CBC In Chico

Resource Conservation on Farms in the Elkhorn Slough

By Daniel Mountjoy, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), in partnership with Sustainable Conservation (a non–profit environmental organization), developed an innovative program to offer "one stop regulatory shopping" to land managers willing to implement conservation practices that yield net environmental benefits to all involved.

Farmers have historically been reluctant to navigate the complex, time–consuming, and costly process of obtaining individual project permits for activities intended to prevent erosion, protect water quality, or enhance natural habitats. Ten conservation practices recommended by the NRCS have now been conditioned and authorized in advance by the participating federal, state, and local agencies through watershed–based permits. Permits are issued to the NRCS and the Resource Conservation District of Monterey County. Any farmer receiving technical and/or cost–share assistance from the NRCS can now implement the practices without the need to seek individual permits.

With 24 projects implemented during the first two years of the program, an estimated 15,841 cubic yards (21,385 tons) of soil have been prevented from washing downstream into the sensitive wetlands of Elkhorn Slough. This equals a line of full sized pick–up trucks carrying soil, parked end to end from Salinas to San Jose (65 miles)! The Permit Coordination Program has been so successful that it is now being implemented in the Salinas Valley, Morro Bay, and West Marin watersheds, and other implementation sites throughout California are planned.