Vision: Productive Lands—Healthy Environment Mission: Helping People Help the Land

2. Vision: Productive Lands—Healthy Environment • Mission: Helping People Help the Land • Guiding Principles • Service • Technical Excellence • Partnerships

3. Mission: Helping People Help the Land • Conservation Planning • Identifying Resources Concerns (SWAPA) • Soil Erosion • Water Quality and Water Quantity • Animal Health • Plant Health • Air Quality • Choosing Practices that will address Resource Concerns

4. Cost-Share Programs • Using Cost-Share to implement a conservation plan • Participation Is Voluntary • Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

5. EQIP • Started as a cost-share program with 1996 Farm Bill • Used to provide funding to address environmental problems • Erosion control • Water quality and quantity

6. Partners, & Programs • Northwest Florida Mobile Irrigation Lab • Established Nov 2004 • Performs initial evaluation of irrigation systems and calculates the Potential Water Savings (PWS) • Performs follow-up evaluations and calculates Actual Water Savings (AWS)

7. Partners, &Programs • Water savings in the Blue Springs Basin • PWS 889 MILLION gallons on 80 initial evaluations • AWS 474 MILLION gallons on 56 follow-up evaluations

8. Partners,& Programs • EQIP • Cost-share available for improvement of existing irrigation system’s efficiency (water savings or reduced consumption) • Cost-share available to implement practices that improve water quality • In 2009 NCRS developed a special fund called the Springs Initiative.

9. Partners,& Programs • 15 contracts (= farmers that have voluntarily decided to improve irrigation efficiency) in 2009 in the Blue Springs Basin • >$444, 800 obligated • >$280,000 paid to retrofit existing systems to improve irrigation efficiency • Irrigation Water Management on >4,000 ac

10. BEFORE

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12. QUESTIONS?