What is Local Work Group?

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This acronym is Local Work Group – hmm that still does not clear up the mystery. What is that? A partnership of The local Soil Conservation Districts and NRCS (natural Resource Conservation Services) host a committee of local land owners and agency people to determine where funding should be directed to fund projects that will impact areas that the group identify as concern and rank as importance. Concerns are and have been:

 

1. Field Sediment, Nutrient, and Pathogen Loss – Includes nutrients transported to surface or groundwater, pathogens and chemicals from manure, biosolids or compost applications transported to surface or groundwater, and sediment transported to surface water

 

2.Source Water Depletion – Includes surface or groundwater depletion, and Inefficient irrigation water use

 

3.Soil Quality Limitation – Includes compaction, organic matter depletion, concentration of salts and other chemicals, soil organism habitat loss or degradation, and aggregate instability

 

4.Wind and Water Erosion – Includes sheet, rill, & wind erosion Sheet and rill erosion is erosion that occurs due to rainfall or irrigation runoff. Wind erosion is the transport of soil by wind. This type of erosion is not always visible in the field and therefore NRCS uses erosion prediction models to estimate

 

5.Concentrated Erosion – Includes ephemeral gully erosion; classic gully erosion; and bank erosion from streams, shorelines or water conveyance channels

 

6. Weather Resilience – Includes ponding and flooding, seasonal high water table, seeps, naturally available moisture use, and drifted snow

 

7 Degraded Plant Condition – Includes plant productivity and health, and plant structure and composition

If you have an interest in these concerns and more please contact your local Soil and Water Conservation District.

East/West Cassia SWCD – 208 572 3375 or Minidoka SWCD 208 436 4202.