National Association of Conservation Districts

319 Grants Can Cover A Lot of Ground

Clean Water Act Section 319(h) funds are provided only to designated state and tribal agencies to implement their approved nonpoint source management programs. Since 1989, Congress has appropriated over $1.3 billion in 319 grants to the States. Approximately 40% of 319 funds have been passed through state water quality agencies to conservation districts to implement a variety of nonpoint problems. Those problems have been solved through technical and financial assistance, education, training, technology transfer, demonstration projects and others. Since the advent of the 319 program, conservation districts and partners have used 319 grants in both basic and innovative ways. Examples include:

Agriculture:

Arkansas is one of the nation’s largest poultry producers and was experiencing serious water quality problems including improper disposal of chicken litter and dead chickens. The Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission and other state agencies used 319 funds over the last decade to allow 24 conservation districts to hire water quality technicians to prepare nutrient management plans for predominantly poultry operations. The initial productivity and success of the new positions impressed the Governor and now state funds have institutionalized the positions. The state still uses 319 grants to continue the work, but on a specific watershed basis.

Watershed Management:

The 304,000-acre Bowman-Haley Watershed in southwestern North Dakota and part of South Dakota is primarily rangeland and cropland. The Bowman – Haley Dam was constructed for water supply, flood control and recreation, but had experienced a steady decline in water quality due to excessive nutrients. The Bowman-Slope Soil Conservation District, the Harding County Soil Conservation District (South Dakota), USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Bowman County Water Resource Board developed a five year plan to reduce wind and water erosion through a voluntary approach and standard best management practices (BMPs). The results of this large project exceeded pollution reduction goals due to: an aggressive, well-developed educational program; financial assistance to landowners; and, a comprehensive project plan.

Forestry:

The Texas Voluntary Silvicultural Nonpoint Source Project has six objectives: educate the forestry community about forestry BMPs; integrate BMPs into state forestry management programs; provide BMP demonstrations; foster cooperation between agencies and the forestry community; evaluate and revise the program; and monitor BMP compliance and effectiveness. The Texas Forest Service worked with the State Soil and Water Conservation Board and the Water Commission over a year and a half and accomplished the following: educational efforts reached 20,000 landowners; 4,700 copies of a forestry BMP handbook were distributed to landowners, foresters and loggers; 1,100 attended meetings, workshops and field tours; and, a series of six educational flyers were sent to 1,500 loggers, truckers and other Silvicultural contractors. Inspecting 162 silvicultural sites with a new BMP compliance monitoring system indicated that compliance improved with landowner and contractor knowledge, ownership and forester involvement.

Urban Storm Water Management:

The Soil Conservation District of Mercer County, New Jersey received a 319 grant through the State Department of Environmental Protection to study the effectiveness of using wildflower meadows in storm water management detention facilities instead of turf grass. Grassed facilities use fertilizers and pesticides and require frequent mowing, affecting water quality and maintenance costs. The study looked at several wildflower mixtures and application methods and identified the environmental factors needed for success on 10 sites. The District collected data daily and determined that adequate soil moisture was the most critical factor, that mowing twice the first year would control weeds and mowing once in the fall thereafter would disperse seeds, and that overseeding perennials in the fall and annuals in the spring would maintain density and diversity. The study concluded that although it was a little more expensive to establish a wildflower meadow than turf grass (one cent more per square foot), maintenance costs were considerably lower ($50/year/acre for wildflowers; $500/year/acre for turf grass) and did not require the application of nutrients or pesticides.

To Learn More:

Visit EPA website for many more success stories of conservation districts and 319 funds:http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/cwact.html