Apply by April 15 for funding on tax ditch projects in Sussex County
Sussex County landowners can now sign up for special funding to restore eroded banks on tax ditches for improved water quality. Approximately $500,000 is available to restore tax ditches, or watershed channels, utilizing vegetative material such as coir logs and live stakes, also known as green technology or bioengineering. Stabilizing the banks will reduce or eliminate erosion, thereby minimizing transport of sediments and nutrients into surface and ground water.
Landowners are encouraged to apply by Friday, April 15, to implement practices such as stream and shoreline protection, or stream habitat improvement and management. Additional partner funds will help landowners implement denitrifying bioreactors and water-control structures, which are also designed to reduce amounts of nutrients in tax ditches for enhanced water quality. Projects must be on agricultural lands.
Interested applicants must meet eligibility requirements of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service. NRCS accepts applications year-round; however, all applications received by the first application deadline of April 15 will be ranked and considered for funding.
This Watershed Channel Restoration Project in Sussex County was selected as part of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program administered by NRCS. The project is led by the Sussex Conservation District and participating partners include the state’s Division of Watershed Stewardship, Sussex County’s Tax Ditch Organizations and Advanced Drainage Systems. The project will increase the implementation of green technology/bioengineered practices in tax ditch drainage systems utilizing natural vegetative material for stabilization purposes.
Delaware NRCS works with the Delaware Conservation Districts to address resource concerns on privately owned agricultural and forest lands. To sign up for this project or for more information, contact the USDA Service Center at 302-856-3990 Ext. 3, visit 21315 Berlin Road, Unit 4, Georgetown or go to www.de.nrcs.usda.gov.
