USDA to Invest $56 Million in 2020 to Help Farmers Improve Water Quality
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest $56 million this year to help agricultural producers improve water quality in more than 300 high-priority watersheds across the country. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is continuing two of its successful landscape-level water quality efforts, the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI) and National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI).
“We’ve learned that when we partner with producers to deliver conservation practices to critical watersheds, we see a positive impact,” said Grover DePriest, Acting Missouri State Conservationist. “Through these partnerships we maximize the delivery of our conservation efforts which yields greater results to water quality and benefits the public, our natural resources and farmers’ bottom lines.”
NRCS launched MRBI in 2009, focusing on watersheds in the Mississippi River Basin, then took the concept nationwide in 2012 with the launch of NWQI. Since then, priority watersheds across the country have seen improvements, including the delisting of once impaired streams.
Through these initiatives, NRCS offers technical and financial assistance to farmers and ranchers to implement practices that avoid, control and trap nutrients and sediment, which in high quantities negatively impact water quality. Practices include filter strips, cover crops and manure management, which promote soil health, reduce erosion and lesson nutrient runoff.
NRCS has strengthened focus on watershed assessment and partner engagement in priority small watersheds in fiscal 2020. NRCS will soon solicit state partners for new MRBI and NWQI watersheds and source water protection areas for fiscal 2021. See NRCS website for a list of the watersheds for MRBI and for NWQI.
Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative
This year, NRCS will make available $17.5 million to producers in 13 states: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
MRBI supports each state’s nutrient loss reduction strategy with overall goals of improving water quality, restoring wetlands and enhancing wildlife habitat while ensuring economic viability of agricultural lands along the nation’s largest river. The nation’s largest hypoxic zone, or low-oxygen area, sits at the mouth of the Mississippi River.