ALBANY — Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) State Conservationist Blake Glover announced the selection of the Lake Champlain watershed as the location for this year’s NRCS-NY Edge of Field Monitoring.
The application deadline for the Edge of Field Monitoring is September 16, 2022. For approved applications, edge-of-field water quality monitoring (EoF) enables agricultural producers and scientists to quantify the impacts of conservation work on water quality. Through EoF monitoring, NRCS works with producers and conservation partners such as universities, agencies, and non-governmental organizations to measure the amount of nutrients and sediment in water runoff from cropland or pastureland and compare the improvements under different conservation systems. NRCS provides funding for the monitoring equipment and to landowners who install specific conservation practices on fields where monitoring can compare various conservation treatments.
New York’s EoF monitoring projects further NRCS’s goal of improving the water quality in the Lake Champlain watershed, which is listed as an impaired waterbody for phosphorous. The data will be used to help producers adapt management practices on farms, to document the public benefits of conservation practices, and to further national water quality modeling efforts.
“The Edge of Field Monitoring Program is a great way to learn more about how different site conditions impact soil and water conservation, in this case focusing on the waters that flow into Lake Champlain,” said Glover. “Ultimately, the program makes us more effective at helping people help the land.”
Applications are being accepted for priority sub-watersheds in the Lake Champlain watershed. Interested landowners should contact their local NRCS office to determine if their farm is within one of the 12-digit priority watersheds and to submit an application. Applications will be evaluated nationally and compete with water-quality projects in other states for funding under NRCS’ Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).
For More Details visit us at the following locations:
Edge of Field Monitoring:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/
Find your local Field office:
https://www.farmers.gov/
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP):
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/
–USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service New York