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Conservation Security Program (CSP) 2006 Program Year

Coming Soon!
California CSP Enhancements, New Practices and Watershed Stewardship Payment Tables - on the individual watershed page.

General Program Description

The Conservation Security Program (CSP) is a tremendous opportunity for California farmers who have been practicing good soil and water conservation on their farmland. The purpose of CSP is to reward the best conservation farmers and motivate others to become good stewards of the land.

CSP is a voluntary program that provides financial and technical assistance to promote conservation and improvement of soil, water, air, energy, plant and animal life, and other conservation purposes on Tribal and private working lands. Working lands include cropland, grassland, prairie land, improved pasture, and range land, as well as forested land that is an incidental part of an agriculture operation. The program provides equitable access to benefits to all producers, regardless of size of operation, crops produced, or geographic location.

CSP offers payments, for five to ten year contracts, which are calculated from a base payment, plus various additional payments depending on existing and new conservation practices and enhancements, based on a "Tier" or level of conservation.

  • Tier I - Water quality and soil quality protected on part of the operation
  • Tier II - Water quality and soil quality protected on the entire operation; agree to address one other resource concern.  To qualify for Tier II, producers must meet the water-use efficiency criteria for all land uses (and also irrigated and non-irrigated croplands).
  • Tier III - All resources protected on the entire operation and agree to additional activities

At a minimum, farms will need to have soil erosion and water quality practices in place, including nutrient and pest management.

Based on the application, description of conservation activities, and a follow-up interview, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) determines which program tier and enrollment category the applicant may participate.

Eligibility & Application Information

Go to the Eligibility & Application Information page to help you determine if CSP is right for you.

The 2006 Watersheds

One California watershed is among 60 across the nation chosen to participate in the CSP for 2006.

Self-Assessment Workbook

The CSP Self-Assessment Workbook is available to help enable farmers and ranchers evaluate their eligibility for the program.

This document requires Adobe Acrobat.

Adobe Acrobat DocumentCSP Self-Assessment Workbook (3.26 MB)

CSP Records Workbook

The CSP Conservation Records Workbook will be used to inventory and document that a farm/ranch and a producer meet the goals and eligibility of the program.

This document requires Adobe Acrobat.

Adobe Acrobat DocumentCalifornia Conservation Records Workbook(1.29 MB)

CSP Eligibility Assessment Tools

This document requires Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft PowerPoint or Microsoft Excel.

Note:  We recommend saving MS PowerPoint files to your computer, then opening them with MS PowerPoint rather than opening them using your browser.

Adobe Acrobat DocumentSummary of Tools Being Used - California 2006 (212 KB)

Cropland and Hayland Tools
All Tiers: Complete Self-Assessment Workbook and CSP Conservation Records Workbook, plus:

Tier I
A) Water Quality on Cropland
Microsoft PowerPoint DocumentWater Quality Index Tool (160 KB)
B) Soil Quality on Cropland - Soil Condition Index - RUSLE2

Tier II
C) Water Use Efficiency Tool
Microsoft Excel DocumentIrrigation Water Management Assessment Tool (736 KB)
Adobe Acrobat Document Printout of Index Value for all Rice Fields in Lower Feather River Watershed (12 KB)

Tier III
D) Adobe Acrobat DocumentWildlife Habitat Index (196 KB)
E) Microsoft Excel DocumentAir Quality Assessment (47 KB)
F) Adobe Acrobat DocumentConfined Animal Feeding Operation Assessment (221 KB)

Range and Pastureland Tools
All Tiers: Complete Self-Assessment Workbook and CSP Conservation Records Workbook, plus:

Tier I
A) Soil and Water Quality
Microsoft Excel DocumentComplete Grazing Lands Records Checklist (22 KB)
Adobe Acrobat DocumentGrazinglands Water Quality Eligibility Tool (242 KB)

Tier II
B) Water Use Efficiency Tool
Adobe Acrobat DocumentWater Use Efficiency Tool (242 KB)
Microsoft Excel DocumentIrrigation Water Management Assessment Tool (734 KB)

Tier III
C) Adobe Acrobat DocumentWildlife Habitat Index (222 KB)

CSP Producer Workshops

The following documents are presented in CSP Workshop #1: CSP Overview and Self-Assessment Workbook.

These documents require Microsoft PowerPoint.

Note:  We recommend saving these files to your computer and opening them with MS PowerPoint rather than opening them using your browser.

Microsoft PowerPoint DocumentCSP Overview (3.95 MB)
Microsoft PowerPoint DocumentCSP Review of Self Assessment Workbook (3.57 MB)

Go to the CSP Workshops page for information on where and when producer workshops will be held.

For general and application information visit the NRCS CSP Web page.

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