Allegan Conservation District

New Rabbit River Watershed Project Now Underway!

In August of 2010, the Allegan Conservation District was awarded a grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment to address water quality concerns in the Rabbit River Watershed. Specifically, the grant will focus on improving water quality within the Black Creek, Red Run Drain and Green Lake Creek sub-watersheds. Goals of the project include reducing erosion and sedimentation. The project will work with municipal officials and residential and agricultural landowners to install best management practices adjacent to streams and lakes, including buffer strips, cover crops and residue management, and in-stream improvements, including streambank stabilization projects and road-stream crossings. Technical and financial assistance is available for best management practice design and installation. If you own land in the Rabbit River Watershed, please call the District to find out how we can work together to improve water quality.

Wetland Restoration Funding available through the USDA Wetland Reserve Program!

The Allegan Conservation District is exploring interest among our county’s landowners to restore wetlands on privately held property. These wetland restorations could range from 5 acres to 100 acres in size depending upon the fall of the land, landowner preference and other environmental factors.

Funding for these wetland restorations are provided through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wetland Reserve Program (WRP). WRP is a voluntary program that provides technical and financial assistance to private landowners to restore, protect, and enhance wetlands in exchange for retiring eligible land from agriculture or other land uses. Wetlands provide habitat for fish and wildlife, including threatened and endangered species; improve water quality by filtering sediments and chemicals; reduce flooding; recharge groundwater; protect biological diversity; and provide opportunities for educational, scientific, and limited recreational activities.

The program offers three enrollment options. One, a permanent conservation easement in which the USDA pays 100 percent of the easement value, in Allegan, Ottawa and Kent Counties up to $4,325 per acre and in Barry County up to $2,581 per acre. The program also pays 100 percent of the restoration costs! Second, a 30-year easement in which USDA pays up to 75 percent of the easement value and up to 75 percent of the restoration costs. Thirdly a restoration cost-share agreement to restore or enhance the wetland functions and values without placing an easement on enrolled acres in which USDA pays up to 75 percent of the restoration costs.

Requirements for the WRP Program include: 50% of the property needs to contain hydric soils, drainage within property has been altered from its natural state and the property has been held in ownership for over seven years.

Do you own a large plot of marginal agriculture land? Do you have agricultural land that never meets your yield goals? This may be the perfect opportunity to take your land out of production and restore its natural drainage. You agricultural land will also be eligible for Farm Service Agency soil rental payments after wetland construction so there is no loss of rental or yield income!

If you have an interest in creating a wetland habitat on your property and would like to schedule a field appointment please call:

Shawn McKenney at: 269-673-8965 x.4
Applications are currently being accepted.

What type of soils are on your property? See the USDA Web Soil Survey

Is your property located in the Gun River Watershed a potential site? See Wetland_Restoration_Map.jpg

A LITTLE BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON WETLANDS AND WATER QUALITY

Wetlands improve water quality by filtering out pollutants before they reach a river or lake. These pollutants include nutrients and sediments.

Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus contribute a large amount of pollution to the Michigan’s lakes and streams. Excess nutrients contribute to increased algae growth, which reduces the amount of oxygen in the water. Wetlands can filter out as much as 91% of the phosphorus and 86% of the nitrogen.

Sedimentis the leading non-point source pollutant in the Rabbit River and its tributaries. Sediments that are suspended in running water can also be removed by wetlands. As the running water enters a wetland, the water slows and the sediments settle out. Some wetlands can retain as much as 94% of the sediment.

Wetlands also function like big sponges, slowing down and absorbing excess water during storms. This combined action of slowing and storing water reduces flooding downstream and shoreline erosion. Flooding and high flows in our local watersheds are becoming worse with increased development pressures which add impervious surfaces, such as driveways and roads, which do not absorb rainfall.

Gun River Cleanup Hits 15 Years

News video from the 2009 Annual Gun River Canoe and Clenaup Day! Thanks for all those who attended.

Gun River Tree Revetment Site

The Watershed Project has provided technical assistance and installation guidelines to install a 140 foot tree-revetment project on the Gun River. This project used conifer trees anchored into the “toe” of the stream to prevent erosion from occuring and to rebuild the river bank.

Tree revetments greatly slow the current along the eroding bank; this decreases erosion and allows silt and sand to be deposited along the bank and within the tree branches. The deposited material forms a good seed bed in which the seeds of river trees such as cottonwood and sycamore can sprout and grow. The resulting trees spread roots throughout the revetment and streambank. By the time the revetment trees have decayed, the bank should be stabilized by the roots of the living trees. As an added benefit, tree revetments provide excellent fish and wildlife cover.

No-Till Project

The Gun River Watershed Project cost-shared the use of a no-till drill to plant crops for a Plainwell producer in the spring of 2007. Some of the benefits of no-till vs. conventional tillage are:

A producer can save at least 3.5 gallons of fuel per acre by going Low Impact from conventional tillage methods to no-till. At November 2007 diesel prices, this amounts to $7.70 per acre in production cost savings. On a farm with 1,000 acres of cropland, these savings add up to 3,500 gallons of diesel fuel per year valued at $7,700.

Currently, no-till is practiced on over 62 million acres. If the amount of no-till acreage doubled, farmers could save an additional 217 million gallons of fuel, valued at over $480 million.

No-till is a conservation practice that leaves the crop residue undisturbed from harvest through planting except for narrow strips that cause minimal soil disturbance. Crop residues are materials left in an agricultural field after the crop has been harvested. These residues include stalks and stubble (stems), leaves and seed pods. Good management of field residues can increase efficiency of irrigation and control of erosion. No-till can be used for almost any crop in almost any soil and can save producers labor costs and fuel. It’s a sound investment for the environment and the farm.

In addition to energy efficiencies and cost savings, no-till has several environmental benefits. No-till increases the organic matter in the soil, making it more stable and helping prevent soil erosion. No-till reduces greenhouse gases because it requires less fuel and sequesters (stores) carbon in the soil. Other benefits of using no-till as part of a resource management system include:
• Increased earthworm populations that improve soil quality—an average of 540,000 earthworms per acre versus 285,000 in conventional tillage
• Increased water infiltration—cutting evaporation and runoff by at least 70 percent
• Reduced tilling time per acre—by as much as two-thirds

Soil Survey on the Web

The National Soil Survey is now avaliable online.
NRCS Web Soil Survey

Flow

An excellent film being produced regarding our most precious natural resource: WATER

Trailer:

Livestock Crossing Project

Uncontrolled livestock access to surface water can lead to excessive sedimentation and phosphorous loads in rivers and lakes. The Watershed Project worked with a local producer to provide limited livestock access to the Knuth Drain in Allegan County. Previous to the project livestock had unrestricted access to the drain and were causing erosion and sedimentation problems.

Total Project Cost: $5925.00
Pollutant Load Reductions
Sediment: 4.5 tons/ac
Phosphorous: 5lbs
Nitrogen:1lb

Sandy Pines Golf Course/ Pigeon Creek Bufferstrip Project

The Sandy Pine Golf Course Buffer Strip Project included a total of 15,000 native plant plugs and many busy hands planting plugs over a 7 day period in July, 2006. Special thanks to all our volunteers and to Jim Spray and Max Gibbs from the Sandy Pines Resort for all their efforts and their concern for water quality in the Rabbit River. By fall 2007 the golf course will be a great place to see native plants in action and of course a great place for a round of golf!

Sandy Pines Golf Course
Pigeon Creek Buffer Strip Project
15,000 Native Plugs
Total Project Cost: $12,365.00

Pollutant Load Reductions
Sediment: 3.25ton/ac
Phosphorous:31.25lbs
Nitrogen: 6.25lbs

Rabbit River Streambank Restoration Site CMI#9

This rock rip-rap stream restoration project in Salem Township was a Clean Michigan Iniative Project. The Project was coordinated by the Allegan Conservation and Kalamazoo Conservation District in partnership with the Allegan County Road Commission. Over 300 feet of streambank was armored and protected using rock rip-rap and a small section of stream was left in a more natural state using a tree revetment. Special thanks to Bill Nelson and Georganne for their time and patience during the Project duration.

Total Project Cost: $107,000
Pollutant Load Reductions
Sediment: 45.8 tons
Phosphorous: 22.3lbs
Nitrogen: 77.9lbs