August 15, 2003

The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment.

NRCS conservationists Graylen Hall, right, and Tracy Sexton, center, work with a landowner in Vienna, Georgia, to install a conservation plan for his farm. Image: Dot Paul.

 

In this Issue

Focus on the Field
NRCS Cleans Up Flood-damaged Creeks in Texas
NRCS Program Supports Purchase of Virginia Landmark
Oregon's Siuslaw River Project One of Five International Finalists
Loup RC&D Gets National Recognition
Snake River Project Launched

Word from Washington
USDA Signs Memoranda of Understanding to Restore Quail Habitat in the Southeast
NRCS Legislative Summaries, Testimony, and Reports

Tech Tip
SPAW Version 6.1 Water Budget Model Released

Links to USDA and NRCS Drought News and Assistance
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USDA Disaster Assistance Web Site
National Drought Monitor Web Site

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Focus on the Field

NRCS Cleans Up Flood-damaged Creeks in Texas
NRCS is picking up three-quarters of the cost of a $1.2 million effort to restore Leon and Salado creeks near San Antonio, Texas. The creeks, both vital components of San Antonio’s water system, were devastated by floods last year.

Toppled trees and abandoned appliances have created impasses in the creek beds and along the banks that could end up causing future flooding problems.

Clearing the debris without inflicting further damage to the fragile creeks is a challenge.

"There's a lot of accumulated debris," contractor Dave Coones said. "If by going into a pile I'm going to hurt it worse than I help it — I stay out."

Removing dead trees and large chunks of mangled metal is more challenging when it takes place in a muddy creek bottom or along a shady bank, said Richard Martinez, the city's drainage superintendent. "We've got to be real careful. This is a riparian area," said Martinez.

Dead, downed, and leaning trees found in the bottom of the creekbed or on the banks will be converted into mulch on site.

Invasive species will be targeted for removal, while most live oak and pecan trees will be spared.

Tim Buscha, Emergency Watershed Protection program manager for NRCS in Temple, said the work would not prevent major floods like those that occurred in 1998 and 2002. Buscha said the debris being removed will help keep smaller events from causing bigger problems.

"If you're going to get the debris out, there's not a better way to do it," he said. (San Antonio Express-News. Image: Local cooperators Richard Watts (right), Jeffrey Wittman (center), and Jesse Trevino clean up flood debris along Leon Creek.)
 

NRCS Program Supports Purchase of Virginia Landmark
NRCS is helping a local partnership preserve a 144-acre farm on the edge of Virginia’s Waterford National Historic Landmark district.

The push to preserve the Phillips Farm moved into a new phase this week after the nonprofit Trust for Public Land secured a contract to purchase the property for $3.9 million. NRCS is providing $800,000 for the purchase through the Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program. The coalition already has $2.2 million in grants, pledges, and cash.

Even as negotiations reached the end late last week, the property owner was entertaining purchase offers from others hoping to build luxury estates on the ridgetop land overlooking the village.

The landmark was designated by the Department of the Interior in 1970 because the setting of a Quaker village remains largely as it was more than a century ago.

The Phillips Farm property was down-zoned by the county government in January. However, county supervisors did not expand the boundaries of the Waterford Historic District to include the property. That action would have given the county more control over development on the farm. Plans submitted for county review called for 14 homes to be built on the property. (Leesburg Today)
 

Oregon's Siuslaw River Project One of Five International Finalists
The Thiess International Riverprize nominating committee has selected Oregon's Siuslaw River Basin Restoration project as one of five worldwide to compete as a finalist for the prestigious Riverprize in Australia in September. The Siuslaw Soil and Water Conservation District is a partner in the project.

The $100,000 Thiess Riverprize recognizes excellence in river management. Three specific project areas within the basin highlighted in the nomination include Knowles Creek, a 15-year stream restoration project; Deadwood Creek Enhancement, implementing restoration on private land; and Karnowsky Creek, an entire 1,800-acre watershed restoration project that includes a state-of-the-art stream restoration project.

The Siuslaw River Basin Project competed against 15 nominations worldwide, including the Danube River in Eastern Europe, the Alexander River in Israel and Palestine, and the Arvari River in India.  A winner will be selected in early September 2003.

Over the past 2 years, restoration projects in the basin have generated between $2.5 million and $3.7 million each year for the local economy through jobs and related expenditures. (Coos Bay World. Image: A section of the Siuslaw Basin Restoration Project. World File Photo)


Loup RC&D Gets National Recognition
Central Nebraska's Loup Basin Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Council has been named winner of the Natural Resource Conservation Service/RC&D 2002 National Earth Team Award. The announcement was made recently during the National RC&D Association Conference in San Antonio, Texas.

In a news release, the RC&D's leadership said the efforts of many volunteers within the nine-county area served by the Loup Basin RC&D have made the council a success. The council serves Blaine, Loup, Custer, Garfield, Wheeler, Valley, Greeley, Sherman and Howard counties.

In fiscal year 2002, the Loup Basin RC&D recorded 40 volunteers and volunteer groups, which together served more than 4,000 hours. The efforts of the volunteers ranged from assisting with meetings and conferences to volunteering at booths, fairs, and festivals.

The Loup Basin RC&D Council consists of several committees that focus on concerns in Central Nebraska. Those committees include the Tourism Committee, Economic Development Committee, water association, and Loup Rivers Scenic Byway Committee. (Grand Island Independent)


Snake River Project Launched
Wyoming’s Teton Conservation District has signed an agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers and Teton County officials launching a $52.2 million restoration project along the Snake River. The project, to be carried out over 50 years, will protect and enhance habitat along more than 20 miles of the river near Jackson to repair damage caused by levees that constrict the river's flow.

The multi-stage project, which extends from Grand Teton National Park into South Park, should help repair some of the damage from the levee system. Crews will build a series of structures along the riverbanks and in front of islands to slow the current. Some river channels will be deepened to divert currents, and officials hope after time to rejuvenate wetlands currently outside the levee system. They also hope trees will grow on the islands formed from the sediment.

The river's habitat has been degraded over the years as currents quickened and islands washed away, blocking streams for cutthroat trout and depriving wetlands of their lifeblood. Historically, the river floods nearby land every spring.

The restoration will be a slow, ongoing process. "Doing it at a slower rate will allow us to learn how the river reacts," a Teton County official said. "If the river reacts negatively to the placement of a feature or to the feature itself, then you don't put a whole bunch more features like it out there." (Casper Star-Tribune)

Word from Washington

USDA Signs Memoranda of Understanding to Restore Quail Habitat in the Southeast
On August 7, NRCS Chief Bruce Knight signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) to restore northern bobwhite quail on private working lands across the Southeast. A representative for the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in Tallahassee, Fla., South Carolina-based Quail Unlimited, Inc., and Mississippi State University (MSU), each signed a separate MOU at a ceremony at MSU. These MOUs establish a framework of cooperation among the partners to evaluate the Northern Bobwhite Quail Conservation Initiative.  The signing ceremonies took place in Starkville, Mississippi.

NRCS Legislative Summaries, Testimony, and Reports
Click here for timely and accurate information from NRCS Legislative Affairs.

Tech Tip

SPAW Version 6.1 Water Budget Model Released
Version 6.1 of the Soil-Plant-Air-Water (SPAW) water budget model is now available from the National Water and Climate Center (NWCC). SPAW Version 6.1 is common computing environment (CCE) compliant for both Microsoft Windows ® XP and NT operating systems.

SPAW is a field-level tool that uses a modified Soil Conservation Service Curve Number Method to develop water budgets for agricultural fields. Water budget processes are evaluated by making daily adjustments to crop canopy cover and antecedent soil moisture. Daily, monthly, and annual water budgets are presented in table and graph format. Field water budgets can be used by field staff for evaluating runoff and infiltration from precipitation events.

SPAW also provides an integrated pond module to develop pond water budgets. The primary inflows to the pond are surface runoff and precipitation. Auxiliary inflows, such as well and stream diversions or dairy wash water, allow budgets to represent processes for storage reservoirs as well as waste lagoons. Pond areas can also represent inundated wetland areas. A statistical evaluation provides an analysis of inundation frequency. Pumping simulations to replicate managed inflow/outflow can be set for automatic or manual activation. Tabular and graphical outputs provide daily, monthly, and annual summaries for the major water budget processes.

The SPAW model is a product of the Agricultural Research Service and NRCS. The SPAW download is available from either the NWCC Web site at http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/wetdrain/wetdrain-tools.html, or from the USDA Service Center for CCE software at http://servicecenter.kcc.usda.gov/.

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