Friday, July 11th, 2014
State approves funds for county nutrient positions
By Nancy Allen
CELINA - The state has approved $70,000 to fund for one year the work of two nutrient management technicians, Mercer County Soil and Water Conservation District board members learned at a meeting Thursday.
"This is good news," SWCD administrator/education specialist Nikki Hawk said. "This will fund the positions through fiscal year (June 30) 2015."
The positions, created in 2010, originally were to be funded for only one year to help lake watershed livestock farmers complete nutrient management plans. The state provided $160,000 in 2011 and allocated $80,000 in 2012 to fund the jobs.
A nutrient management plan is a formal document that tells farmers how to best manage their manure so it does not run off and cause pollution in waterways. The plans and other rules were mandated after the state on Jan. 18, 2011, designated the watershed distressed because humans and animals were sickened by algae toxins in Grand Lake during summer 2010. The algae's main food source is phosphorous found in manure, which runs off mostly farmland, the largest land use in the 58,000-acre watershed.
The SWCD and other lake officials told the state the posts should be made permanent because nutrient management plans would need to be continually updated. They noted the state should fund the positions as long as the distressed designation remains.
The state originally paid for two full-time nutrient management technicians but now funds one full-time and one part-time. Much turnover has happened since the positions were created.
In other business, Grand Lake/Wabash Watershed Alliance Coordinator Abbey Tobe said she plans to apply for $2 million from the USDA's Environmental Quality Incentives program to help farmers install conservation practices in the 193,500-acre Wabash River Watershed in Mercer, Auglaize and Darke counties. The Grand Lake Watershed is located in the Wabash River Watershed.
If approved, the funds would be used to help pay landowners to plant grassed waterways and cover crops, complete nutrient management plans and install feed lot and manure storage covers, waste staging facilities and silage leachate collection systems, she said.
Tobe said she would learn in mid-October if the funds will be awarded for the watershed. If approved, the dollars would need to be used over three years.
SWCD technician Matt Heckler said he and other staff investigated an invalid manure pollution complaint reported on June 10 on Mud Pike, east of Township Line Road. The alleged incident was reported by a neighbor.
Heckler said during the initial visit and a repeat visit there was not enough evidence to support the allegation that manure had entered the neighbor's property. This was due to chemical spray used by the livestock owner that killed a large amount of the neighbor's grass, Heckler said in his report.
The livestock owner agreed to plug weep holes in the side of his feedlot/manure storage area, dig up and fix a tile suck hole and build a berm along the property line to ensure that no runoff enters the neighbor's property, Heckler said.
During a hearing following the SWCD meeting, landowners voted unanimously to approve an agricultural drainage-tile replacement project in Hopewell Township, between Frahm Pike and Fairground Road and between Hellwarth and Fleetfoot roads. Landowner assessments will range from $200 to $60,000.
The project, estimated to cost just less than $170,000, will be shared by 12 landowners. Senate Bill 160 allows landowners to petition county SWCDs to complete tile replacement projects and counties to assess project costs on tax bills over 15 years instead of seeking upfront cash. County officials often take out government-backed, low-interest loans or bonds to pay for the initial work and use the assessments to pay off the debt.
The board set the next meeting for 8:30 a.m. Aug. 14.
