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SECRETARY VILSACK ANNOUNCES 41 WATERSHEDS TO TAKE PART IN MISSISSIPPI
RIVER BASIN INITIATIVE 

Initiative Will Provide Approximately $320 Million in USDA Assistance In
Basin Area  

WASHINGTON, November 23, 2009 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today
announced that 41 watersheds in 12 states, known as Focus Areas, have
been selected to participate in a new initiative to improve water
quality and the overall health of the Mississippi River Basin. The
selected watersheds cover over 42 million acres, or more than 5 percent
of the Basin's land area. 

"The USDA is committed to working cooperatively with agricultural
producers, partner organizations and State and local agencies to improve
water quality and the quality of life for the tens of millions of people
who live in the Mississippi River Basin, the Mississippi River Basin
Healthy Watersheds Initiative will help" Vilsack said. "Today's
announcement is another step toward achieving this goal, and I encourage
as many eligible participants as possible to join us in this major
conservation effort." 

The Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI), which
was announced on September 24, 2009, will provide approximately $320
million in USDA financial assistance over the next four years for
voluntary projects in priority watersheds in Arkansas, Kentucky,
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri,
Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin. MRBI will help producers implement
conservation and management practices that prevent, control and trap
nutrient runoff from agricultural land. 

USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) manages the
initiative. NRCS State Conservationists from the 12 watershed states
selected the watersheds with guidance from State Technical Committees
and state water quality agencies. Selections were based on the potential
for managing nitrogen and phosphorus -- nutrients associated with water
quality problems in the Basin -- while maintaining agricultural
productivity and benefiting wildlife. 

Next, smaller watershed projects will be selected through a competitive
process under NRCS' Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative
(CCPI). NRCS assistance will be leveraged with contributions from
partners, expanding the capacity available to improve water quality
throughout the Basin. 

Three requests for project proposals will be announced in the next
several weeks, including one for CCPI. Funding for CCPI projects will
come from NRCS' Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Conservation
Stewardship Program and Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program. 

Two other requests for proposals will fund projects through the Wetlands
Reserve Enhancement Program and Conservation Innovation Grants. For
information about these programs, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs . 


Iowa - Boone 
Iowa - Maquoketa 
Iowa - North Raccoon 
Iowa/Minnesota - Upper Cedar 


      

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