CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Two central Illinois watershed areas crucial to agriculture are included in Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watershed Initiative (MRBI), part of a 13-state, $10 million water quality conservation project announced April 7 (see related article on page 18).

NRCS will work with farmers, landowners and local organizations to improve water quality in the Illinois River and the Mississippi River basin during the four-year project, using proven conservation practices, management techniques and nutrient strategies to enhance soil and water health in the Crow Creek West-Clear Creek and Vermilion (River) Headwaters regions of central and north-central Illinois.

"We’ve worked with state agencies, farmers and other partners to identify high-priority watersheds that align with priorities identified in the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NLRS)," said Ivan Dozier, state conservationist for Illinois NRCS, on April 10.

"Both watersheds have water quality issues that need to be addressed. We have an opportunity here to use voluntary conservation efforts and work together with partners and farmers to get good conservation work on the ground right where it’s needed."

The Crow Creek West-Clear Creek project, submitted by the Marshall-Putnam Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), along with the Vermilion Headwaters project, submitted by American Farmland Trust in partnership with Livingston, Ford and Iroquois county SWCDs, is eligible for funding beginning this year.

Farmers within the watersheds may apply for financial and technical assistance from NRCS through the farm bill’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) program, and Vermilion Headwaters-area farmers will have funding available through the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) beginning next year.

"The issues we face in the Mississippi River basin are huge," said Dozier. "But if we put our heads together, focus our efforts and energy in the right spots, and we each make a small contribution, we can make a difference."

The Illinois NLRS is a framework for using technology, science and industry experience to assess and reduce nutrient loss to Illinois waterways and the Gulf of Mexico. The strategy directs efforts to reduce nutrient loss from point and nonpoint sources in a coordinated, primarily voluntary and cost-effective manner.

It was implemented in 2015 following a period of public review and has the support of Illinois agricultural interests.

Dozier encourages farmers and landowners within the watershed areas to contact their local NRCS office in order to apply for benefits under the MRBI.