02 Sep NRCS Invests $1.5 million to Improve Water Quality in Miami and Wabash Counties
Known as “America’s River,” the Mississippi River is North America’s largest river, flowing over 2,300 miles through the Midwest. This river’s elevated levels of nutrients and sediment impacts the quality of life for the tens of millions of people who live in and rely on the Mississippi River Basin. These elevated nutrient levels are also contributing to the hypoxic (low-oxygen) zone located in the Gulf of Mexico. As a result, the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI) is a Farm Bill conservation initiative intended to encourage farmers to adopt conservation systems in order to improve water quality. To address these water quality concerns and agricultural sources of nutrients and sediment, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) approved two new MRBI watershed implementation projects. Both projects will work with local Indiana farmers and conservation partners to implement conservation practices that help trap sediment and reduce nutrient runoff to improve the overall health of the Mississippi River. The MRBI project in our county is the Treaty Creek Wabash River watershed project.
The Treaty Creek-Wabash River watershed project is focusing on critical areas within Miami and Wabash counties. See the attached map for more details on the incorporated areas. $429,000 will be made available for cost-share in 2021 for landowners within this Wabash River Watershed. A total of $1.5 million will be dispersed in the next 4 years(2021-2024). MRBI uses several Farm Bill programs, including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), to distribute the MRBI funds. As a result, these funds help landowners sustain America’s natural resources through voluntary conservation. Partners include Miami and Wabash County Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs), Wabash River Defenders, The Nature Conservancy, Indiana State Department of Agriculture, Indiana American Water and the City of Wabash. To fill out an application, call the USDA Service Center in Miami or Wabash Counties.
MRBI has shown that focused water quality efforts in high priority areas can be effective in building strong partnerships, increasing trust and collaboration with landowners and farmers, and getting more conservation systems on the ground.