Indianapolis, IN, June 13, 2016 – Jane Hardisty, State Conservationist for Indiana’s USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced today that NRCS is accepting applications until July 15 to be considered for second round funding to improve water quality in two targeted watersheds in northern Indiana.
Dollars are still available for the University of Notre Dame’s “Indiana Watershed Initiative” Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). This project will help improve water quality and strengthen agricultural operations in the Shatto Ditch watershed located in Kosciusko County and the Kirkpatrick Ditch watershed located in Newton, Jasper and Benton counties.
“We are working with partners to encourage farmers to put in conservation practices in these two small watersheds because of water quality concerns,” Hardisty said. “By targeting RCPP dollars to address critical resource concerns we can make a greater impact on the health of streams and lakes in the area.”
RCPP funding comes from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to help farmers adopt conservation practices that improve water quality. Conservation practices reduce the amount of nutrients flowing from farm fields into waterways, curb erosion and improve the resiliency of agricultural lands during times of extreme weather. This RCPP project will focus on promoting planting winter cover crops and installing two-stage ditches because they provide a practical solution to nutrient and sediment loss from cropland.
“This project will greatly expand the use of two important conservation practices in these two Indiana watersheds and will help us document the effect of those practices in a way that is meaningful to producers, managers and researchers,” said Hardisty.
All applications for funding consideration must be received by July 15, 2016.
To learn more about RCPP in Indiana, visit: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/in/programs/farmbill/?cid=stelprdb1248173.
For more information about NRCS and other technical and financial assistance available through conservation programs, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/GetStarted or contact your District Conservationist Debbie Knepp or your Soil Conservationist James Rodriguez at 574-936-2024 Ext. 4.