The Lower Loup NRD has been successful in getting a Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) project from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The project, titled Irrigation and Nutrient Management in the lower Loup River Basin, was awarded over $18 million dollars for the 5-year grant to go towards implementing additional conservation practices across the Lower Loup NRD. The USDA has invested $1.55 Billion in 92 partnership projects across the country to advance conservation in agriculture.
The goal of this project is to provide additional incentive dollars to go towards NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) applications that would provide benefits to irrigation water management and potentially mitigate drought conditions. Water resources will be better managed through more efficient, effective irrigation, which results in water savings. A secondary objective is improvements to water quality and soil health through better nutrient management. The project will include grid soil sampling on row-crop irrigation fields, increasing organics through implementing cover crop cost-share, developing better crop rotation patterns, improved tillage practices, and more effective fertilizer applications. Other practices covered under the program include efficiency upgrades to pumping plants for lower emissions and offsetting pivot costs when converting from gravity to pivot irrigation.
The RCPP relies on partnerships with NRCS to implement conservation practices to create solutions to natural resource challenges, specifically on agricultural land. The resources provided for the program provide funding that benefits both NRCS and conservation partners, in this case, the Lower Loup NRD. More information on this program will be available soon through the Lower Loup NRD website or at any of the NRCS offices in the District.
The deadline for EQIP sign-up for the upcoming season is November 15th.
For more information on the RCPP click here.