R2015-04 AGREEMENT WITH MACON COUNTY SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT

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The group meets quarterly to share ideas, funding opportunities, and to plan events. Two forestry conferences were hosted by the Partnership, attracting over 100 people with timber ground in the Sangamon River Watershed. Looking towards 2015,the Partnership will continue to update its watershed based plan and member list to increase awareness. Oakley Township Sediment Storage Maintenance Advisory Committee: Megan Baskerville has been participating in the Committee and Michael Andreas, Agricultural Engineer, is available to provide technical assistance in response to citizen complaints regarding the sediment basin. Grants: IEPA 319 Grant:Accelerating BMP Adoption in Lake Decatur The SWCD has been awarded an IEPA Section 319 grant to accelerate BMP adoption in the Lake Decatur Watershed. Through August 2016, the grant will bring$425,315 of federal funds into the watershed to install soil saving practices at 13 sites throughout the watershed in both Macon and Piatt counties. The SWCD office was able to secure this funding by using the City's dedicated funds as match,truly showing the benefit of our longstanding partnership! As of December 31St,three practices have been installed with this funding: 378 acres of cover crops, and two grassed waterways. American Farmland Trust Cover Crop Grant: September 30th marked the end of our two year grant to "Accelerate the Adoption of Cover Crops in Illinois." This $5,000 grant was awarded by the American Farmland Trust, a group dedicated to saving farmland one acre, and one inch, at a time. With the funds,the SWCD was able to host 3 education events over the two year period, and fund 90 acres of cover crops across the county this fall. We are excited to continue our relationship with this strong national partner into the future. USDA's Regional Conservation Partners Program: On October 2, a full proposal was submitted to the USDA for$500,000 of NRCS funding for "BMP Implementation for Nutrient and Sediment Loss Reduction in Macon County, Illinois." If awarded, the proiect will bring in $500,000 of federal funding for conservation in the Sangamon River Watershed over the next five years. At the same time, local partners will test the efficiencies of newer edge-of-field practices to reduce nitrate loss from field tiles, a major source of excess nutrients in Illinois. Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP): The District has signed an agreement with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to participate in the Illinois CREP, a Federal, State and Local partnership designed to retire frequently flooded and environmentally sensitive cropland in order to achieve restoration and long-term protection of those areas. By shifting these lands out of production and into conservation, stormwater and its nutrients and sediment will be reduced and/or eliminated from entering Lake Decatur. In exchange for the conservation of these lands, CREP provides the landowner with both a lump-sum payment and cost-share funds to implement the conservation practice.