Emergency Conservation Assistance Program

In 2008 Indiana was hit with record flooding and in an effort to provide aid to landowners the Indiana State Soil Conservation Board set aside money to offer to each county that was declared a federal disaster area.  In the second round of funding, Ripley County Soil & Water was awarded over $28,000.00 to provide to the landowners of Ripley County that received damage from the floods.  A break down of the cost shares offered are as follows:

Note: Maximum cost-share per person is $1000.00.  All practices must meet NRCS FOTG Specs.  Program

Deadline is September 15, 2009

 

 

 

Thanks to a Clean Water Indiana Grant and additional funding from the Ripley County Soil and Water Board of Supervisors a cost share program was implemented in 2008 & 2009 offering a total of $20,000.00 in cost share to Ripley County Landowners.  The practices offered are as follows.  To date all money has been allocated.

· Cover Crop - $20.00/ acre 

· Critical Area - $50.00/ acre

· Hay/Pasture Planting - 65% cost share

· Soil Testing - $10.00 per sample

Note: Maximum cost-share per person is $750.00.  All practices must meet NRCS FOTG Specs.  Program Deadline is December 15, 2009

 

 

 

 

 

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a voluntary conservation program that promotes agricultural productions and environmental quality. In 2008 Ripley County received 37 applications and funded 24 applications into contracts totaling $105,728.  Total payments for the EQIP program from current and previous year contracts was $203,194 for completed conservation practices.  Some of the completed conservation practices are the following:

 

· 516.5 acres of Cover Crop

· 2.6 miles of Pipeline

· 635.5 acres of Nutrient Management

· 962.3 acres of Pasture/Hayland Seeding

· 896 acres of Prescribed Grazing

· 540 acres of No Till

· 8 acres of Use Exclusion

· 20 Water Facilities for Livestock

· 1 Waste Storage Facility

· 5 acres of critical area planting

· 4 Ponds for Livestock water

· 6.3 miles of Fence

· 84 acres of Timber stand Improvement

· 2 Grade Stabilization structures

· 2 Stream Crossings

 

 

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) provides technical and financial assistance to eligible producers to address soil, water, and related natural resource concerns on their lands in an environmentally beneficial and cost-effective manner.  CRP assisted with the installation of the following conservation practices in 2008 for Ripley County.  The total estimated cost share to landowners is $82,992 

 

 

· 172.5  acres of Native Grasses

· 15 acres of Hardwood Tree Planting

· 35.7 acres of Grass Waterways installed

 

· 31.10 acres of Filter strips installed

· 4.1 acres of Wildlife Habitat

· 2.3 acres of Riparian Buffer

 

 

 

 

This Rule applies to all construction activities (includes clearing, grading, and excavating) that results in the disturbance of one (1) acre or more of land area.

 

Projects that are smaller than one acre may also be regulated by this Rule if it is determined that the project is part of a "larger common plan of development or sale means a plan, undertaken by a single project site owner or a group of project site owners acting in concert, to offer lots for sale or lease/ where such land is contiguous, or is known, designated, purchased or advertised as a common unit or by a common name, such land shall be presumed as being offered for sale or lease as part of a larger common plan.  The term also includes phased or other construction activity by a single entity for its own use. 

 

For more information visit:

 

 

 

South Laughery Creek Watershed - - The South Laughery Creek Watershed Project was created to educate citizens of the watershed about conservation through community involvement while utilizing leadership, teamwork, and resources effectively. The watershed is made up of approximately 120,000 acres in 4 counties, including Dearborn, Ohio, Ripley and Switzerland. South Laughery Creek is about 22 miles long in length stretching from the Versailles Lake in Ripley County to the Ohio River just west of Aurora in Dearborn County. Many small tributaries help make up the watershed area with approximately 25 being named.The goal of this project is to provided education to the residents of the watershed and help them to practice the best management practices. Cost-share programs are available to help promote conservation on the land. For more information contact Duane Drockelman at duane.drockelman@in.usda.gov or Kim Jolly at kim.jolly@in.nacdnet.net or phone 812-689-6410 extension 5.