The Kentucky Soil and Water Conservation Commission has made changes to the Kentucky Soil Erosion and Water Quality Cost-share Program administered by the 121 conservation districts in the state.
The commission is now allowing conservation districts to take applications on a continuous basis throughout the year. However, ranking of applications for funding will continue to be once a year. This change allows more time for National Resources Conservation Service to make the required site visits prior to application approval. The Jessamine County Conservation District is the local contact and administrator for this program.
Another change to the program involves funding. Originally, funding was 60 percent for some practices and 75 percent for others. The commission has approved changes to allow for 75-percent cost-sharing on all practices through this program.
Some eligible cost-share practices are: agricultural waste control facilities, animal waste utilization, cropland erosion control, forest land erosion control, heavy use area protection, pasture and hayland erosion control, on-farm fallen animal composting, riparian area protection, rotational grazing system establishment, stream crossing, streambank stabilization, sinkhole protection, and others.
The program was created in 1994 in an effort to assist agricultural operations to protect the soil and water resources of Kentucky. The program is a result of House Bill 377 that established annual cost-share funds to be administered by conservation districts with priority given to animal waste-related problems and agricultural districts where pollution problems have been identified.
While funding for practices will be approved by the Kentucky Soil and Water Conservation Commission located in Frankfort, the application and contract will be administered by the Jessamine County Conservation District office in Nicholasville.
For more information or to complete an application for this cost-share program, please contact Brenda Lynch, district administrative secretary, at 859-885-4673 or via email at JessamineCoKYCD@gmail.com.
The Jessamine County Conservation District, located at 308 W. Chestnut St. in Nicholasville, has been serving Jessamine County since 1943.
