 million in partner-led projects, leveraging an additional $900 million for conservation activities in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

Since 2009, USDA has invested more than $29 billion toward conservation improvements while working with as many as 500,000 farmers, ranchers and landowners to protect more than 400 million acres nationwide, boosting soil and air quality, cleaning and conserving water and enhancing wildlife habitat.

Follow this link for a state-by-state breakdown of all the USDA projects, http://tinyurl.com/…

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

Follow him on Twitter @ToddNeeleyDTN

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