Producers in 10 Alabama counties can apply for a Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) project in collaboration with the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District.
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AUBURN, Ala., June 5, 2015– In collaboration with the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District, the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Alabama today announced it will be accepting applications for a Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) project that will address irrigation efficiency in Alabama. Eligible producers are encouraged to apply June 8-19, 2015.
The “Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Rivers (ACFR) Conservation Partnership for Alabama, Florida, and Georgia” project focuses on improving water quality and quantity in the ACFR basin that covers 13 million acres in eastern Alabama, western Georgia and the Florida panhandle.
This partnership will assist producers and landowners in implementing NRCS conservation practices. The ACFR Basin project will utilize $4 million in NRCS funds to meet its conservation goals.
Eligible producers in Alabama will be able to apply for the RCPP project to install irrigation efficiency practices. These practices include retro-fits for nozzles on irrigation systems and adding low pressure drop nozzles.
Producers in the following 10 Alabama counties are encouraged to apply: Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee, Macon, Randolph and Russell.
“RCPP puts our partners like the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District in the driver’s seat,” said Dr. William E. Puckett, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service State Conservationist in Alabama. “The District’s project is a phenomenal example of this partnership approach for conservation that will leave an impact on the Southeastern region.”
“The Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District will lead an innovative RCPP project with USDA-NRCS and over 30 partners that will significantly enhance conservation on-the-ground in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin,” District Chairman Marty McLendon said. “This landscape-scale conservation partnership is an investment for the future of all three states of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia and the critical watershed and natural resources we share.”
This current RCPP project replaces the 2008 Farm Bill’s Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP), a voluntary conservation program that provided financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers to implement agricultural water enhancement activities on agricultural land for the purposes of conserving surface and ground water and improving water quality. For more information on the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, visit http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/farmbill/rcpp/.
All interested producers should visit their local USDA Service Center to apply for funding for this project by June 19, 2015. For more on technical and financial assistance available through conservation programs, visit www.al.nrcs.usda.gov/GetStarted.