Nebraska Ag Connection - Environmental Trust to Enhance Wetlands Reserve Partnerships

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Environmental Trust to Enhance Wetlands Reserve Partnerships
Nebraska Ag Connection - 05/17/2019

The Nebraska Environmental Trust (NET) recently announced the award of a grant of $158,550 to continue, for a second year, its support of the "Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Partnership Special Initiative." Rainwater Basin Joint Venture, an affiliated fund of Nebraska Community Foundation, will implement the project. The NET board announced funding for the project at its meeting in Lincoln. The project is one of the 117 projects receiving $19,501,444 in grant awards from the Nebraska Environmental Trust in 2019. Of these, 85 are new applications and 32 are carry-over projects, such as this one.

Funding from this grant will be leveraged with other funding sources to restore 300 acres of wetlands and associated upland. In addition to habitat work, grants totaling $475,650 and matching funds of $1.5 million will be used to modify pivot irrigation systems to eliminate impacts to the restored wetlands and establish grazing infrastructure to transition the restored wetlands into producers' operations.

Annually, Natural Resources Conservation Service requests proposals to develop Wetland Reserve Enhancement Partnerships (WREP). These partnerships focus on developing innovative approaches that allow tracts enrolled in the Wetlands Reserve Easement to "fit" into agriculture operations. This year, the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture (RWBJV) was awarded a 300-acre WREP focusing on programmatic flexibility to allow producers to retain the right to pass pivot irrigation systems over enrolled acres. In the past, landowners were hesitant to enroll because they could not pass the pivot over enrolled acres and complete full rotations to effectively irrigate adjacent cropland in the field. To ensure the pivot can cross the restored wetlands, a variety of pivot modifications will be used, including moving the pivot point, installing track systems, and/or replacing pneumatic tires with low pressure tires.

These modifications will eliminate impact of the pivot to the restored wetlands and ensure pivot passage over enrolled acres. Grazing infrastructure, such as perimeter fencing, pivot gates, and livestock water, will be established to transition the flood-prone cropland to forage production. Grazing will maintain the tract as working lands and maximize habitat conditions. Nebraska's three largest pivot manufacturers--Lindsay, Reinke, and Valmont--have signed on as corporate partners. These companies have committed to providing technical assistance and financial assistance through a cost-share program for pivot modifications. They will also assist with outreach and marketing through their dealer networks. These dealers will be able to identify multiple producers that will qualify for this program, helping to ensure implementation success.

The Nebraska Legislature created the Nebraska Environmental Trust in 1992. Using revenue from the Nebraska Lottery, the Trust has provided over $305 million in grants to over 2,200 projects across the state. Anyone -- citizens, organizations, communities, farmers and businesses -- can apply for funding to protect habitat, improve water quality and establish recycling programs in Nebraska. The Nebraska Environmental Trust works to preserve, protect and restore our natural resources for future generations.

The Rainwater Basin Joint Venture collaborates with private landowners, agriculture producers, conservation organizations, non-profits and government agencies across Nebraska to protect, restore and enhance habitat for millions of migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, and other wildlife. Nebraska Community Foundation serves as the financial management entity for the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture. For more information visit www.rwbjv.org.

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